Is it a buzzard or a sparrowhawk? School adds birdwatching to timetable
Birdwatching has been added to the morning timetable at a West Sussex school to help pupils ‘tune in’ to nature and improve their concentration during the day.
Sompting Abbotts Preparatory School, near Worthing, holds morning ‘Tweet of the Day’ birdwatching sessions – the time of the day when birds can be heard singing more frequently and when other wildlife are most active.
Teacher David Buckingham, who has a BSc in environmental sciences and is passionate about birding, leads the classes in the school’s grounds.
Mr Buckingham, known as Mr B to pupils, said: “Birdwatching is a wonderful way to start the day in nature and understand the connectedness of everything.”
He added: “I love encouraging children to take an interest in the natural world around them.
“Having a class of ‘captive’ children makes that easier!
“I focus a lot on teaching the children to identify birds by their songs.
“Since a lot of the children learn musical instruments at Sompting Abbotts, I’ve noticed that they often have a pretty good recall.”
The birdwatching starts with mindful listening.
“I ask the children to stand still and stay silent for a minute or two and to tune in to the sounds around them – to the rustle of leaves, to the breeze through the trees and to any bird song,” said Mr Buckingham.
“I teach the children that by cupping your hands behind your ears to make giant elephant ears, it increases the acuteness of your hearing. By turning their heads, they can then distinguish different bird songs from different directions.”
Birds the children might spot vary from wrens to skylarks to linnets to buzzards, the latter of which are said to roost regularly in the school’s wooded areas.
Mr Buckingham added: “I don’t want to make it sound like too much of ‘a lesson’. Birdwatching – and bird listening – is just a wonderful way to start the day in nature and understand the connectedness of everything.”
The school’s headteacher Stuart Douch has welcomed Mr Buckingham’s lessons.
Mr Douch said: “Too many children, these days, he says, are losing touch with nature. A great many are more familiar with Pokémon and Minecraft characters, than species of British wildlife.”
“The sounds of the outdoors, such as birdsong, wind, and water, can also improve mood and reduce stress.
“Tuning in to the sights, smells and sounds of nature is a good way for children to improve their attention and focus abilities and sensory processing function. But it doesn’t always come easily. Patience is needed. And most children benefit from developing patience!”
For Mr Douch it is part of a much bigger issue. “If children lose contact with the natural world, they won’t fight for it. The climate emergency has only underlined the importance of teaching children to love nature and learning about sustainability.
“At our school, we don’t have any concrete playgrounds. Playtimes are about children roaming free – whether that’s the little ones hunting for beetles in the woods under rotten tree trunks or the bigger ones collecting shiny conkers or spotting a buzzard circling overhead.
“Getting kids to experience nature with all their senses is powerful. Our pupils – our children – have the future of the planet in their hands.”