Going Wild about Scotland through October 2016

20/11/2016 in RZSS

Autumn is a lovely time of year to explore new places; seeing places with the trees changing colours yet it still being light enough to explore. This month involved our first ferry trip of the year, a few days at RZSS Highland Wildlife Park, a week in Clackmannanshire and a bit of valuable time spent in the office.

We started the month with a week on the Isle of Bute. We stopped off in Greenock to teach a few sessions on the way before carrying on to catch the ferry to Bute. It was our first time visiting the island so was great to explore and see what it had to offer.  At the end of the teaching days we were able to visit St Ninians Bay, Ettrick Bay and Rhubodach.

(The Wild about Scotland bus touring the Isle of Bute)

During the following the week the bus was in for its routine service so we had some time in the office to develop the resources for the sessions and assembly. We also managed to fit a day in at Rowanfield Special School in Edinburgh. There was also time to get our new car wrapped. It now looks as good as the bus with the logo and iconic red deer on the side. We are very happy with the car. Thank you to Clydesdale Bank and Arnold Clark for making it happen. It now means we get to show off the car as well as the bus wherever we visit.

Due to the schools being on October break we managed to spend a few days up at RZSS Highland Wildlife Park. We had a lot of fun and lots of people visiting the park during the holidays were able to get aboard the bus and learn more about the Scottish animals that are at the park. We loved seeing the Scottish wildcat kittens and we took every opportunity we could to see the beavers but no such luck…maybe next time! After our trip to RZSS Highland Wildlife Park the bus visited the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride. We had over 100 people on board and they all enjoyed their visit. It tied in well with the rural side which the museum is all about.

Clackmannanshire was next on the agenda with school visits to Muckhart PS, Clackmannan PS, Deerpark PS, Alva PS and Strathdevon PS. We covered a wide variety of lessons throughout the week and the kids were very hands on. In total we have delivered over 40 sessions to over 1,200 children this month.

October wouldn’t be complete without a bit of Halloween fun…before we headed off to take part in the Dundee Science festival, we did some pumpkin carving. We made our very own Scottish Wildcat (check it out on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram!). Our month ended with taking part in the Dundee Science Festival which will also continue into November. November also includes visits to Stirling, Falkirk, Ayrshire, Fife and the Lothians.

Until next month,

Kirsty and Jamie

Wild about Scotland Education Officers

 

Top comments from schools this month…

 “Great session. Pupils engaged. Officers had great manner with pupils.” Strathdevon PS

“Very well organised and delivered very well too! J” St Clements RC PS

“This was a very informative and enjoyable session. The children were really engaged. Thank you.” St Clements RC PS

Top comments from members of the public…

“Really good idea for this bus. We really enjoyed it. Thank you!”

“Beautiful and hands on! Great experience and informative”

“All cool stuff! Kids love it…a winner!”

Top tweets this month…

Bute pupils hop on ‘Wild About Scotland’ bus: https://t.co/4canoymKqa pic.twitter.com/v7FHVf4r0X

— The Buteman (@the_buteman) October 15, 2016

 

First day of our time at @HighlandWPark done! The #Scottishwildcat kittens were having a great time! @SaveOurWildcats pic.twitter.com/qI132WNyII

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) October 18, 2016

 

Thank you for visiting our school @WildaboutScot - we learnt lots about endangered species and how we can help! pic.twitter.com/O6dxRecAdx

— Deerpark Primary (@DeerparkPrimary) October 26, 2016

 

Happy #NationalCatDay!! Here is our Scottish Wildcat pumpkin to celebrate pic.twitter.com/Y0oV06TBK7

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) October 29, 2016