A city for bugs!

 

This week we started work on our big bug city. It will have hotels, apartment blocks and houses.. free accommodation for all mini beasts.

We went out and about to collect materials to furnish all the rooms. Look how much we gathered! The long stems of the cow parsley are hollow so they will provide homes for solitary bees. Twigs and sticks will offer lodgings for ground beetles and dried grass will be nice and cosy for lacewings.

Check in on our bug city contruction progress next week as we decorate the rooms and find the ideal place in the playground for all the mini beasts to live.

Club Wild, Mrs Young and Sarah-Jane

P4 Dance

P4 have been learning a dance routine in P.E with Mrs Pender. The children are in role for the dance and it would be beneficial for them to be wearing a black t-shirt and black/dark shorts for their performance. These clothes can be sent into class as soon as possible and stored in the children’s P.E bags until the performance.

Thanks,

Miss Morrison

Signs of Spring

This week, Club Wild was out and about looking for clues that Mother Nature leaves to tell us that spring is on the way!

We looked for snowdrops, the earliest bulbs to flower, and found bluebell shoots which pop up early to make the most of the light before the trees leaf above. We listened to all the different  bird songs and watched nests to see if the birds were busy building.

Over at the golf course pond we saw coots on their nests, and although maybe slightly early, we still looked for balls of jelly or frogspawn in the pond and ditches.

In the woodland we found bright yellow and purple catkins of hazel and alder trees. These floppy flowers are sometimes called lamb’s tails. We learnt that these trees, like silver birch flower before their leaves come. Their flowers are beautiful and also very good for early bees.

The children found hazelnut shells under the hazel trees that had been eaten by wood mice who nibbled a small hole in the shell and by squirrels who chopped them in half. On the way back to school Lachlan and Lucas found a pellet which was full of fur. Maybe it had been deposited by an owl or another bird of prey flying round school.

What an exciting time Spring is for all the plants and animals and for us Nature Detectives!

Sarah-Jane, Mrs Young & Club Wild

Preparations for Spring

After listening to all the beautiful bird music during the Schools Bird watch, we know that spring is on the way. Last week Club Wild made nesting bundles, made of simple building materials, hoping to encourage birds to set up home nearby.

First we collected forked sticks, then mixed together materials including dry grass, straw, wool, thread, dog hair and sheep wool. We wrapped these around the sticks and secured with twine. We hung these in up in the trees. We can’t wait to see nests soon, maybe the birds will have chosen our bright orange and green wool or the fluffy dog hair.

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This week we thought about why birds build nest (for shelter, to lay their eggs and raise their young) and how different birds build different types of nests. We also learned that it is becoming more difficult for birds to find good places to build nests as areas are developed for houses and gardens are tidied. We can give the birds a helping hand by putting up nest boxes around the school grounds. We put up two different types, one with a small hole for the smaller birds like blue tits, great tits and sparrows and one with an open end which robins like. We hope that everyone in the school will keep an eye on the bird boxes to see if anyone moves in.

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Cheers,

Sarah-Jane

Big Schools’ Bird Watch

This week Club Wild  took part in the RSPB’s Big Schools’ Bird watch. We set up three bird watching areas in and around the playground where we had placed bird feeders the week before in the hope that birds would come.

In our first area we turned the shelter in the playground into a bird hide, in the second area we hid in the school garden shed and the third area we made bird hides in the thicket of trees in the carpark.  Using our binoculars, bird spotting books, cameras and our counting sheets we watched and listened for a full hour.

All our hard work making the bird feeders, setting them up and watching quietly rewarded us with blue tits, great tits, wood pigeons and robins in the woodland thicket. What beautiful music! We learnt that the smaller birds need the shelter of bushes and trees while the larger birds, crows, magpies and seagulls are happy scavenging in the playground when we are not there.

Look out for more winter adventures next week with Club Wild.

Cheers, Sarah-Jane

 

Gymnastics

On Friday mornings we are starting to work with Ms Pender to learn gymnastics. Today we were learning about balance. Ms Pender was delighted with our work and lots of us were able to demonstrate our moves to the class.

 

In primary 4 we are proud of our achievements

Primary 4 have been discussing class work that they are proud of this week. Below you will see some of our thoughts:

Ryan S – Happy that we are having a secret pupil who receives 5 dojo points if they work hard and behave for the full day. Our teachers choose a new secret pupil each day.

Bailey – Proud that I have stayed on green for 2 days and proud of the Scottish tartan I designed.

Eilidh – I am proud that I have learned my 4 times table.

Kyle – Proud of behaviour in our class this week.

Amber – I have learned my 5 times table and got two medals, one for kickmaster and one for karate.

Summer – I enjoyed my artwork and drew and coloured a Scottish thistle for our Scottish assembly.

Local Wildlife

This week at club wild we have been making bird feeders out of a variety of different shaped plastic bottles. These will keep the seed dry and they look fantastic.

We also made fat cake for the birds. Here is our quick and easy ‘Club Wild – Bird Fat Cake’ recipe:

Ingredients
Vegetable or beef suet
Porridge oats
Any of the following – bird seed, meal worms, bird nuts, ground nuts, hard cheese
Moulds – yoghurt pots or other plastic tubs, coconut shells, pine cones
String tied to the mould

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until they are bound together. The warmth of our hands made the fat squidgy and sticky. Spoon the mixture into the mould and press it down.

By providing food and water for the birds we are helping them survive the winter. Hopefully we will attract more birds to the school grounds where we can watch and learn more about them.

Cheers
Sarah-Jane

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all creatures from Club Wild. We hope it is a good year for all and especially for the birds, bees and butterflies. Look what a difference we made last year with the wild flower meadow at the front of school. It went from a patch of bare ground to a beautiful haven for bees and butterflies. Everyone enjoyed the amazing variety and colours of the plants. We used it as our outdoor classroom where we made butterfly feeders, learned how to take close up photographs and carry out bee and butterfly surveys.
 
We are looking forward to the new year and for more adventures outside in nature. There is so much more we can do to help our wild plants and animals.
Below you will see some of our beautiful flowers from our garden. 

by Sarah Jane

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