Going Wild about Scotland through September

23/10/2016 in RZSS

We’ve successfully completed our first full month of the 2016/17 school year. During September we visited schools in the Aberdeenshire area, Edinburgh and South Lanarkshire regions, and in the Highlands around Fort William. It was also a chance for our new Education Officer Kirsty to teach the Wild about Scotland school sessions.

August ended and September began with an amazing week at Aberdeen TechFest, as part of their line-up of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) opportunities for primary school children. We had a lot of good feedback and really enjoyed our week. We were even lucky enough to bump into Professor Robert Winston who was giving a lecture to some of the older children there! The weather also meant we could get out and about to explore the surrounding areas, such as Newburgh beach. There were lots of seals and we even got a sighting of a whale which was very exciting. However, we also saw a sight we wished we hadn’t. A seal with a fishing net trapped round its neck. It’s ironic that during the day we were teaching children about pollution and the problems it causes and only a few hours later we saw this happening for our own eyes. But don’t worry, we called the Scottish SPCA who were able to go and monitor the situation and would intervene if they felt necessary. We spent the next week enjoying visiting schools around the city of Aberdeen.

We stayed closer to home during the following two weeks; visiting schools in South Lanarkshire and Edinburgh, and we were lucky enough to take part in the Marine Conservation Society Great British Beach Clean. In the morning we spent time down at Cramond Beach where RZSS have adopted part of the beach to look after. We had children from the local primary school come down to visit the bus, where they learnt all about Scottish animals and took part in a marine litter timeline activity, as well as joining in on one of the many beach cleans happening over the weekend. The afternoon involved a quick drive along the coast to Portobello beach where we teamed up with Children’s University. There was a good turn out with lots of children coming aboard the bus as well as taking part in the beach clean. Edinburgh Capitals, the city’s ice hockey team, even made an appearance to help with this great cause and enjoyed a look around the bus.

Bang Goes the Borders (BGTB) took place the following day. It was our first time participating in this amazing event. BGTB is a free science festival aimed at families and with the sun shining brightly we had a great turnout with close to 900 visitors to the bus. It was definitely a fantastic event to be part of and a rare opportunity for both RZSS outreach projects to attend the same event with Beyond The Panda taking part as well.

Our final week in September took us to the Highlands around the area of Fort William and gave us the opportunity to showcase our new assembly and bus session. The assembly allows us to connect to the whole school and gives the children an overview of the habitats and animals we find in Scotland. Our new habitats session (Seas, Forests, Mountains and Moors) follows on from the assembly and takes place on board the bus taking a closer look at the amazing habitats we find in Scotland and the species you found in them.

After a busy month we have an exciting October planned with trips to the Isle of Bute, RZSS Highland Wildlife Park and the Central Belt. As well as this we have a trip to National Museum of Rural Life planned for the 22^nd October so if you are in the area please come and join us!

See you next month,

Jamie and Kirsty
Wild about Scotland Education Officers

Top comments from schools this month…

• “Links well with conservation, ECO schools, sustainability and current traffic issues at school.” Danestone
• The children were so excited about going on the ‘double decker’ bus. They enjoyed learning.” Danetsone
• “Many thanks for a really profitable morning. The sessions were well planned and enthusiastically delivered.” Middleton Park
• “It developed the children’s knowledge and understanding of the environment, nature in Scotland, landscape and food chains.” Bramble Brae
•  “Pupils enjoyed the game in the assembly. The sessions on the bus were well led, interactive and informative. Enjoyed this and leaders were very knowledgeable.” St Josephs Primary, Greenock.
• Excellent links with numerous outcomes and experiences in line with the CfE. Very well organised resources and great mix of practical/written activities.” North Bute Primary School

 

Brilliant morning with @mcsuk and @MilesBriggsMSP for the Great British Beach Clean! pic.twitter.com/jN3ug8Uw1A

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) September 16, 2016

 

Great to meet @edcapitals at the #GreatBritishBeachClean yesterday! Thanks for coming along and taking part :) pic.twitter.com/ivVbKD0Lsp

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) September 17, 2016