Category: Club Wild

Our Outdoor club is made up of a small group of P5-P7 pupils who work with Sarah Jane Haston (parent helper) and Rachael Young (Pupil Support Worker) to develop skills, enthusiasm and resilience in working with nature and the environment.

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Club Wild – RSPB Big Schools Birdwatch

Last week Club Wild joined schools up and down the country to take part in the RSPB Big Schools’ Birdwatch. The Schools’ Birdwatch started in 2001 and since then 2000 schools have been involved with 90,000 pupils getting out their binoculars to become real citizen scientists.

Over the last few weeks we have been getting things ready. We had great fun making bird feeders out of recycled bottles and cartons and we also made an information dial to help us identify our garden birds. We hung out our bird feeders in the wildlife area in the thicket of trees at the front of the school and making sure that our bird feeders are filled up regularly, we could hear and see that the birds were visiting the feeders.

On the day we carefully set up our bird hide in the thicket of trees, using camouflage netting to hide behind and waited patiently and very quietly. The birds soon came in numbers and it was great to see our usual friends of blue tits, coal tits, great tits, sparrows, wood pigeons and a robin. The birds loved our recycled feeders and we noted that most of the birds went for the seed rather than the fat balls. It is great get so close to the birds.

Back in school we submitted our results to the RSPB who will gather together all the data from the Big Schools Birdwatch with the data from the Big Garden Birdwatch. We can compare our results to last year and see if we notice any differences.The RSPB uses the data to monitor long term bird populations and the analysed results are published in March. The annual birdwatch is as great thing to do.

 

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Happy New Year from Club Wild!

We hope that it will be a good year for all our wild friends. We can’t wait to do what we can to help them and learn about the nature all around us.

We started this year with a wild treasure hunt. A trail of oats led our way and we had to work out which was the right way and not the false path made to confuse us. Wild animals hidden along the way gave us clues to the next point on the treasure trail and we learnt that we had to look up and down for all the tracks and signs that animals leave behind.

Each of the six animals had a letter that we collected, C, P, S, S, U, P ? Can you work out what they were spelling?

A Scottish Wildcat hiding in the trees in the car park eventually gave us the treasure. Join us through the year for more wild adventures.

Club Wild
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Club Wild  – Feed the Birds

At Club Wild we have been making fat cakes for the birds. 

Here is our quick and easy ‘Club Wild – Bird Fat Cake’ recipe:

Ingredients
– Lard/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 to tie 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 fat for the birds we are helping them put on the weight they need to keep warm and survive the winter. Hopefully we will attract more birds to the school grounds where we can watch and learn more about them.
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Club Wild – Why Do Leaves Change Colour?

At Club Wild we have been looking at why leaves change colour and fall off their trees in the Autumn. We learned that the word for this is Senescence and this occurs in mid to late Autumn as different deciduous trees change from green leaf to a variety of colours.
It is funny to think that most of the spectacular colours of Autumn have actually been in the leaves all summer, covered up by the dominant green chlorophyll. As the weather cools and shorter days settle in, the chlorophyll starts to break down, revealing new and varied colour pigments. the brightest colours are seen when late summer is dry and autumn has bright sunny days and cool nights.
We went out to see if we could find and collect leaves with the different pigments. Some trees still had the green chlorophyll​. Chlorophyll is responsible for helping trees and plants turn sunlight into food.  The red, anthocyanin that we found in some leaves is produced as the chlorophyll is broken down unlike other pigments which always exist in the leaf. The yellow, xanthophyll can be seen throughout the Autumn on trees including birches, elms and oaks. The orange, carotene can be found beautifully on sugar maples. As the name implies, carotenes are also the chemical responsible for giving carrots their colouring.
We used the different coloured leaves to do some autumn art but the best thing to do during Autumn leaf fall or senescence is to run through the huge piles of crunchy, soft coloured leaves 😊🍂🍁
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Harvest Assembly

This morning we had our annual harvest assembly.  We were joined by our special guest, Mr Povey, who told us a story about the true meaning of harvest time.

P5 were excellent, telling the whole school and our parents/carers all about when and why we celebrate at this time.  Club Wild also presented and shared their learning with us and had lots of fresh vegetables to sell.

A huge thank you to all of our pupils, parents and carers for donating so generously to our West Lothian Food Bank collection.  We hope to continue supporting this very worthy charity throughout the year.

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Selling Our Harvest Crop

As Friday is our Harvest Assembly, our Partner Partner Group have arranged to sell some of our harvest crop gathered by Club Wild. Please feel free to take some items in return for a small donation to school funds.

 

 

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Club Wild – Autumn Treasure Hunt 

We have been out exploring the grounds around the school looking for clues that mother nature leaves us.. telling us that change is on its way, Autumn is here!

Twigs and leaves, fruits and seeds are all falling to the ground as the stronger winds shake the trees.  Birds, squirrels and other animals are busy collecting fruits and nuts to store through the winter.  We didn’t see any squirrels but we know they are there.  Under the pine trees we found pines cones nibbled by the squirrels as they collect the seeds.

Looking up and down we found all the things on our list. Will you find them too?

Join us for more autumn adventures soon.

Club Wild 🦔🐾🍁🕸
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Club Wild – Autumn Harvest 

As the weather turns colder it is time to harvest our produce in the school garden.

We got a bumper crop of potatoes of all different colours, the biggest red and brown onions we have ever seen and a bucket load of broad beans. The potatoes and onions will be washed, dried and stored so that everyone in the school can use them through the winter.

We tasted fresh peas and broad beans which will make a lovely hummus.

Join us next week for more Autumn adventures.
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Club Wild: Autumn – Fruity Foraging!

Over the last few weeks at  Club Wild we have been making the most of the bumper crop of autumn fruits. Thanks bees and the warm start to summer 🐝

We climbed the hill at the back of the school to find the orchard trees laden with plums🍑 and apples🍏.  Some of the trees were so heavy with fruit that their branches reached the ground.  Brambles 🍇 from the hedgerows around the park added to our bounty.

First we made crumble. One with apples and brambles, the other with plums. We rubbed the butter into the flour with the tips of our fingers and covered the prepared fruit with the sweet breadcrumb mixture.  The bramble and apple was definitely the favourite with the plum crumble a wee bit tart.

This week we used the rest of our fruit to make jam.  The plum jam is an amazing pink colour and the apple and bramble a deep purple. We learned how different fruits and different accounts of pectin, the stuff that makes the jam thicken.

Look out for our Club Wild recipe book and  jams on sale at the Christmas Fayre!
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Club Wild – Seed Bombs Away!

Now we can hear the sound of bees we know that spring is definitely here. Our wild flower bed is full of beautiful spring tulips and daffodils but to make sure the bees and butterflies have all that they need through to Autumn, it is time for ‘seed bombs away’.

Last Autumn we collected wild flower seeds from our wild flower patch and stored them in a dry place. We used these along with other seeds that bees and butterflies particularly like. Here is our seed bomb recipe:

1 cup of wild flower seeds

2-3 cups powdered clay or clay spoil

5 cups of Compost

We could tell if the soil had lots of clay by rolling it into a ball. If it stayed in a ball shape it has lots of clay but if it crumbles it does not. The clay will bind all the ingredients together. We delved right in and mixed all the ingredients together to make balls.

Now for the fun part… the throwing. Seed bombs away! 

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