Day 4
School #7: Winterbourne Valley CE VA First School
After a brief re-fuel (cake stop) in Dorchester I was back on the road to Winterbourne Abbas, with an afternoon appointment with Mrs Braidwood and the Eco Committee at Winterbourne Valley CE VA First School.
Until now I'd managed to arrive for every visit on time. This afternoon, due to an unfortunate bug - eye - suncream incident en route (lesson learned - I will wear sunglasses from now on) I was a bit late getting there. That aside, it was a lovely ride through Martinstown and Winterbourne Steepleton alongside the Winterbourne, which, clear, sparkling and adorned with water lilies looked highly tempting to my hot feet!
The pedal was worth the effort. One of many of Dorset's village schools, Winterbourne Valley were the smallest on my Green Schools World Tour of Dorset itinerary and the moment you walk in you feel their very special family vibe! Mrs Braidwood has been overseeing all things eco for a number of years and is full of enthusiasm, as are her team.
The first thing we learned from the children was that an old neck tie can be recycled to make a brilliant draught excluder.......who knew? Take a look at the school blog to read about this and the other activities the children did for their recent Eco Day, all linked to the Eco-Schools topics. And if you're tempted to make your own draught-excluding snake, here's a link to show you how.
Wild Winterbourne
The children were dying to show me the habitats and wildlife in their school, so we headed outside. On the way I noticed all the children ducking and walking VERY quickly as they went through the hall door and into the yard. What kind of strange ritual was this I wondered?
Not a strange ritual at all, just a matter of practicality! It turns out the hall door is directly below a nest of house martins. The children are really pleased to have these lodgers but have learned to leave the hall quickly to avoid a deposit from above!
They come back every year, navigating their way from Africa to rear their chicks in this nest. I told you the school had a family feel :)
Having successfully dodged the bird droppings, the children showed me up to the back of the field to see where the other wildlife hangs out. And it's a veritable wildlife haven......Reg was in seventh heaven with not one but two delectable bug hotels! 
We also stopped to admire this artisan bird feeder, made by Juno. It started off as a plastic bottle but it has been cunningly disguised, and she has added perches for the birds as well as artistic leaf designs. Outdoor learning
While we were out, Mrs Braidwood's Reception class came out to do some shelter-building. Outdoor learning like this is a structured part of their week.
It might look like play but Mrs Braidwood assured me that with this simple activity and basic equipment the children are actually learning some fundamental physical and social skills - teamwork, problem solving, dexterity to name a few - while also putting their creativity to work.
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Year R building shelters. Some children are very
successfully sheltered under the white sheet!
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All the classes get to do age-appropriate learning outdoors every week, using this lovely space. To make sure this happens whatever the weather there are wellies for every child.....and as you see, they've got welly storage sussed!
The lovely people at Dorchester Timber gave reduced cost dowel, and Year R are making excellent use of it!
Growing
Then on to their growing area. Last year's potato crop was big enough for every child in the school to eat some for lunch.....I'm told they were delicious with butter!
Each class has their own raised bed which they have planted with a variety of salads, herbs, fruit and veg.
And now for the gardening revelation of the century for any one who's plants have fallen victim to slugs:
SLUGS READ SIGNS
It's true.
The evidence?
Most classes put up one of these signs, politely instructing pests to stay away.
↘
Mrs Braidwood's class didn't....and theirs was the only bed to be ravaged by slugs this year.
So there you have it. Conclusive evidence.
Recycling champs
Lastly, we took a look at their recycling facilities. All the children, even the little ones, know to separate their rubbish (these beautifully labelled recycling bins help!)
The school have also been collecting textiles for recycling for some years. This is their textile bank, provided by Elm Tree Textiles. Families can donate good quality clothes, textiles, belts and bags.
Elm Tree sort the donations, which all go off to different places:
- cotton and tropical clothing goes to poorer communities in Africa.
- heavy items go to the cold countries of Eastern Europe, Russia and other nations
- sweaters and other yarn quality goods are reused to produce yarn.
- woollen goods are recycled into items like wood, mattresses, sofas, car seats and chairs
Not only does this save clothes from going to landfill and help communities around the world; the school also gets paid for the materials they collect. We won't divulge how much, but the school make a healthy income which gets recycled back into supporting gardening and eco projects. An all-round winner!
Eco Around the World
Their workshop was Eco Around the World. With the help of my inflatable globe we searched for other countries with Eco-Schools. There are over 60 countries!
Then we explored how children around the world care for their environment, what was the same and what was different about what we do in Dorset.
We saw children in Jordan learning to ride a bike, Ugandan children growing vegetables and Japanese children cleaning out a river.
We learned the staggering fact that across the world, there are 19 MILLION children at Eco-Schools, all busy learning and caring about our planet!
Does that make you feel optimistic?
The Mission
Lastly, the children chose a mission (entirely at random - a bold move!). Here's what they got:
MISSION :
Visit a beach and do a beach clean or go on a nurdle hunt.
After a quick chat about nurdles, the children accepted the challenge! They promised to report back after their beach cleans.....I wonder what they'll find?
Read more about the visit on the school Eco Blog.
And with this gang of smiling, enthusiastic children ended week 1 of the Green Schools World Tour of Dorset. I was still smiling all the way back to Dorchester.
Thank you Winterbourne for a splendid afternoon!
