How
The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country
MY WILD SCHOOL can bring the natural world to your school.
Protecting wildlife where you live
“The world is mud-luscious and puddle wonderful.” — E.E. Cummings
The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country aims to make environmental education available to every child. Learning outdoors allows children to explore, be creative and imaginative, develop confidence and self-esteem and feel comfortable taking risks in a safe environment. The physical and mental benefits of spending time in the natural environment are well documented.
Every year up to 15,000 children participate in our exciting and inspirational environmental education activities. From minibeast trails and pond-dipping, to day conferences, forest schools, role-playing and debate we can tailor a package to suit your needs.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Albert Einstein
1 .Hands-on [learning outside the classroom] activities led to improved outcomes for pupils and students, including better achievement, standards, motivation, personal development and behaviour.” - Ofsted, Learning outside the classroom: How far should you go? (2008)
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BRING A CLASS TO OUR ENVIRONMENT CENTRES ECOPARK: SMALL HEATH BIRMINGHAM has many different and exciting demonstration features. There is wind and solar powered energy generation, a demonstration wildlife garden on the scale of a typical suburban garden - complete with a wonderful fig tree that produces a huge harvest of figs each summer. There are reedbeds, used for ecological water treatment, banks of compost bins, a tree nursery, the famous ‘telepole wall’ and there are always a variety of new and different activities depending on what our young visitors have been up to in recent weeks.
MOORCROFT ENVIRONMENT CENTRE: MOXLEY WALSALL is situated next to Moorcroft Wood Local Nature Reserve, owned by Walsall Council. Planted just over 100 years ago on a former colliery site the reserve is an amazing illustration of how diverse and exciting urban wildlife can be. The mature woodland offers great opportunities for youngsters to experience and study nature, the large lake allows them to discover a whole new world of waterbirds and minibeasts. Moorcroft Centre offers national curriculum linked environmental education activities to schools across the Black Country.
Book a session at ECOPARK / MOORCROFT ENVIRONMENTAL CENTRE t ) 0121 454 1199 e) info@bbcwildlife.org.uk
At both sites our environmental education experts offer national curriculum linked activities to schools and groups. Options include one off sessions to regular visits from a few hours to a whole day. We also offer teacher training in various aspects of environmental education and a comprehensive range of Forest School activities.
Protecting wildlife where you live
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“Children learn best through everyday experiences with the people they love and trust, when learning is fun. The best place for these experiences is outdoors, in the natural world.” — Centre for Families, Communities, Schools and Children’s Learning.
SCHOOL GROUPS LEARNING THROUGH FUN. LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM. The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country offers a wide range of fun, exciting and engaging activities, regular sessions and events. Getting children outside the classroom provides challenging, exciting and different experiences to help them learn. They are involved in practical activities exploring, investigating and enjoying the wonders of the natural world.
All sessions provide an unforgettable experience and can be tailored to you. Our staff can deliver activities on one of our reserves, at our environment centres, or in your school grounds. Our activities enhance and compliment the curriculum. We can offer programmes around specific areas of interest – history, maths, science etc, or provide crosscurricular activities.
To book a session with our EDUCATION STAFF contact us: t) 0121 454 1199 e) info@bbcwildlife.org.uk
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Our passionate Forest School staff can provide one-off or regular programmes of activity that encourage independence, teamwork, confidence and self-esteem in children and young people as they explore and experience the natural world for themselves. Forest Schools are fun and child-led, involving hands on learning experiences in a local woodland environment. All sessions can be tailored for different key stages, and multiple sessions or extended programmes of work can be designed to have built-in progression from one session to the next, tailored to the experience and understanding of young people.
THE SESSIONS WE OFFER INCLUDE: • Forest Schools: up to 15/20 children • Outdoor learning experiences for larger groups • Wildlife Watch is the junior branch of The Wildlife Trusts & the UK’s leading environmental action club for kids. We run sessions, help pupils achieve Watch Awards or set up a group in your school. • After School Sessions (can be with parents) • Habitat creation sessions with pupils: planting trees, sewing meadows, • making bug hotels
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ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES TEACHER TRAINING: we can put together a bespoke training package for teachers to feel confident delivering inspirational sessions in the natural environment. Contact us for more details.
SCHOOL GROUNDS: HABITAT CREATION, OUTDOOR PLAY AND LANDSCAPING • Our team will work with you to make space for nature and wildlife on your grounds. • Develop projects that can include pupil involvement such as creating a wild patch, making bird/bat boxes and other hands on activities,
creating a pond, a woodland walk, a willow dragon, bug hotels, small meadows or woodland. • Design and build environmental education spaces within school grounds or community areas. • Reshape your outdoor space: constructing outdoor classrooms, shelters, wildlife areas and creating larger wildlife habitats. • Make your school grounds a Nature Improvement Area by enhancing the wildlife habitats that are already there or by creating new ones. We can work with teachers and children to undertake wildlife surveys and produce a wildlife management plan. Our team has experience of creating woodlands, hedgerows, meadows and ponds across Birmingham and the Black Country. • Offer services such as tree safety surveys and landscape design.
Being part of the Wildlife Trusts we want all our projects to be as beneficial to wildlife as possible, thus most of our natural resources are sourced within a 50 mile radius of Birmingham from woodlands managed for a wildlife benefit. For more INFORMATION and to ARRANGE A QUOTE contact us: t) 0121 454 1199 e) info@bbcwildlife.org.uk
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MYWILDSCHOOL
BRONZE
BENEFITS
BENEFITS
£75
SILVER
£250
GOLD
£500
PLATINUM
SUPER PLATINUM +
£750
£3000
Ten half day sessions with a Wildlife Trust staff member delivering outdoor education sessions Two full days with Trust staff working at your school site or one of our educational sites. This could be working with pupils, creating habitat at your school site or teacher training sessions. One full day with Trust staff working at your school site or one of our educational sites. This could be working with pupils, creating habitat at your school site or teacher training sessions. Two session plans for outdoor education activities relevant to priority key stages. One school assembly on wildlife and nature conservation tailored to appropriate key stage BBC Wildlife Trust School e-newsletter Your school name on our website Our Wild School Membership Certificate with Wildlife Trust branding Your school name in our Annual Review Wildlife Focus and Natural World members’ magazines three times a year Wildlife Watch (for kids) and Wildlife Link (for educators) Magazines four time a year with ideas and resources for outdoor education
Protecting wildlife where you live
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Your local Wildlife Trust Birmingham & the Black Country is the place where the Urban Wildlife movement began. We were established in 1980 from a campaign to save treasured green spaces from development. Now The Wi ldlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country, with the help of over 10,000 enthusiastic members, continues to work to make the urban environment a better place for wildlife and people.
Unique Urban Wildlife
© Photo by Amy Lewis
The wildlife of Birmingham and the Black Country is as rich and varied as that of any other part of the United Kingdom. The rare and the special are here, from scarce mammals like otters and water voles to bright dragonflies and horned beetles.We want wildlife to thrive so future generations can encounter, experience & enjoy our natural heritage.
Green spaces we all can enjoy From the gnarled, ancient trees and wetlands at Moseley Bog, to the astounding wealth of grassland wildflowers and butterflies on The Rowley Hills we manage our Nature Reserves for the benefit of wildlife and the community. We support communities and friends groups to help them look after and enjoy their local green spaces.
© Photo by Vicky Nall
CONTACT US: T: 0121 454 1199 E: INFO@BBCWILDLIFE.ORG.UK The Wildlife Trust fo r Birmingham & the Black Country, 16 Greenfield Cescent, Edgbaston Birmingham B15 3AU
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MYWILDSCHOOL bbcwildlife.org.uk
© Photo by Malcolm Brown
Registered Charity no. 513615. Registered Company no. 1650938 2015 ©The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country.