School grounds at Angel Road (credit: NWT)
School grounds advice
School grounds have the potential to be amazing spaces for nature, as well as for people.
Our advice aims to enhance the area around your school for wildlife, outdoor learning, and wellbeing. All aspects of the school grounds can be used to encourage wildlife, with some small changes. These small changes can be carried out by the pupils to encourage wildlife to thrive and to offer learning outside.
Below are some free downloadable resources to help you with improving your school grounds for wildlife. There are also resources which suggest ways to get children and young people involved too!
Making space for wildlife
Activities
Mile Cross Primary School (credit: NWT)
Advice visits
Depending on our availability, we may be able to come out to your school to carry out an advice visit. Our staff will look at the whole school grounds, giving advice on how to improve the area holistically, in a prioritised and realistic way. Providing advice on the whole site prevents small, isolated developments from occurring which can later seem located in an inappropriate area. Advice will be based on the following aspects:
Planting
We encourage the planting of native species which are good at encouraging pollinators and attracting subsequent wildlife.
Management
Small changes to the maintenance of the school grounds can have a significant benefit to wildlife.
Pond
Having water on site is one of the best things you can do for wildlife. We will provide advice on how to manage your school pond to maintain a healthy habitat, which can also be used to teach children about freshwater invertebrates.
Pupil activities
Many of the changes you can make in your school grounds can be made by the children themselves and can be linked to the curriculum. We will provide advice on what activities might be appropriate for children to get involved in and how benefits can be maximised for wildlife and children alike.
If you are interested in booking an advice visit, or have any queries about how you can improve your site for biodiversity, please get in touch at educationenquiries@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk
Wilder Schools Mile Cross session 4 (credit: NWT)
Wilder Schools
If you are interested in involving your pupils in improving your school grounds, you may be interested in our new Wilder Schools pilot project.