It was a very last minute arrangement, my taking part in Headley Park Primary School’s Bristol99 event at Manor Woods Local Nature Reserve. Matt Postles, (BNHC’s designated member of staff for the day), had rung me and said he had ‘car troubles’ (which I imagined to be something like ‘women troubles’) and wouldn’t be able to get there on time. So off I toddled in his place, feeling somewhat self satisfied that I was going to have another lovely day out in the fresh air instead of sitting in front of a computer screen!
Local naturalist and broadcaster Ed Drewitt was delivering the event, in conjunction with Helen Adshead from Wild City, who had both previously worked together on school projects. There was also a BNHC volunteer in the form of the brilliant and unflappable Graham Harkom. We all met behind Bishopsworth library (as you do), ferried our equipment along the Malago valley cycle path and set up camp in a nice grassy area in the curve of the river Malago, to wait for the children.
Just before 10am, a shout went up from someone, ‘they’re on their way’ and the distant mumble of children’s chatter became more audible as they approached. Minutes later, 28 children in hi visibility jackets rounded the corner, and gathered in an untidy group, looking at us expectantly.
Ed started, by sitting them in a circle, (achieving a surprising level of quietness), and explaining a bit about the Bristol99 project before introducing us ‘grown ups’ and running through the plan of activities for the day. The children were to be divided into 3 groups and rotate around 3 activities under the guidance of their group leaders – me and Graham (and Helen, but that’s irrelevant, because she is an ex school teacher). Me and Graham? What experience did we have to teach children about the birds and the bees? Where was Matt Postles and his imaginary problem car??
The 3 activities were sweep netting, tree shaking and river dipping. First up for me thankfully, was sweep netting. I felt at least with this activity, there was at least some damage limitation, especially as the support teacher accompanying me, had kindly announced I had been given the ‘naughty group!’ So I gave a quick demo of how to use a sweep net and then distributed them amongst my flock, picking a confident girl (who looked like she would benefit from a responsible task) the job of noting down the species we found.
And so they swept. I was actually astounded by the numbers and diversity of wildlife that came out of that area of grass. For 40 minutes I was swamped by children waving nets at me and all shouting at once ‘what is it miss, what is it??’ It felt like a huge failure on my part to have to admit I didn’t know! So I showed them how to transfer their finds into bug pots so that Ed, who was wandering between the groups, could identify them. The excitement built and built, the more we found, and with it, so their enthusiasm grew. Some beautiful creatures were netted, including little seen hoverflies (one, amusingly called ‘The Footballer’) and pregnant metallic green dock beetles. My little scribe was fiercely writing trying to keep up with it all.
All too soon the activity was over and we returned to our base camp in the curve of the river Malago, to await assignment to our next task. Mine was river dipping. My heart sank. Graham had just done river dipping. He now had a handful of giggling, drenched boys to contend with for the rest of the day, and no doubt the novelty with being wet would wear off fairly sharply. Meanwhile my group had warmed up, their enthusiasm was ignited and they were taking on the form of a giant bottle of coke that had just been shaken and was about to have the top taken off! The support teacher wasn’t worried, nor was the head teacher. It was all in a day’s work to them. But although children like me, I have to say, they don’t listen to me (specifically meaning, when I tell them to stop doing something). And there was water involved. My thoughts were interrupted by my phone beeping. Text message. Matt Postles. ‘Car fixed, just about to get off bus, where are you?’ I was saved!!
And so, the second activity commenced, with a 2 strong team commanding the ‘naughty’ group (who weren’t naughty, just highly strung, and nothing which a good run to the top of a mountain and back wouldn’t rectify). Our young ‘dippers’ filled white trays with water and laid them on the river banks, ready to empty their nets into. This in itself made most of them wet of course and that was before they had even started the activity. The competitive element within was strong, the previous group hadn’t caught a fish, so that was the aim. It had to be explained more than once, that jumping about in the water was not conducive to netting fish, but some had been seen from the river bank (‘must be trout miss!’) and both confidence and optimism were overflowing (as were, to be fair, most of the white trays – ‘you don’t need that much in them, you won’t be able to carry it…. oops, oh dear!) While water went over the top of wellies to the sound of small squeals, a couple of lads quietly sneaked off and before long, had an excellent trawling system, from which they collected all sorts of creatures in their tray. When the others spotted the caddis flies, leaches, freshwater shrimps, mayfly larvae and tiny red worms they had stashed, the fish were forgotten. The trawling method was copied, and the children’s nets started wriggling with life. Freshwater field guides were laid out on the grass, magnifying pots were filled with creatures from the trays, and the children worked their way through identification keys to make sure everything caught, was named and listed.
After activity 2, which thankfully, came and went without incident, there was a break for lunch. When the sandwich boxes were empty, some of the pupils joined Helen Adshead to make pretty cards, decorated with leaves and flower heads, and it was nice to see the boys taking part in this. By now, I had quite a few new found friends from within my group (Matt less so, I’d left him to do the telling off!)
So off we trooped for the final activity of the day, laden with white umbrellas to do some tree shaking. The boys were particularly keen on shaking insects out of trees (not a huge surprise) but it was unfortunate that perhaps, the 2 previous sessions had left very few bugs in them, although we managed to get a few spiders out of some willow on the river bank. By this time, it was very obvious that there were some pupils who had really benefited from the event, they were enthused, they had learned the names of some of the flowers or creatures they’d found, and they were still interested in learning more, and in the case of a small group of girls, were already planning their next visit to Manor Woods with their family.
And so, after several hours out in the fresh air, the event drew to a close. Finishing as it began, with Ed Drewitt in the centre of a circle, surrounded by children sitting cross legged, on the grass in the curve of the river Malago, I noticed a distinct difference. They were quieter than they had been at the start, more thoughtful, more relaxed. They listened better, asked questions, recited names of creatures they’d learned. They even sat in a more circular circle (believe me, that was a problem at the start!)
They were asked to complete feedback questionnaires, which they did with a great deal of consideration. They all had a lovely time, they all learned something. They had one criticism, and it was this – it just hadn’t been long enough. That in itself tells a story, about outdoor education and how positively children respond to it, and how necessary it is, whether it’s for fun, or for learning. Eventually the two go hand in hand anyway. One session, although not enough, is at least a start in the right direction.
Bristol99 