Going Wild about Scotland through May

17/06/2016 in RZSS

It’s been another exciting month for the Wild about Scotland team, visiting schools in East Renfrewshire, East Lothian, Fife, Glasgow, Argyll and Bute, North and South Uist and Benbecula.

We were lucky enough to be visiting schools around Argyll and Bute during an unexpected heat wave. With temperatures reaching up to 25C! It was great to be able to teach parts of the sessions outside!

Over the weekend of the 21^st and 22^nd of May we were back at Scotland’s Big Nature Festival in Musselburgh, hosted by RSPB and East Lothian Council. This is a fantastic event bringing together conservation and education organisations with stalls, talks and activities for the public on the theme of Scottish nature. Over the weekend we had 1674 visitors to the Wild about Scotland bus, learning about RZSS conservation projects and taking part in activities including our native skull challenge and our ‘How long ‘till it’s gone?’ litter challenge.

The month of May also saw the 7^th island trip for the Wild about Scotland team, visiting North and South Uist and Benbecula. Following our visit to Lewis and Harris last year it was fantastic to be back in the Outer Hebrides with their unique landscape. It also gave us the opportunity to talk about specific wildlife issues that face an island community. For example, the problem of invasive species such as the hedgehog, which although a popular animal (especially amongst children) have caused problems for their ground-nesting birds by eating their eggs.

We had a fantastic journey back to Edinburgh from Uig on Skye, passing through iconic Scottish landscapes, including Eilean Donan Castle and a very atmospheric Glencoe, which is the inspiration for the artwork on our bus.

Next month is the final month of the school year. Look out for us as we continue to visit schools in North Lanarkshire, Rosssshire, Falkirk and finishing up in Shetland. This will mark a significant milestone for the programme - having visited schools in all 32 local authority areas in Scotland!

See you next month,
Jamie and Lindsay
Wild about Scotland Education Officers 

Top tweets and teacher comments

“My experience with all Wild about Scotland staff has been fantastic from start to finish” Lochgoilhead Primary School

“The content and activities were perfectly pitched. The children were focussed and engaged throughout. Fantastic learning opportunities for the children. The sessions generated lots of discussion. An excellent learning opportunity for all” Dunoon Primary School

“The event captured all of the children's interest and their enthusiasm was evident” Dunoon Primary

“Plenary session was excellent- pupils engaged and focussed” Paible School, North Uist

“We are currently ‘Learning for sustainability’- therefore, a perfect link! … Information is all relative to their local area” Balivanich Primary School, Benbecula

“Good cross-curricular links made to maths/ data handling” Daliburgh Primary School, South Uist

“A great workshop and the delivery was excellent. Well suited to the age of the children. Pace and questions really got the children thinking. All pupils were engaged. Thank you very much!” Daliburgh Primary School, South Uist"

We passed through #Glencoe this week so took the opportunity to get a photo of the bus in familiar surroundings pic.twitter.com/Xb2YHJX86e

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) May 22, 2016

I may have found Scottish paradise in Eriskay #OuterHebrides pic.twitter.com/sejCRXZJPy

— Jamie Ormiston (@Jamieo_edu) May 18, 2016

As temperatures reached 25 degrees today in #Lochgoilhead we took the opportunity to do some #outdoorlearning pic.twitter.com/D96sAj0oEX

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) May 10, 2016