Pupils get the nature bug at Loch Leven
Alex Stewart, Louise Sandilands and Amber Stephenson take a well-earned break Hard-working pupils from Kinross High School left their classrooms behind in favour of getting their hands dirty for nature on Monday this week.
Classes were tasked with completing 50 wildlife and nature-themed activities in just one day as part of efforts to mark RSPB Loch Leven’s golden anniversary.
Challenging them was RSPB Scotland Learning Officer Craig Leitch. He said:“An important part of the 50th anniversary celebrations is highlighting all the work we do with young people and schools, after all Loch Leven was the RSPB’s first ever outdoor education centre when we opened in 1967.
“There are now education centres across the UK, and here at Loch Leven we still welcome thousands of schoolchildren each year along with all the families that visit us.
“We wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate 50 years of bringing children and families closer to nature and what better way than by completing all of our favourite activities and more in one day.”
A range of activities were open to the school group, each designed to boost nature through building homes for beetles and mini beasts to simply looking out for the range of wildlife at the Kinross-shire reserve.
Kinross High School will be reporting their activities later this year as part of the anniversary exhibition scheduled for October. These will take pride of place alongside a snapshot of what has been happening there over the past five decades, since it started out asVane Farm.
For anyone wishing to try some of the 50 Challenge activities, there is a family fun day on May 13 and 14, from 10am until 4pm. For more information about the 50th anniversary events or visiting the reserve go to rspb.org. uk/lochleven.