Warden Hill Primary School Cheltenham
This term, Spirax Group, a large engineering company based in Cheltenham, invited our children to participate in a competition to recycle and reuse packaging materials. Children were asked to creatively design new products to enhance everyday life. We are pleased to announce that the winners are Olivia C, Rufus, Teddy and Linkang! Each of them received a book to inspire their engineering journey. Well done to all those who entered.
This term Eco have been learning about water conservation and why it is so important to conserve this precious resource. Eco looked at the Severn Trent website, as well as BBC Bitesize during their research to find out information and also learn helpful tips and ideas about what we can do. They then shared an assembly with the children to inform them about why water is so important and what we can each do to not waste it.
Please see the notes for some of the ideas our Eco Warriors shared with the school:
Over the past century, the UK’s Bumblebee populations have crashed, with two species completely extinct and several others experiencing dramatic declines. They are hungry and homeless, as national changes to our landscape mean that good nesting sites and flowers are now in short supply. Bumblebees, who are vital for the pollination of wildflowers, fruits, and vegetables, urgently need our help!
This year our school has made significant strides in creating a bee friendly environment by both creating a wildflower meadow and planting ‘pollinator friendly’ plants around our car park and playgrounds. As a direct result of these efforts, two colonies of Whitetail Bumblebees have made their homes on our school site! Our pupils were absolutely fascinated during a recent assembly, where they learnt about these insects through resources provided by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. They were particularly amazed to discover the incredible variety and number of bee species.
Our Eco Warriors have taken a keen interest in identifying different types of Bumblebees, with some spotting both Whitetail and Redtail Bumblebees! In recognition of our hard work, we have applied for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s Bronze Award to become a Bumblebee Friendly School.
Warden Hill Eco Warriors are calling upon our entire community to ‘BEE the Change!’ Together, we can make a difference for these incredible creatures and the environment around us!
We are thrilled to share details of our recent visit from Tricia, a representative of the Butterfly Conservation charity, who came to inspire our Junior and Infant Eco Warriors! The children were absolutely captivated as Tricia introduced them to some fascinating black and yellow striped caterpillars from the Cinnabar moth, which she brought along to release in our newly created Wildflower Meadow.
The Eco Warriors were filled with excitement as they had the wonderful opportunity to observe these intriguing creatures up close. They took turns letting the caterpillars walk on their hands, mesmerised by their vibrant stripes and delicate movements. These remarkable caterpillars feast on the leaves and flowers of Ragwort plants, which are essential for their growth.
Once the caterpillars reach a substantial size, they will pupate and, come next summer, transform into striking little red and black moths. Unlike many of their nocturnal relatives, these moths are active during the day, seeking out more Ragwort plants to lay their eggs upon. The lifecycle continues as the eggs hatch into tiny caterpillars, starting the cycle anew.
A heartfelt thank you to Tricia for her visit and for igniting our students’ passion for nature and conservation!
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust have worked with The Co-op in Salisbury Avenue to create a rain garden outside their shop.
Warden Hill Eco Warriors invited all children to take part in a competition by decorating a letter to be included in the Rain Garden sign. They were absolutely blown away by the amount of entries they had! After much deliberation, the Junior and Infant Eco children created a shortlist of the best letters.
As you can see from the photograph of winning entries, the standard was extremely high.
The designs have been given to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust to be incorporated in their sign, which will be installed outside The Co-op.
Furthermore, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust will be visiting the school in the New Year to present prizes for the top 3 entries.
Congratulations to everyone who took part.
GWT have partnered with RSA Insurance to provide Natural Flood Management solutions in Gloucester and Cheltenham, to limit the impact of flooding and improve the resilience of local communities.
On Friday, 29th November, the Junior and Infant Eco Warriors had the incredible opportunity to work alongside Tricia and Ken from Butterfly Conservation to start to create Warden Hill’s very own wildflower meadow.
Under the guidance of Tricia and Ken, the children enthusiastically sowed Yellow Rattle seeds, which provide essential nourishment for the stunning Painted Lady and Common Blue butterflies. The Yellow Rattle plant also plays a crucial role in preparing the soil for the wildflower plants we aim to cultivate in March. A heartfelt thank you goes out to Tricia and Ken for their generosity in supplying the seeds and for their invaluable guidance during our session.
This initiative forms part of Butterfly Conservation’s Wild Spaces programme, which focuses on enhancing biodiversity in our communities. Following the results of Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count 2024, they declared a butterfly emergency. They found that the combined effect of habitat loss and climate change means that butterflies and moths are in severe decline across the UK. But… it doesn’t have to be that way. Butterfly Conservation is asking for everyone’s help in creating more Wild Spaces where butterflies and moths can thrive. More details about how everyone can get involved can be found at https://wild-spaces.co.uk/
Our newly elected Eco Warriors have been busy at work this term already raising money for a very good cause.
Eco Warriors wanted their focus this term to be about supporting wildlife, butterflies in particular, due to the recent concerns that they have heard about in the news that it has been the worst year recorded for butterfly numbers. Apparently, butterflies are thought to be a key indicator species and therefore when they are at risk, this shows that the wider environment is a concern as well.
Mrs Catchpole recently met with Tricia Atkinson from Butterfly Conservation to discuss ways that we could support butterflies at Warden Hill. Although we are very fortunate at our school to have designated wild spaces, which create habitats for a range of creatures, Tricia was able to make some recommendations in which so that we could further improve our school grounds to support butterflies and moths. Tricia suggested that we should plant a wider range of wildflowers. Therefore, to fund the purchase of these wildflower plants, Eco have wasted no time in setting to work to raise money by selling pre-loved Halloween costumes.
Eco were very enthusiastic and impressed us with their selling skills! Thank you very much to families who donated and bought costumes from our pre-loved sale. We are pleased to say that it was a success and we have managed to raise £55.90 to purchase wildflowers to support butterflies at Warden Hill.
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust are working with The Co-op in Salisbury Avenue to make a rain garden.
Rain Gardens are designed to capture rain water flowing off roofs and slow the flow of the water back into drains and eventually watercourses. They can help to reduce flooding by storing rain water and reduce pollution by filtering water, whilst also allowing you to create a wildlife friendly feature for your garden that may need less maintenance and watering. You can find o more information about this scheme on their website:
The Eco Warriors invite all children to take part in an exciting competition, by decorating letters for the Rain Garden sign.
Get creative and show your artistic flair by creating designs based upon water, nature, rivers, sea, aquatic life or urban wildlife. The designs need to be coloured with either pencil crayons or felt tips.
The final date for entries is Friday 8th November.
Please ensure you write your name and class on your entry and give your entry to your teacher.
The winning entries will be given to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust to be incorporated in their signs, which will be installed outside The Co-op.
We can’t wait to see your designs!
Good luck
The Eco Warriors
We are inviting children in Years 1-6 to stand for their class’s School Council and Eco Representatives.
This year, we are starting a slightly new system to enable more children to take on these roles during their time at Warden Hill.
Your child will only be able to stand once for each role in Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4, and Years 5 and 6.
As this is a new system, all children can stand this year, even if they were a class representative last year.
Children need to tell their teacher two days before the Elections Day that they wish to stand.
Elections will happen on the same day in every class.
Children need to have prepared something and have it with them on voting day in order to stand.
Years 1 and 2:
Children need to draw a picture or make a poster to present to their class.
Years 3 – 6:
Children need to create a verbal presentation (no powerpoints). They can also have props such as posters or pictures but nothing should be handed out to the class.
Parents are welcome to support their children in preparing for the role but posters etc must be the children’s own work.
Wednesday 18th September:
Inform your teacher if you wish to stand and for which roles.
Friday 20th September:
Elections Day
Children to present to their class.
Good luck to all candidates.
