Wilder School - Halifax Primary

Our first visit to Halifax primary was an investigation of what is in place already, and what could be added.

We took survey sheets around the school grounds, ticking off and tallying things like grassy areas, hedges, trees, bird feeders and so on. We discovered that hedges and trees were prevalent, but there was lots of opportunity for wildlife homes, compost compartments, wildflower patches and a pond. Next steps were planning out where to put them all...

Our second visit, having discovered what was already present in the school grounds and what could be added, we worked out where to put it with our master plan!

Armed with tape measures we headed out and worked out how big the areas were we could put in, i.e. how long and wide the hedge could be. We also considered the practicality of the things we wanted to put in, namely where would be a good place for the pond so it would be safe. We then returned to the classroom and put together all we had measured and thought about and came up with our master plan for the site.

Master plan completed, for our third wilder school session we now considered how we were going to fund all of the things we wanted to do/build.

We gathered in the classroom to look at each of the things we wanted to do/build, in terms of what materials and 'things' we needed, like timber for bird boxes or wildflower seed for our pollinator pitstops. We also thought about how to get those things without paying for them, specifically asking for donations, and with that in mind made posters to put up asking family and friends for donations of the things we needed. Colourful and practical!