George Bethell, Learning and Engagement Officer at Secret World Wildlife Rescue, discusses the opportunities for schools and young people to learn about wildlife
In the 30 years since its beginning, Secret World Wildlife Rescue has helped rescue, rehabilitate and release thousands of animals back into the wild. Alongside this important wildlife rehabilitation work, Secret World also aims to inspire in everyone – particularly young people – a love and understanding of wildlife and the countryside, something that it has been doing for many years through its learning programme.
The key to developing an understanding and a love for something is having hands-on experience. This is something that Secret World offers school, youth and community groups through educational visits to its site. As well as learning about the work we do and the wildlife the centre helps, visitors are given the opportunity to develop a connection with nature through a variety of sessions.
Opportunities include learning to identify bird, tree, moth or minibeast species, hunting for small mammal tracks and signs, dipping through the pond to see what lurks below or listening to the local bat population using a bat detector. We are extremely fortunate being based in Somerset to have access to these species and many more on our doorstep.
These sessions provide vital opportunities for our young people to begin understanding what they can do to help British wildlife. The sessions we offer are linked to the national curriculum and provide plenty of ideas on how you can support wildlife locally. We often worry about thinking big when helping wildlife, but small efforts can make a big difference…
Don’t have a pond or waterway near you, then why not make one? You can do this using a bucket or washing up bowl – fill up your container with rainwater if possible, then add in some pond weed and pond plants to help keep the water clear. Don’t forget to put in a ramp or build up a side of the pond with stones or bricks, this is so if anything accidentally falls in, it can climb back out again. Hedgehogs are particularly good at finding their way into ponds and not being able to get back out.
Now wait and see what creatures make their way to your pond; it may only take a few days but be patient as larger creatures like frogs and newts may take a little longer to find your pond.
Secret World also offers outreach visits to local school and community groups, running talks and workshops focusing on the problems wildlife faces today. Around 40% of all wild animals brought to Secret World are due to human related actions, these include littering, road traffic accidents, gardening injuries, loss of habitat and increasingly climate change. Outreach sessions focus on these causes and investigate what can be done to eliminate or reduce their impact on British wildlife. These sessions are also curriculum linked and can be designed to fit in with your class topics.
To start the process of reconnecting your class or group with nature, email email hidden; JavaScript is required to find out more about what we can offer.