Pupils on zoo safari

●● Fearns pupils on the Blackpool Zoo literacy trip A LITERACY visit to the zoo saw pupils from Fearns Community Sports College, Stacksteads, enjoying an educational school trip.

Each of the Year 7 pupils was given a literacy booklet to complete and they had to find the answers by touring Blackpool Zoo and reading up about the different animals, their habitats and countries of origin.

Lucy Cavens, 11, said: “I managed to complete about half of the booklet and one of the things we had to do was name an animal for each letter of the alphabet.

“I last went to Blackpool Zoo when I was about nine.

“I enjoyed this trip because we could go round where we wanted to.”

Five members of staff from Fearns and five literacy leaders also accompanied the pupils.

Literacy co-ordinator Liz Haworth said: “We had 53 on the school trip and it went really well, we also got good weather.

“When we watched the sea lion display I got to see Anya, who is now grown up. When I first started doing this trip she was only a baby.

“I also saw the wolves and otters and this year they were not hiding.”

Literacy leaders Nichol Royle-Jones and Jamie-Leigh Riley, both 13, had previously been on the trip when they were in Year 7.

Nichol said: “We were given a group and we were responsible for watching over them and checking where other groups were.”

It was the first time Bethany Poole, 12, had been to Blackpool Zoo, She said: “I liked the sea lion show when they did tricks but the best bit for me was seeing the elephants and the giraffes.

“It was good fun and it was a great trip to go on.”

Florence O’Sullivan, 12, added: “We had to be in certain locations at set times to check in, but because we could decide where we wanted to go it didn’t feel like you were on a school trip.

“I liked seeing the lion because I had thought he would be really scary and vicious, but when we saw him he was calm and sleeping.”