The Darent Valley Landscape Recovery Project - Education

Day 1 (November ‘23):

To kickstart the project, Kent Wildlife Trust gave an assembly about the Darent Valley Landscape Recovery Project and the Wilder Kent Awards to explain why the project is important and how the children at Anthony Roper can help! Throughout the day the children took part in fun workshops where they prioritised ideas about protecting wildlife, reducing carbon, improving sustainability, and engaging with nature. This helped us the pupils to create an action plan for the year ahead.

We also had a tour of the school grounds to see the amazing gardening and forest school areas, and to identify more spaces where we could help nature thrive. 

Day 2 (February ‘24):

In February, we assessed the school’s action plan which included creating a pond, introducing hedgehog, bird, and bat boxes, and forming their Wild Team! Next, the children learnt about the birds of Kent and enjoyed making their own pinecone bird feeders. The pupils wrote a ‘Manifesto for Wildlife’ and made their own pledges to help nature and the environment. Lastly, classes put their maths skills to the test by measuring how much space could be allocated for wildlife within the school grounds!

Day 3 (May ’24):

During this visit Year 1 learnt all about ocean pollution, finding out where pollution comes from, how long things take to break down in the ocean, and what we can do to help. We then joined Wild Team outside to play some games about habitat fragmentation and climate change.

Next, we set off to the Forest School area with Mrs Hughes where I got to see the new pond, minibeast hotel, and bird and bat boxes. The Wild Team were feeling energised and decided to clear a patch of earth for a beautiful wildflower meadow!

Day 4 (July ’24):

When the summer term came around, we used ID guides to learn about native wildlife. Children listened to a variety of bird calls to become more familiar with them and spent time inspecting and describing the shape of tree leaves. I was amazed to hear that the school has planted an orchard on site to support wildlife and encourage food that is locally grown. At the end of the day, Year R enjoyed a minibeast hunt and learnt about habitats by playing a fun game before it was sadly time to go. What a fantastic adventure!

Day 1 (November '23):

Our journey began with a tour of the school from Mrs Philpott who showed me the amazing facilities on site including a Forest School area and quiet garden. An assembly about the Darent Valley Landscape Recovery Project and the Wilder Kent Awards explained why the project is important and how the children at Horton Kirby can help! Throughout a series of fun workshops, pupils discussed their priorities for protecting wildlife, reducing carbon, improving sustainability, and engaging with nature, and created their own action plan for the year ahead. They decided to write letters to the head teacher, parents, and local MPs.

Day 2 (February '24):

We began with an engaging workshop where we went outdoors to measure how much space could be set aside for nature at Horton Kirby. The children enjoyed using the measuring sticks to create maps and sketch out their ideas. Next was a ‘Birds of Kent’ workshop where children learnt about native birds and made their own pinecone bird feeders to hang up around the school playground. Finally, the Year 6 classes took part in a ‘Manifesto for Wildlife’ workshop where they wrote their own promises to nature and had the chance to be interviewed on camera!

Day 3 (May '24):

In May, Years 2 & 3 explored the topic of eco-anxiety with a workshop about how to look after yourself when learning about the climate and biodiversity crises. We also played some fun and active games about climate change and habitat fragmentation. Year 5 got their gardening gloves on and helped to clear a mound of earth alongside the school fields that will soon become a wildflower meadow. Whilst doing this we came across lots of species including moth caterpillars, beetles, woodlice, ladybirds and even a toad!

Day 4 (July '24):

During Kent Wildlife Trust’s final visit to Horton Kirby, Year R learnt all about ocean pollution by doing some experiments and playing a habitat game. We also had story time, reading The Bison and the Butterfly book! Then, Years 1, 3, and 4 took it in turns to take part in a BioBlitz, where we identified and recorded as many species as possible. This data can be compared to surveys done in future years to monitor how local wildlife is doing.  

We are so pleased to see that Horton Kirby C of E Primary School was awarded a Bronze Wilder Kent Award this year on their first year of entry. A fantastic achievement, well done!  

Seal Church of England Primary School

Day 1 (November '23):

Our first visit to Seal C of E began with a tour of the school grounds, including their onsite farm. During action plan workshops, students discussed their priorities for protecting wildlife, reducing carbon, improving sustainability, and engaging with nature. We finished up the day with an assembly about the Darent Valley Landscape Recovery Project and the Wilder Kent Awards which explained why the project is important and how the children at Seal Primary can help at school!

Day 2 (February '24):

During this visit Year 6 classes learnt about native birds in the ‘Birds of Kent’ workshop. The students made lots of mess making their own pinecone bird feeders before heading outside to hang them up around the school grounds! Later that day, pupils focused on writing personal manifestos for wildlife and had the opportunity to talk to camera about what promises they’re making to help nature and wildlife.

Day 3 (May '24):

In May the students learnt all about the topic of eco-anxiety. Year 5 took part in a workshop about how to look after yourself when learning about the climate and biodiversity crises, and we took our learning outdoors for some fun, active games about climate change and habitat fragmentation. We even had time to puzzle over a crossword to create a help sheet to refer to if students feel overwhelmed by environmental issues.

Over lunchtime the Eco Team discussed their priorities when thinking about protecting wildlife, reducing carbon, improving sustainability, and engaging with nature. They created a school action plan and decided to prioritise planting native trees and shrubs, having a wildlife friendly garden, and holding a wildlife fundraiser. It was raised that the pond area needed a new fence before it could safely be used, so this was a goal for the year.

During the winter, the Eco Team at Shoreham had made bird feeders to make sure our lovely local birds weren’t going hungry. The students learnt even more about this during the ‘Birds of Kent’ workshop which taught pupils all about the species of bird that call our county home. This was followed by a ‘Manifesto for Wildlife’ workshop with Year 1 where the children thought about what nature means to them and made their own promises to protect wildlife in different ways. They took time to make these into beautiful butterfly spinners for a classroom display.

Day 3 (May ’24):

In May, Year 5 got hands-on with a gardening workshop, clearing some soil and planting some wildflower seeds. We also had fun playing some active games that taught us about habitat fragmentation and climate change. Afterwards, eco-club took part in an eco-anxiety workshop where they learnt how to look after themselves when learning about the climate and biodiversity crises and created a help sheet for if they ever start to feel overwhelmed by environmental issues. To round up the day’s activities, Year R learnt all about ocean pollution and Years 1 and 2 took part in some super seed planting!

Day 4 (July ’24):

Our final visit for the year saw a day full of exciting surveys as the pupils carried out a BioBlitz, which is where we try to identify and record as many species as possible within a certain time and place. The data that the students recorded can now be compared to BioBlitz data in future years to monitor how local wildlife is doing. St. John’s also did some fantastic fundraising for Kent Wildlife Trust. They made their own bird feeders and held a sale at school to help us fix the Forest School area at Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve, which was unfortunately vandalised over the summer. The children at St.John’s raised an amazing £75 – thank you!

We were pleased to see that St John’s CE Primary achieved a Bronze Wilder Kent Award this year on their first year of entering. A huge congratulations again to everyone involved for all your hard work!