Jo Procter 10th July 2023

You may have seen or heard us on Friday around Widewater lagoon and on the beach! It was an event run by WoW and SDOS for Year 1 children from Seaside School as part of an educational programme to engage local young children with Nature and the Environment by taking part in fun learning experiences.

The children were involved in several activities. On the beach they had fun creating pebble art of seaside creatures and they explored the strand line collecting natural and man made objects in their buckets. They learned about the species to be found in the sea and on the shore and how important it is not to leave litter on the beach.

On the lagoon edge, the children had fun pond dipping to find and learn about the creatures living in the lagoon. Only 6 species were identified compared to 26 last year when the school visited before. Unfortunately this is the consequence of the recent blocked mitigation pipe and resulting high salinity levels but now the pipe has been cleared, the water levels are returning to normal and the aquatic habitat should begin to recover.

The children also took part in Animal Drama on the banks where they learned about the different animals living here and then pretended to be them! There were many excellent interpretations of creatures such as Seagulls, Crabs, Foxes, Bees and Ducks!

It was a wonderful day and we would like to thank the teachers, parent helpers and all the volunteer helpers from WoW and SDOS for giving their time to make this such an enjoyable occasion. And of course thanks to the very well behaved and enthusiastic 90 children for taking part. They are a credit to their school.