Perthshire primary pupils awarded for wildlife film-making

captivating: Youngsters’ camera trap project builds a picture of the animals in their area

Using hidden cameras to capture the wildlife of Highland Perthshire has won a group of primary pupils an award for their film-making.

Grandtully Primary was among 20 schools throughout Scotland involved in a SNH wildlife camera trapping project and their efforts were singled out as one of the best results.

Over a number of months they collected footage of mice, voles, red squirrels and a variety of birds before submitting a compilation of the best scenes with a voice-over provided by the youngsters which has been posted on YouTube.

The project succeeded in its aim to enthuse and teach pupils about the wildlife in their area. Ciara Gibson, Grandtully Primary teacher, said: “The camera trapping project was one of the highlights of our year.

“The learning opportunities it inspired were meaningful and thoroughly engaging.

“Our pupils and staff were not only captivated by the animals that visited our garden but motivated to learn more about them and find out how to encourage other wildlife. It has definitely changed how we thing about our school grounds and encouraged us to rethink our space.”

P4 pupil Jago Bakshy, added: “We were really engaged in the camera trap project, and we are looking forward to seeing what else we can get to come and visit our garden now that we have our own trap forever.”

Mike Cantlay, SNH’s chairman, said the project “was a wonderful way to encourage children outdoors, learning about nature, in both towns and cities”.

“Many schools embraced this project, involving the whole school and using it to contribute to their outdoor learning, as well as other areas of their education,” he said.

“I was so impressed by all the work that went into making the amazing videos, showing their exciting discoveries about wildlife in and around their school grounds.

“The children can also be proud that their project has helped build a picture of the wildlife in their local areas.”

They collected footage of mice, voles, red squirrels and a variety of birds before submitting a compilation of the best scenes