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“And here we have, in the wild, a rare glimpse of…” six and seven year olds channelling their inner David Attenboroughs!

Year 2 pupils from Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School (which is part of Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust) had a hoot of a time on a recent school trip to Washington Wetland Centre.

A little birdie told us that it might have even inspired a new generation of mini ornithologists in Peterlee…

Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East, said: “It’s always fantastic to see local schools ‘be at one’ with nature. Not only is it good for educational purposes, but the great outdoors is also hugely beneficial for physical and mental health.

“It’s great that our schools actively encourage these beliefs amongst our region’s children, as well as help them build healthy habits as early as possible.”

Fun, free, and fascinating!

Susan Jones, teacher and leader of the Year 2 flock, organised the trip as part of The Generation Wild project at the centre. The adventure was completely free for pupils, including fully funded transport.

Susan Jones said: “In RE, Year 2 has been learning about God’s creation and ways we can care for his precious world, and in science, we have been learning about plants and animals. The purpose of this visit was to help pupils connect with nature.”

There were many highlights throughout the day; students were particularly thrilled to stumble across an enormous nest where they discovered ‘Ava the osprey’, who helped them learn more about animals and the natural world.

Ava was very generous! The osprey (also called a sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk) gave the children a ‘translator phone’ to allow them to listen to what the creatures were saying. How amazing is that?!

The children didn’t have to say goodbye to Ava for very long, either. After their visit, the pupils were able to follow the osprey via an interactive website, and they carried out further nature activities on the school grounds and at home.

An owl-some day with an exciting award at the end

On completion of 10 activities, the children were awarded their Guardians of the Wild certificate and pin badge to mark their achievements and give them something tangible to remember the day by.

Fledgling twitcher Daniel Hammond, seven, said: “I love helping the birds. It really is important to me because I just love birds!”

Classmate Coleton Dunn, seven, said: “This visit was the best day ever. I want to come here and watch the animals every single day.”

Milah Carr, seven, said: “I am super excited to take my family to Washington Wetlands so I can show them the animals.”

The trip has certainly left a lasting impression on the pupils. In fact, the visit has inspired seven-year-old Harrison Cowell to care for even the smallest creatures at school. He said: “At playtimes, I have been busy making bug hotels with my friends, to help keep the ants safe from being squashed.”

The day out has also sparked an interest in the children to carry out a second litter pick at Crimdon Beach to help protect local wildlife.

Codie Sweeney, seven, added: “I was quite upset when I found three dead birds on Crimdon Beach and wondered if they were hurt from litter.”

Year 2 teaching assistant Marguerite Elrick added: “I loved listening to the children talking about how they could protect the birds within their own local community and how they wanted to set up an after-school club that would enable this.”

All the children were given a free family visit voucher and many families have already used theirs! It meant so much to the children to be able to share the magic and wonder with their families as they carried out a trail of nature-based activities.

Acknowledged by the one and only David Attenborough

And wait, it gets better. Children were each given a certificate signed by Sir David Attenborough for their hard work and dedication to the project. Now that’s something that absolutely deserves pride of place on the fridge.

The school also won a prize for providing evidence to Generation Wild, showing the impact this project has had on the pupils and families. They were awarded a £500 voucher to spend on nature resources from Muddy Faces.

Mrs Jones added: “We feel extremely lucky to have been given this wonderful opportunity to connect with nature, and can’t wait to allow other classes in our school to experience this over the next couple of years.

“This project has really helped build relationships with our families, as the parents were keen to support our nature club and nature activities at home. Many families have already used their free family passes.

“It has amazed me, seeing how the children have fully embraced this project, and how they’ve displayed passion and enthusiasm for caring for our animals, no matter how small.”

It sounds like everyone had the most amazing experience; we’re already super egg-cited to hear about the next one!

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School is a Schools North East Partner School . If you’d like to find out more about our Partner School membership, click here.

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