If pupils go down to the woods... (From Ilkley Gazette)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting IGNEWS to 80360, or email
If pupils go down to the woods...
3:46pm Friday 8th June 2012 in Local news
Paul Clark from Northern Gas Networks with Nell Bank manager Bruce Fowler and, from the left, Alaina Aslam, Oliver Scarratt, Sayaham Farook and Sophie Johnson
Schoolchildren from Otley and Ilkley have been discovering the wonders of North Yorkshire’s woodland.
Pupils from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Otley, and Moorfield School for Girls, Ilkley, were among nine schools to visit Hackfall Woods for woodland discovery day run by the Woodland Trust.
The schools visited the wood near Masham, part of the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The Trust’s Woodland Discovery Days programme aims to make learning about the UK’s natural environment fun, interactive and engaging and to provide schoolchildren with better access to woodland.
As part of the day’s activities, children were encourage to unlock the secrets and mysteries of the woods as part of a woodland walk and nature trail, using a ‘journey stick’ along the way to associate colours and objects with the sounds, sights and feelings they got from being in the woodland.
They then became explorers by either taking part in a Mini Beast Hunt or Pond Dipping.
Sue East, of the Woodland Trust, said: “It’s fantastic that nine different schools got the chance to take part in this fun programme. There is nothing better for learning than visiting outdoor classrooms like woodland.”
The Trust’s educational packs and resources also help Key Stage 2 schools link Woodland Discovery Day activities to the national curriculum.
