Day 6 School #9: Ferndown First School

Another scorching hot day and I was relieved at not having to cycle quite as far as yesterday!
Getting to Ferndown First School from Dorchester would have been a 60-ish mile round-trip on busy roads, and even with my battery assistance I didn't fancy it. So I decided to make use of another sustainable mode of transport and throw the bike on the train for part of the journey. By getting the train to Hamworthy I could link up nicely with the cycleway through Upton Country Park and then the Castleman Trailway, which would take me very close to the school. Plan.

Bikes on trains

Waiting for our first train ride at Dorchester South station 

Challenge #1 ensued: getting the bike on the train. As I've mentioned before, the old Hoffmeister is a heavy beast. Whilst I'm reasonably adept and manoeuvring my own little hybrid bike onto a train bike rack, the thought of manhandling this one into position was weighing (geddit?) on me somewhat.
Luckily for me, as the train doors opened a kindly guard stepped out and offered to lift the bike into the carriage for me. I don't think he realised what he was getting himself into, but by then it was too late. He was thoroughly committed to the helpful act so between us we humped the metal monster and it's cargo onto the carriage, and I'm pleased to report no-one was injured in the process.

Castleman Trailway fingerpost in the
dappled woodland light

Castleman Trailway

The Castleman Trailway is a 16.5 mile route that follows much of the old Southampton to Dorchester railway line. It is known as one of Dorset's gentlest way-marked routes and is used my many for walking, running, cycling, horseriding and buggy Olympics, but it was completely new to me.
I was delighted by two things:


Firstly, how easy the trail was to find and follow. From Hamworthy right up to Stapehill where I left it, the trail was easy to pick up and a reassuring abundance of fingerposts ensured only a real idiot could get lost (I did once).
Second....the shade! Phew! Once again the temperature outside of the shade was in the high twenties. But most of the trailway runs under a canopy of beech, lime, chestnut and pine which gave a lovely dappled light and much more bearable temperatures.

The Fabulous Ferndown First

This was my first visit to Ferndown since they (fanfare) achieved their much worked-for and greatly deserved Eco-Schools Green Flag earlier this year. The school's Eco Champions have been working towards their award for several years, led by the very dedicated Mrs Smith and Mrs Lord. They showed me some of the projects they had been working on this year.

Wildlife and habitats

Lots of children at Ferndown First have had the chance to explore the wildlife in their school grounds this year with help from volunteers from the RSPB Schools Outreach Programme. Fortunately there are lots of plants and habitats in the school grounds, like these newly-planted native trees, which provide lots of food and shelter for animals. The children are able to find many bugs and evidence of squirrels and slow worms in their school environment.

Also with help from the RSPB, the Eco Champions got to build this fabulous bug hotel, which Reg thought was quite marvellous. The materials for it came from Homebase - businesses can be really generous if you ask nicely!

Eco Code

Here Reg with the school's Eco Code. This green 'mission statement' reminds pupils of their responsibilities towards the environment when at school and is one of the things you need to have for your Eco-Schools award. The Eco Champions have made sure that the code is displayed all round the school and everyone knows about it (they even challenge pupils to say it by heart!).

Recycling
The Eco Champions have set up some special recycling points for materials which might not ordinarily get recycled.

Have a look at these recycling bins. What would you normally do with a dead highlighter? Most of the time the only option is to bin it. At Ferndown, you can recycle it! Same with (of all things) biscuit wrappers. The best thing is that the school earn money when they send these products away for recycling - what a winner! It's all part of a free scheme by the recycling company Terracycle.

The plastic bottle tops get sent to Lush Cosmetics, who make them into pots for their products. They must be very grateful to Ferndown for all the useful plastic they send!


Going Plastic-Free

Lastly, the Eco Champions' most ambitious project so far: tackling plastic waste! Like many other children I've met on this tour, they had learned about the harmful effects of using too much plastic and chose to take action by signing up to Plastic Free July.They started by doing a surprise lunch survey of everyone's snacks and lunch boxes. They were very shocked to find a total 324 bits of single use plastic. Presumably that's the same every day.....adding up to 1620 bits each week or a staggering 61,560 bits of plastic thrown away every year!

For Plastic Free July, the Eco Champions wanted to reduce that number. They designed posters and asked everyone to bring their food in reusable pots, bags or tinfoil and drinks in reusable bottles. Their plan is to survey again in July and see if the amount of plastic has reduced. Good luck to the champions for this bold plan!


The children are making such a name for themselves as local champions that they were also asked to help launch the new community initiative, Plastic-Free Ferndown. Over the coming months the Town Council will be working towards the Surfers Against Sewage 'Plastic-Free Community' status. Read all about it in Viewpoint magazine here.


Butterfly workshop

We finished the visit by learning about another type of wildlife that sometimes visits the school grounds; butterflies. We learned about the amazing straw-like mouthparts that they use to suck nectar up with, and learned that many of the butterflies in the UK are declining, often because they can't find enough food.
One way to help butterflies is to make sure there's plenty of nectar around for them to feed on, so we made these beautiful butterfly feeders. The sponge in the middle holds some home-made nectar (a sugar and water mix), and the colourful flower attracts the butterfly.
Visit the school blog to see them hung around the school grounds, waiting for hungry butterflies!

The butterfly feeders also got a mention in Viewpoint magazine! Well done everyone!


So there we have it - the Ferndown Eco Champions: looking after wildlife at school and taking care of the Earth's resources. What true champions they are.