tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52497748818417543992024-03-13T23:19:33.314+00:00AWT Wild Schools blogNews, resources and information about learning and outdoor education with Avon Wildlife Trust.Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.comBlogger160125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-13182360793085277302014-11-06T19:00:00.000+00:002014-11-06T19:00:05.823+00:00Rolls-Royce fuels the future for bushcraftWith our saws sharpened, the marshmallows ready to toast and a sunny day of hard work ahead, we met our team of enthusiastic volunteers from Rolls-Royce plc who joined us to help with some essential improvements to our bushcraft site.
With over 3000 students visiting our Folly Farm education centre each year and bushcraft one of our most popular day and residential visits, we really needed to Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0Pensford, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset BS39 4DW, UK51.3398029 -2.572163799999998451.3298834 -2.5923337999999982 51.349722400000005 -2.5519937999999986tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-44482090641872452572014-10-20T16:07:00.000+01:002014-10-20T16:16:01.924+01:00And the winners are ....
Last night, at our glitzy award ceremony, CBBC's Naomi Wilkinson presented the first ever Mini Panda Awards sponsored by BBC Earth to the winners of Avon Wildlife Trust's 'Wild Schools Film Challenge' supported by Rolls-Royce plc. With over 50 films entered into this years competition a team of judges watched all of the films and selected the five finalists who were Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-43335766082302285382014-07-11T13:47:00.001+01:002014-07-11T13:47:41.833+01:00And they're off! We wave goodbye and good luck to our elvers
This week has been quite a week with an emotional farewell to our elvers that we have been rearing since April. Over the last 4 months our little office friends have tripled in size since they first arrived as glass eels and had changed into elvers.
Not only have these adorable elvers helped us learn how to look after eels to be able to share the information with schools Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-46987051394355896792014-06-24T11:01:00.001+01:002014-06-24T11:01:10.634+01:00Hungry Caterpillar at Folly FarmWe've just watched a wonderful video from Knowle Park Primary school all about their fantastic day at Folly Farm.
Take a look at what they have been up to by visiting their blog
Knowle Park Primary Blog
Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-2077975694379166202014-06-02T17:17:00.000+01:002014-06-02T17:17:01.871+01:00Wrington Pupils wave goodbye to their elvers
Our final release of the year before half term was a very exciting one with the children from Wrington Primary School having a fantastic time at Blagdon Lake.
The first thing to do was to head over to the eel pass at the Bristol Water Fisheries site and check whether there were any elvers waiting in the tank to be released up into the lake. This time we not only had these elvers which hadAvon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-31137943378505901122014-05-23T13:52:00.000+01:002014-05-23T13:52:04.217+01:00Wildlife in action
On a magical, sunny day at Blagdon Lake, 1500 elvers (young
eels) were released by the Year 5s from Yatton Junior School, ready to start
the next stage of their amazing lives in the reservoir. Blagdon Lake
isn't just home to thousands of elvers though... the children also saw nesting
coots, mute swans, mallards, cormorants and the many gulls that make a home
there. In the woodland Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-41900990173999159062014-05-21T12:13:00.000+01:002014-05-23T13:52:26.056+01:00St Andrews eel release
On Friday year 5 and 6 at St Andrews finally got to release their
elvers into the wild at Blagdon Lake where we hope they will be spending the
next 5 to 25 years maturing into fully grown adults. Then at some point
they will be following their instinct to take them back across the Atlantic
Ocean, all the way to the Sargasso Sea to spawn.
The children not only released the elvers they Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-25208108724468782982014-05-16T14:30:00.000+01:002014-05-16T14:30:02.841+01:00Catherine our young guest blogger from St Andrews shares her writing
A description of the journey of an eel.
As I slipped through the waves,their fingers licking me as I went along, the sky gazed down upon me. The serenity struck me as I entered the river; the dark waters were lifeless and empty. Weeds embraced me as I danced past, but whether they were capturing or loving me I wasn't sure. Looking through the beautifully deadly watersAvon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-81887551735978202592014-05-15T14:10:00.001+01:002014-05-15T14:10:58.209+01:00Escapeels?!
Feeding elvers is a delicate operation - better to let
them go a bit hungry than feed them too much - so last bank holiday weekend,
the Yatton Junior School Year 5s gave their elvers a little extra to keep them
going over the long weekend and were very pleased to see that they had all
survived an extra day without food!
Quite a few of the children commented that they thought
the elvers were Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-26784645764326378772014-05-14T14:30:00.000+01:002014-05-14T14:30:01.691+01:00Sustainability, sea life and us
Pupils in Congresbury have been busy learning all about the threats to wildlife living in our seas and rivers this week as part of our Spawn to be Wild project funded by Bristol Water.
After learning about the amazing life cycle of the eel and the fantastic journey they make across the Atlantic sea, pupils then learnt about all the hazards they face from humans.
Wrington Primary Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-8119005251535382372014-05-12T13:01:00.000+01:002014-05-12T13:01:06.032+01:00Eely fantastic art work
We think there may have to be some new wallpaper up in our office in Bristol thanks to some really lovely artwork that the schools taking part in Spawn to be Wild this year have done.
Yatton Junior School, sadly no name on it but a very talented artist in the making.
A very imaginative piece from St Andrews School imagining an eel inside its egg and the journey it has ahead of it
Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-24809909703969963592014-05-09T14:30:00.000+01:002014-05-09T14:30:01.787+01:00Learning all about the eels fascinating life cycle
Here at Avon Wildlife Trust we love getting to see work that pupils have done, and we are especially impressed with some of the life cycle work that the schools taking part in Spawn to be Wild this year have already done. Some of them make for very comical reading and are so well thought out.
So we thought we would share them on our blog so that you cn enjoy them too.
St Andrews Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-84863776396840533202014-05-08T22:36:00.001+01:002014-05-08T22:36:29.122+01:00Pollinators and Predators This month has been a very exciting time for the learning team at Avon Wildlife Trust. We've had a busy time with lots of day and residential visits to Folly Farm Centre, Spawn to be Wild schools are doing a great job in rearing their eels and learning about sustainability AND we have also launched our new project Pollinators and Predators.
CHILDREN in 12 local schools are Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-63692428583621806202014-05-07T12:32:00.001+01:002014-05-07T12:32:36.423+01:00What have our elvers been up to?
St Andrews school are keeping a close watch on their elvers to monitor and study their behaviour whilst taking part in our Spawn to be Wild Project funded by Bristol Water.
Here's what the pupils noticed last week:
Monday
Two dead eels were removed after the weekend. This is normal and in the wild there are some casualties, but we hope we don't Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0Congresbury, Bristol, North Somerset, UK51.370697 -2.81007199999999151.3310455 -2.8907529999999912 51.4103485 -2.7293909999999908tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-23693386497344727092014-04-30T11:11:00.002+01:002014-04-30T11:13:29.964+01:00Eely exciting times at Wrington and St Andrews primaryYear 6 at Wrington Primary school and Year 5/6 at St Andrews Primary school in
Congresbury were very excited last week to receive their very special guests who are
going to be living with them for the next few weeks - 120 glass eels!
Each class learnt about eel ‘husbandry’ and what to check for every day in the tank to
make sure that the eels are living in a healthy environment, how much foodAvon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-66906413770063113592014-04-27T19:46:00.003+01:002014-04-27T20:44:36.175+01:00Spawn to be Wild
Launching our 'eely' exciting new project - Spawn to be Wild
We are delighted to launch our new schools project kindly funded by Bristol Water. 'Spawn to be Wild' is rearing young eels (elvers) in schools in the Congresbury area, just outside of Bristol, with a whole programme of curriculum based learning activities all based around this fascinating animal.
Children at Yatton Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-31210947771993775462014-03-20T14:31:00.002+00:002014-03-20T14:34:00.618+00:00Trout and About at Blagdon Lake with Milton Park Primary
The mist lifted and the sun came out as the Milton Park year
5s arrived at Blagdon on Friday to release the brown trout fry that they had so
carefully looked after since January. It
was quite a long walk for some of them from the fishing lodge, across the dam
and round the woodland, but all the children got the opportunity to see much of
the wildlife that lives in or around Blagdon Lake, Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-39997102934266952592014-03-02T16:03:00.001+00:002014-03-02T16:03:15.500+00:00Swimming free in Blagdon Lake
On Thursday and Friday Bournville primary school set
off for Blagdon Lake to release their thriving fry (baby trout)! After
chasing the fry around the tank, as they were such speedy swimmers, we netted
them and carefully transported them in a tupperware pot.
On our arrival at Blagdon Lake we fed the biggest trout on
Bristol Waters' site in one of their enormous tanks - some of Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-46105290569165294252014-02-24T10:00:00.000+00:002014-02-24T10:00:06.423+00:00Wakey wakey little alevins at Milton Park Primary The brown trout alevins have hatched at Milton Park now but our trout caretakers in year 5 have noticed that their behaviour has now changed as they start to grow stronger.
Pupils have made these fantastic news reports to share their findings with us. We just couldn't decide which ones to include in our blog so here are three!
Well done Milton Park we love to hear all your Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-87967154627538271412014-02-21T10:00:00.000+00:002014-02-21T10:00:06.783+00:00Trouttastic titlesWe're delighted to hear that the alevins are all doing well over half term in the Weston-Super-Mare schools and the classes have now got to know them well and have even given them names. Here are some of our favourites so far from two of the schools who have all of their alevins hatched:
from Milton Park Primary School:
Prince
William
Alfie the Alevin
Bob
Theodore
Tim (the trout)
Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-27138756094791840922014-02-19T10:00:00.000+00:002014-02-19T10:00:06.534+00:00Lurking in the deep
The children from Year 5 at Bournville Primary school
investigated their school pond for the first time today! With great excitement
they entered their wetland area and peered into what looked like a slightly
murky and mini beast free zone. The pond was only created a year or
so ago and the children were not that sure how much life it would hold.
But after a demonstration of how Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-56594496520996579682014-02-17T10:00:00.000+00:002014-02-17T10:00:11.036+00:00Water Water everywhere! Milton Park year 5 students take on the challenge ...With so much rain and flooding around the UK at the moment the thoughts of students at Milton Park Primary school last week was more about the concern from too much water rather than how they could survive if they had less! Students spent the day learning about water sustainability and just how important it is to our lives and how we can all do our part to help save it as part of Avon Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-40485988971489869232014-02-14T12:42:00.002+00:002014-02-14T12:43:24.047+00:00Introducing our fantastic guest blogger for this week, Rocco, year 5 from Windwhistle Primary School - take it away Rocco!
Yippee! Only one or two more eggs have to hatch!
I'm not quite sure how long it took but that day was amazing.
They
are all swimming really swiftly but they are certainly much quicker
than I expected. They look like they have no idea where they are. I
named 3, one Larry, one Nev and one Kendrick.
I think they have become more interesting as they grow and
Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-87886407118967196702014-02-10T10:27:00.003+00:002014-02-10T13:03:02.830+00:00The alevins are coming!
Guest bloggers Bournville Primary School pupils have sent in their latest reports on how their brown trout eggs are coming along as part of our 'Trout and About' project.
Week 1
This week our eggs have developed
eyes. This means that the eggs are now turning slowly into alevin.
Twice a day we have checked and
recorded the temperature of the tank. We have also been checking the tank daily
Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5249774881841754399.post-42702280403002338352014-02-06T17:02:00.001+00:002014-02-06T18:02:44.790+00:00Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a jellyfish?
No! It's a plastic bag!
Year 5 at Oldmixon Primary School in Weston-Super-Mare had no idea of the damage that plastic waste in the sea can cause until their sustainability lesson as part of Trout and About project last Friday. They discovered how important it is to recycle when they saw the photos of wildlife harmed by plastic carelessly thrown away.
Hundreds of Avon Wildlife Trusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04644781098622279392noreply@blogger.com0