Angel Road Junior School

Session One – Habitat surveying and minibeast hunting

We had such a great time on our first Wilder Schools session, with both Hare and Deer class surveying their school grounds to see what already exists for wildlife. We found some great habitats, but noticed there is a lot more we can do to make the grounds an even better place for wildlife, such as adding bird boxes or keeping areas of grass nice and long.

We then spent some time hunting for invertebrates to see what creatures already call the grounds home, before we make any changes. We found some amazing species and were really excited to find a devil's coach horse beetle hiding under some logs!

Session Two – Habitat voting and wild art

It was great to be back at Angel Road with Hare and Deer class; this time to talk about what habitats we would like to create in the school grounds. This involved some discussion about what a good habitat needs (food, water, shelter) and which creatures like to live where. We then had to make some big decisions – what animals do we want to attract to the school grounds and what habitats would they want? Watch this space to see what they voted for!

We finished off our day with some wild art, which was great fun – both groups are incredibly creative and we had some fantastic teamwork on display. These pieces of art were made using natural materials and showed either a favourite habitat or animal.

Session Three – Environmental games

During this session we found out the habitats Deer and Hare class had voted for! They chose to focus on creating bat boxes, hedgehog homes and long grass/meadows. This variety of habitats will be amazing for biodiversity!

After finding out what creatures we wanted to attract to the school grounds, it was time to learn more about them by playing some environmental games. We learnt about pollinators and how pollination works, how bats are able to hunt so effectively in the dark (echolocation!) and the threats that hedgehogs face. We had a great time playing all of the games, but I think "bat and moth" might have been the favourite!

Session Four – Getting crafty

This session was a little different to usual as we spent most of our time in the classroom! Our focus was on creating games, invitations and displays for our upcoming community event in March. The children did a brilliant job in creating two amazing games - habitat matching and species pairs - which will be played by their families during the event. They also made a super display with lots of information about what we have been up to so far, what they've enjoyed and learnt and what creatures we are focusing on. I was so impressed with the facts they remembered: did you know a pipistrelle bat weighs the same as a 20p coin?

We did manage to get outside for a little while to play a true or false game and spend five mindful minutes using our senses to notice things around us.

Session Five – Building habitats

Today's session was very exciting as we got to build some habitats for our chosen species: bat boxes and hedgehog homes! The children did an absolutely brilliant job at making these habitats and I saw some amazing teamwork on display. In total, with the help of some fabulous parent helpers, we built eight bat boxes and two hedgehog homes! These habitats will be placed somewhere in the school grounds and any extras are being donated to local charities and organisations.

We didn't stop there though. We also made some minibeast homes for the children to take home, as well as completing a hedgehog quiz and making some bat masks. It was a very busy (and noisy!) day, but we had a great time and I think the bats and hedgehogs will be very happy with their new homes!

Assembly

Deer and Hare class both presented to the rest of the school, letting everyone know what we've been up to! They explained the project and how we are trying to help wildlife – they even brought along the amazing bat boxes and hedgehog homes we'd made to show everyone. This was an amazing opportunity to get the rest of the school excited about wildlife and they all did an amazing job!

Session Six - Partner session

We had great fun today with a very special visitor, Dr Amanda Hartley, learning all about forensic ecology! The children learnt how plants and science can help solve crime and became forensic ecologists for the day to try and solve the case of the stolen jewels. Using a variety of scientific techniques and equipment (and some great team work!) the children discovered where the treasure had been hidden: in the nature area at Angel Road! I think Amanda was very impressed with our abilities as forensic ecologists and the treasure may never have been discovered if it hadn't been for Hare and Deer class!

Session Seven – Hickling visit

The children had a very exciting visit to Hickling Broad today to learn more about Norfolk's wildlife. We explored lots of different habitats together and had the chance to go pond dipping and minibeast hunting. The children loved using binoculars to see what birds they could spot at Brendan's Marsh and we even saw an adder and some common lizards on the boardwalk! It was a great day filled with some amazing wildlife sightings and the sun even came out for us!

Session Eight – Making space for pollinators

Our focus today was on pollinators and minibeasts. We explored lots of different habitats and used special equipment to see what invertebrates we could find, and we were amazed by how many creatures call Angel Road home! To create more space for pollinators we made seed bombs, which was very messy but very fun!  This means that there will be some lovely native wildflowers popping up in the future... watch this space!

Session Nine – Celebrating the Wilder Schools project!

We have achieved so much throughout the project and, although it was our final session, it was a chance to celebrate everything we have done!

We have created some amazing new habitats, including bat boxes and hedgehog homes, and scattered wildflowers (once they've grown from our seed bombs!) and Angel Road should be so proud of the work they've done for nature!

During this session the children made some amazing nature journals, which they will be able to fill with their favourite sightings, pictures or natural materials going forward. This will be a special book for them to record all of their interesting wildlife finds. We finished off our day with a game of bat and moth - I think the bats and moths may have been practicing this game as their echolocation skills were brilliant!

A big thank you from me to Angel Road for all of their hard work, enthusiasm and love of wildlife – you are all brilliant!