Did you know Friday 5th June was World Environment Day?
The pupils at Bitham Brook Primary knew all about it, as they took part in lots of wildlife-friendly activities, organised by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Kier.
Kier Group plc is a property, residential, construction and services organisation that works internationally, and to celebrate World Environment day, they teamed up with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust to get their hands dirty making improvements to Bitham Brook’s school grounds, with the help of lots of keen children!
First on the list was a mud kitchen, where the younger children could spend many happy hours making mud stews, mud pies and even mud cookies! Kier’s Chris Grimes built the mud kitchen using scrap wood donated from a local business in Westbury, Timber & Allied Services, a stainless steel sink that was being thrown away, along with old pots, pans and kitchen utensils brought in by parents.
Downlands Tree Surgery, based in Warminster, very kindly donated 12 large logs, which have been used to create a shady log circle for the children. They have already enjoyed hopping around the logs during playtime, as well as using the circle as a lovely outdoor setting for story time and other learning opportunities.
Local residents may also have noticed new bird boxes in the trees and even a minibeast mansion in the corner of the Key Stage 1 play area, made using waste pallets. Over the next few weeks the children will be stuffing this with rotting wood and hollow stems, perfect for lots of creepy crawlies to make it their home.
Year 3 children also made pine cone bird feeders, using lard and bird seed, to encourage more birds into the school grounds. So far they have noticed sparrows, collared doves and a gold finch making the most of these summer treats!
Chris Grimes, environmental manager at Kier said, “We always like to get involved with helping schools enhance the biodiversity within their grounds, as well as encouraging children to get outside more and learn about the nature on their doorstep. As the future custodians of our environment, it’s crucial we inspire children from an early age to explore, learn about and conserve our wild places.”
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust have been working with the school as part of the Trust’s Recycle for Wiltshire Joint Venture with Wiltshire Council. The project aims to get people in Westbury reducing, reusing and recycling more waste, and the pupils have had lots of fun getting creative with junk.
Pupils have turned old magazines into jewellery, created mosaics with plastic pots and planted up their own sunflower seeds and grass heads in compost made from Wiltshire residents’ garden waste!
Mrs Brisland, deputy head at Bitham Brook Primary had this to say, “The older children are very envious of the new mud kitchen and have been spotted after school trying it out!
“We have all been so lucky to have had so much fantastic input from Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Kier, which has left the children with a better attitude and understanding about the world they need to look after.”
