Newsletter
Terms 3 & 4 2010
| This Spring Term newsletter reports on past projects and looks forward to exciting initiatives planned in 2010. Look at our home page and click on HORTON KIRBY WILDLIFE EXPLORERS where you will find links to Key Stage 1 & 2 virtual tours of the Centre wildlife area and village, together with investigations of the river Darent, including Habitats, Food Chains and River Study measurements. The Centre is within the Swanley and District Local Children’s Services Partnership. We are connected to the Kent Community Network and have a range of ICT equipment, including two interactive whiteboards and six wireless PCs. The Centre has TAG digital blue microscopes which enhance class visits and INSET through the videoing of terrestrial and freshwater invertebrates; all of which can be discovered in the Centre's wildlife area. Live recording of a nest of Blue Tits was carried out in April and May this year, while a family of Badgers are providing interesting insights into their behaviour. Other programmes include local history ICT days when we find out more about past inhabitants of Horton Kirby with help from the National Archives and other agencies. Class Visits Last year the Centre was visited by over 4,000 mainly Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils accompanied by their teachers and parent helpers. Most classes carried out village, Victorian and river studies. There are still some days available during Terms 3 - 6 2010 so schools should contact the centre as soon as possible to book a visit. In addition to local, river and village studies, the wildlife area is an appropriate resource for minibeast and habitat investigations from March to October 2010 Autumn Watch - 2009 WW2 visits may be booked up until March 2010.
The Centre's badgers emerge when the children have left The Centre wildlife area has a badgers sett and we have been gaining live film of the family from a camera hidden in a nearby tree. It should be possible from April or May to share our results with schools on the Kent Community Network. This will include real time and recorded output. Have the badgers been taking straw from our outdoor classroom? See information about our Straw Bale Outdoor Classroom below. Snow At Horton Kirby Horton Kirby and the most of the southeast woke up to heavy snowfall on the morning of Friday 18th December, the last day of term 2. The Centre wildlife area was a carpet of white.
Continual Professional Development There are a number of INSET courses planned for 2010. Most are also applicable for teaching assistants and other school staff and include Investigating Rivers, Local Studies, ESD and School Grounds Development. All encompass cross-curricular approaches to using the local environment and embrace the Outdoor Learning Manifesto, now controlled by the Council for Learning outside the Classroom. The centre has registered for "Route 2" accreditation which will endorse the quality of outdoor learning provision for pupils already in place. See Teachers Courses for more details of CPD. Also look out for flyers at school and particularly e-bulletins on Kent Trust Web. Kent Birdwatch 2010 The Centre is contributing to Birdwatch 2010. The project is an exciting opportunity for Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils in and outside the classroom to use a range of ICT resources to discover and learn more about wildlife and conservation issues associated with the many species of birds that live in and visit Kent." More information about the project, including its launch on 25th January may be obtained by visiting the Kent Birdwatch 2010 microsite. The Centre is also contributing to Naturewatch 2010. More information can be found on the SEGFL Nature Watch 2010 blog on Kent ICTSchool Grounds Development Project  A number of primary schools were involved in a school grounds project during Terms 3 to 5 coordinated by Andrew Berry, Advisory Service Kent which began with a launch at the Centre on the 6th February. Phil Bracegirdle led the morning session on how to use Flashmeeting as the project involved a video link with participating schools later on the 26th March.
This Flashmeeting event enabled pupils from the different schools to ask a variety of questions ranging from how to encourage wildlife to their school grounds, to the differences between butterflies and moths. The project continued on 7 and 8 May when small groups from the following schools; Culverstone Green and Kings Hill on the 7th and Borough Green, St George’s, Hextable and Our Ladys, Dartford on the 8th, took part in the pupil activity days where the children become nature detectives for the day and investigated a range of freshwater and land habitats. The aim was for the rest of the class back at school to also study their grounds during the morning. The groups then took part in individual school Flashmeetings where they were able to discuss their findings live with their friends back at school. During this time other groups were preparing some art displays before going out again to complete a plan of the wildlife area. We are planning a further School Grounds development project in 2010. |
For further information about class visits and how to book see booking info. For a summary of the Main Programme of Study offered see Study Topics.
Frequent visitors to the wildlife area Renewable Energy at Horton Kirby The Centre has a small wind turbine and solar panel sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline. They will power a water pump in the main pond to help aeration during the spring and summer months. Funding from GSK has also provided mini wind power and solar kits for use by classes focusing on Waste and Recycling days. Contact the Centre for more details.
Wildlife Area Developments Work on the site was again carried out during last winter by the local Environmental Task Force. They improved the paths, constructed a barrier by the main pond, cleared undergrowth, assisted with water recycling and created further mini habitats. Groundwork Kent and Medway, with the help of young adults with additional needs, have also cleared vegetation to provide more light for plant growth. The ETF also constructed the Anderson air raid shelter for our WW2 evacuation experiences and prepared the ground for a mini allotment which we hope will contribute to our ‘Dig For Victory’ theme. Anderson Shelter Experiences In addition to using the old school brick built WW2 air raid shelter a replica Anderson Shelter, made out of corrugated iron, was constructed over the winter by the ETF and other volunteers. A bed, table old lamp and crockery has been added. During the summer terms this has provided pupils with an opportunity to investigate what wartime children had to endure nightly during the worst of the air raids.
GlaxoSmithKline - Volunteers
revamped the front garden area, constructed a greenhouse, weatherproofed the benches,
painted the playground map and much more. Additional help was also given in July. More assistance is promised for early September. A Straw Bale Outdoor Classroom
For more photos of the straw shelter’s construction visit http://www.swanleyed.org.uk/ Unfortunately the badgers also liked our straw shelter and begain gathering some of it for their bedding. However, we provided an alternative source of straw elsewhere which satisfied them! Classes from the Riverside Pre-School visited on 5 May and 23 June. They listened to teh story of "The Three Little Pigs" in the straw shelter and went on a minibeast safari and pond dippinng. We hope to deliver more Early Years provision in 2010. Look out for further information in your school. Volunteers are frequently required to carry out conservation management work in order to maintain this delicate habitat and assist with the recycling area. Plus manage the "Dig for Victory" mini allotment. Please contact the Centre Manager for further details. Archive:
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