Rosemellin Woodland Rangers

Rosemellin Primary School, Camborne.

Project run by Agent Norris and her year 5 class a.k.a. the "Rosemellin Woodland Rangers".

Other people involved:

• The National Trust
• Cornwall Wildlife Trust
• Cornwall Environmental Consultants
• Agent Lambert, Project Coordinator, Camborne Science & Community College

Aims:

• To design and develop a woodland ecological site on the school premises using the already existing nature area.
• To give pupil ownership of the project by getting them involved in the design and some of the work.
• To create links with local organisations.
• To incite the whole school to use their outdoor area and link it to the curriculum in subjects such as science and art.

Summary of what happened:

The pupils set out to learn as much as they could about woodlands in order to understand what they were going to develop on the school premises:

• Staff from the National trust came into school to talk about woodland management. (January 2007)
• Staff from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust came into school and told them about woodland wildlife and conservation issues. (February 2007)
• The pupils visited two different sites: Tehidy Woods where they followed a nature trail and learnt how to age a tree thanks to staff from Cornwall County Council; and Godolphin Woods where they learnt about native tree species and the importance of woodland management with the help of staff from the National Trust. (March-April 2007)

Pupils participated in a couple of hands-on workshops:

• They made bird boxes and bat boxes with the help of Cornwall Wildlife Trust staff. Those boxes have since been put up in the trees of their woodland area, and pupils are waiting to see if birds will choose to nest there in the Spring. (April 2007)
• They designed the gardens to help Cornwall Environment Consultants in the developement of the area. The pupils' tea tray gardens were studied and the best ideas were taken into consideration for the finished project. (May 2007)

Visits To The Woods

Tea Tray Gardens Workshops

Making Bird and Bat Boxes

What Next?

This project was definitely a success. Pupils were keen to get inolved and learned a lot about woodlands. They were a credit to their school during their off-site visits and when guests were visiting the school.The next step is to motivate the whole school to use the area. In order to do that, a new project has started that involves all year 5s. They are currently creating resources such as worksheets and fact-files linked to the outdoor area. The finished product will be a tree trail that will take students and teachers along a path where they will be able to learn more about plants and wildlife.