Pupils from 6 Hill class from Bredon Hill Academy and Class 3S from Matchborough First School Academy will be visiting Worcestershire Wildlife Trust’s headquarters later this year after successfully penning poetry.
The competition was run as part of the conservation charity’s project, part-funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to buy and restore floodplain meadows, Hardwick Green Meadows, near Eldersfield in the southwest corner of Worcestershire.
Schoolchildren were invited to consider our natural world more closely, in particular the flowers, birds, mammals and insects that find a home in Worcestershire’s meadows. They were then asked to choose a creature or flower that caught their eye and to write their own haiku about it.
Liz Bunney, project officer and organiser of the competition, explained “We’ve been delighted by the response to the competition and really impressed at how interested in our wildlife some of the children have become.
“Our aim was to get children to think more deeply about the natural world by looking closely at the beauty of the little things, feeling compassion and learning to live fully in the moment, enjoying their own experience within a fleeting moment and understanding that everything is connected.
“We weren’t expecting all schools to go and visit a meadow but hoped they would be inspired to look locally in their school grounds, gardens at home, the local park or even on their walk to school each day.”
The two winning entries have won a trip to Lower Smite Farm for their class and all schools that entered are receiving £100 worth of wildlife reference materials or field equipment that they can use in their school grounds.
Sara Bankes from Bredon Hill Academy said “This prize will be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate biodiversity and environmental improvement, raising awareness of the importance of wild spaces in our school and wider community.”
