Our school is so lucky to have The Northam Burrows Country Park on its doorstep, accessible directly from the village when the tide is low. The reserve lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, forms an integral part of North Devon's UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. We see this as a unique opportunity to expand our outdoor learning spaces onto The Burrows for field trips.
An important part of a learning journey through science is taking part in field studies and real-world surveys and research, to promote an understanding of scientfic enquiry. So we are very excited to be extending our collaboration with Rose Roberts, Deputy Ranger at Northam Burrows Country Park, to increase opportunities for field trips to this valuable local resource and facilitate the children's participation in surveys and projects. We will also be making greater use of the excellent learning resources and activities that Rose has developed.
One idea we have been discussing with Rose is a geocache classification activity, where the children can use GPS equipment to locate interesting plants on the Burrows that Rose has identified. Not only does this link well with our Classification Stations project but also offers the excitement of a treasure hunt, outdoor learning and the use of modern technology. The children will learn to navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates on the Burrows and then attempt to find the ‘geocache’ which, for this activity, will be a specific plant or location of interest on The Burrows. These activities will be an exciting element to add into our classificaton work, creating variety and widening the range of plants and habitats explored.
Rose has also been advising us on how to improve our school pond, to make it a richer environment for our wildlife and maintain our impressively large newt population. This will include replacing our plastic liner with a very deep layer of puddled clay (which the children can help to puddle into place).
Would you like to have a job that involves working in nature? Find out more about Rose and the job of Deputh Park Ranger that she does at the Northam Burrows Country Park