Member Article

Riccall Community Primary School & Hagge Woods Trust helping each other grow

hildren from Riccall Primary School, near Selby, were excited to learn about bugs, plants and their environments at Three Hagges Wood-Meadow as part of their science work.

The guided Outdoor Education session led by Tango Fawcett from Hagge Woods Trust linked topics to the national curriculum.

The school are also excited to have become a ‘partner school’ by sponsoring a square in Three Hagges-Wood Meadow, providing pupils with an opportunity to nurture and watch their own piece of native deciduous woodland and flower rich meadow grow.

They have chosen a square that has plenty of ‘messy edge’ which is so important for wildlife.

Jill Newsome teacher at Riccall Community Primary School stated:

“This is an excellent facility which gives access to an amazing outdoor classroom through which we can study plants and animals in our locality.  Shouts of “I’m alive!” and “This is the best trip ever!” were heard - one child even wanted to live there permanently.  The staff were knowledgeable and interested in how best to meet year 4 science curriculum objectives, with a good working relationship with the children which inspired enthusiasm and generated mutual respect. We had to return to school at lunchtime, but we would have loved to have stayed all day.”

Hagge Woods Trust’s Project Co-ordinator, Emma Daniels stated:

“We are very pleased to be able to fulfil one of the key aims of Hagge Woods Trust, that of enabling children to explore rich biodiversity in our countryside. We welcome Riccall Community Primary School pupils being involved in the building of the ecosystem of our Wood-Meadow and at the same time covering national curriculum topics. It is wonderful that the children can watch the wood-meadow grow as they grow and can share their learning with their family and friends.

As part of the visit children planted hazel, hawthorn, plus a few cherry around the edge of the copse to thicken it up.

The school’s transport costs to the wood-meadow were helped by the generosity of County Councillor Richard Musgrave and District Councillor Ian Reynolds in order to save school funds.

Three Hagges Wood-Meadow, Hagge Woods Trust’s first wood-meadow in the charity’s ambitious endeavour to inspire a wood-meadow in every parish across England, is a 25-acre site between Escrick and Riccall, just off the A19.

Three Hagges Wood-Meadow is open free to visitors daily and the Trust also runs community and citizen science events in the summer months, a programme of activities for volunteers, as well as an Outdoor Education Programme for Primary Schools targeting key elements of the National Curriculum.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Robert Beaumont .