Visits to nature sites and school-based learning outside of the classroom are becoming a rare event in many schools that face constraints both on resources and curriculum content. Research shows that young children are losing touch with nature for many reasons, not least due to more emphasis on screen-based experiences and social media. This is having a detrimental effect on their wellbeing, plus their experience of and connection with the natural world.
For our third Moorlands Wild Week we wanted to help children explore and appreciate our wide open green spaces and the wildlife that they contain. Many children do not get the opportunity to independently visit the Nature reserves and beautiful places in their immediate or wider neighbourhood. Many hardly know or can identify the names of our trees, wild creatures or wildflowers, let alone appreciate the need for their conservation, so we were thrilled this year to have 200 children from three schools (Beresford Memorial First, Endon Hall Primary and Leek First) taking part.
Our volunteer team helped them to discover and identify a variety of wildflowers, bugs, and pollinators, some in their schools’ own green spaces, some at Tittesworth’s wildflower meadow and some at the Foxlowe garden in Leek.
They explored hedges, paths and grassy areas, noting findings with spotter sheets, colour wheels and sketches. As one of the teachers remarked after the class visit:
“Children had the opportunity to explore the outdoors and experience looking more in depth at the wildflowers that they may not previously have been exposed to or noticed. They also became more aware of the importance of wildflowers and the impact on insects and wildlife, hopefully improving awareness and respect for them.”
We would like to thank all who made our 2024 Moorlands Wild Week happen. Whatever part they played. Thank you first, to all the children who took part and were brilliant. To the teachers and staff who worked hard to prepare and organise the children at their schools; to Staffordshire Wildlife Trust’s Wild Child Officer, Louise Taylor; to Greenwood Growth’s Lorna Stoddart for leading some of the activities; to volunteers, Alison, Andy, Anne, Claire, Jane, Judy, Lynn, Mark and Pat for helping the children to discover and identify items of importance and to Severn-Trent’s Manager Richard Whiting, and Jo Clough, Head Ranger, for contributing to risk assessments and providing back up if needed. Finally, a huge thank you to all who generously helped to fund the two 41-seater coaches to transport the children to and from Tittesworth - the Wildflower Society, Leek Town Council and SMDC councillors.Moorlands Wild Week – June 2024