Mile Cross Primary School

Session One - Habitat exploring and minibeast surveying

We kicked off our Wilder Schools project at Mile Cross Primary School with an assembly to the whole school. It was great to meet all the children from Reception to Year 6 and they had fun guessing the animal sounds!

It was then time for our first session with Year 3, who are leading the project. We explored the school grounds; looking at the existing habitats and recording what is already in place to help nature. Then we had great fun hunting for invertebrates as part of our minibeast surveying. The children loved exploring different areas and were delighted to find some amazing creatures such as millipedes, harvestmen, spiders and centipedes.

Session Two - Habitat voting and wild art

It was great to be back with the children and this time we discussed different habitats, the benefits they offer for different species, and which plants and animals like to live where and why. The children then each had a vote (creating a human bar chart) to decide which animals they would like to encourage and what changes they could make to provide suitable habitats for them. The results will be revealed at our next visit.

To finish the session, the children collected natural materials to create either a favourite animal or an ideal habitat and they produced some fabulous creations.

Session Three - Results revealed and environmental games

Today was results day! The children were very excited to find out which species had received the most votes and what actions they would be taking for nature. In first place - bats, second place -hedgehogs and third place - pollinators. Once the results had been revealed, we learnt more about each of these species through various games. The children enjoyed these but 'Bat and Moth' was the clear favourite!

We finished the session by discussing the action we would be taking – with one class building bat boxes, the other creating hedgehog homes and hopefully all of us planting some pollinator friendly plants too. We also collected ideas about how we can encourage other people to do something for nature too!

Session Four - Class assemblies

The start of the new year and a new type of session, as each class had a different focus this time – with one class learning about bats and the other learning about hedgehogs. This is because each class will develop an assembly to raise awareness about their chosen species, which they will present to their parents, carers and the other Year 3 class. To help them prepare for their assemblies, each class was visited by an expert volunteer, who helped them learn lots of information about their animal. To finish the session, each child created an invitation to take home, asking their adults to attend the assembly.

Class assembly: Miss Begum's class - All About Bats!

The children did a fantastic job teaching the other Year 3 class and their adults all about bats. They dressed for the occasion - in black, with bat headbands – and really looked the part. It was great to see them using a lot of the information from our previous session and everyone had a part in presenting to their audience. They finished their assembly with a song called 'Bats, Bats, Bats', which was brilliant. It was so lovely to see what they had achieved and how much they had learnt about bats.

Reception career talk:

I was invited to speak with the Reception class about my job and career at Norfolk Wildlife Trust. I gave them a bit of background about NWT and showed some natural history items relating to animals found in Norfolk. We also played a game called 'Norfolk or Not', where they had fun guessing which animal was the odd one out. I talked about some different jobs at NWT and they were interested to find out that whatever you enjoy or are interested in could become your job!

Session Five - Building bat boxes and hedgehog homes

Finally, after learning all about the species we had voted to help, the day of 'taking action' for nature had arrived. Cheers greeted me as I walked into the classroom! The children were so excited to have a go at building bat boxes and hedgehog homes.

Some of the children were surprised by how hard it was to hammer in the nails but they were also delighted to find out they could do it. For many of the children it was the first time they had ever done anything like this and it was wonderful to see them grow in confidence, encouraging each other and working so well as a team. They were all so proud of the finished products and delighted to add their initials to their creations.

Session Six – Visit to NWT Hickling Broad and Marshes

We were so excited to be able to welcome the children and adults from Mile Cross Primary School to NWT Hickling Broad and Marshes. After spending so long visiting them, it was lovely for them to finally get to visit us!

It was an action-packed day for the children, during which they got to go Dyke Dipping for freshwater invertebrates, explore the site on a Habitat Trail, find terrestrial invertebrates whilst minibeast hunting and observe birds at Brendan's Marsh. The children particularly loved using the binoculars and spotting an adder was a definite highlight for many! We were very lucky with the weather and a great day was had by all!

Session Seven - Celebrating with Wilder Schools Project

This session was slightly different to our usual format, as our focus was to review all that we have achieved and experienced throughout the project. It was fabulous to see all the amazing things we have been able to do together: creating bat boxes and hedgehog homes, getting to know some key species in the local area and sharing our learning and passion with parents and carers. Some children were able to take things even further, as one had encouraged her grandparents to build a hedgehog highway and another took the initiative to raise £100 for Norfolk Wildlife Trust as part of her Brownies Charities badge! The interest and enthusiasm of the children at Mile Cross has been fantastic and it has been wonderful working with them all.

As a final memento of our time together, the children were each given a cardboard petal on which to write their pledge for nature; something that they will try to do to help nature at home or at school. I will collect them all together to create a surprise for them in our final session!

Session Eight - Partner session

Today we had an incredibly exciting session, as we were joined by a special guest, Dr Amanda Hartley, to learn all about Forensic Ecology. The session started with a crime! Some jewels had been stolen from Norwich Castle Museum and the children had to take on the role of Forensic Ecologists to try to solve the case. They had to use a variety of scientific techniques and equipment to explore clues from the natural environment, such as soil type and plant species, to locate the treasure. The children loved being scientists for the day and were delighted to find the jewels buried in the Nurture Nook at Mile Cross Primary School!

The children were also delighted to see their 'petal pledges' from our last session, collected together and framed to create a picture to be displayed in their school. Not only will it be a memento of the first year of Wilder Schools and remind them of all they have achieved, but it will also inspire others to act for nature too.

Thank you Mile Cross - it's been WILD!