‘As an educator, I can bring an environmental education to future generations’

A series of fortnightly articles supported by the Knepp Wildland Foundation to further understanding of nature recovery in Sussex

Most who travel the A259 from Bognor Regis to Littlehampton may never notice St Mary’s Church of England Primary school, nestled amongst fields and hedgerows not 500m from the busy road.

Few will have even passed its gates, save for those who use its public byway access to walk or ride to Climping

Beach. But from this little rural school, I believe, important ripples are spreading.

It was the school’s ethos of working closely with the natural environment that inspired me, in September 2020, to take up the post of head teacher. The school’s wildlife area, planted with seven varieties of Sussex apples, is used by the children for forest school activities, and has flowerbeds bursting with diverse plants and insects maintained by the school’s gardening club.

Thanks to local farmer, James Baird, the wildlife area has recently received a further parcel of land where the children have planted over 100 native saplings – a future wood.

As an educator I have been acutely aware for years now of the responsibility that rests on our shoulders. The world faces a climate crisis and here in the south of England, particularly, many fragile ecosystems are on the brink of collapse as a result of the many developments.

Meanwhile, children are more disconnected from nature than ever before. Just a generation ago, 40 per cent of children still regularly played in natural areas. Today, only 10 per cent play in natural areas and 40 per cent of children never play outdoors at all – even though we have around the same population (80 per cent) living in urban areas as we did in the 1950s.

The loss of nature from our children’s lives is reflected in changes to the

Oxford Junior Dictionary. In 2012, it replaced ‘acorn’, ‘buttercup’ and ‘conker’ with ‘attachment’, ‘blog’ and ‘chat room’. Catkin, cauliflower, chestnut, clover, heron, herring, kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox, oyster and panther have also been dropped.

Studies show that children who spend time in green spaces between the ages of seven to 12 tend to think of nature as magical. They are most likely, as adults, to want to protect nature, while those who have no such experience tend to regard nature as hostile or irrelevant and are indifferent to its loss.

Clearly, schools can play a vital role in reconnecting children with nature and imbuing a sense of stewardship and responsibility.

As head teacher at St Mary’s, I have continued to ensure that we provide as much outdoor learning as we can and give every child in the school the opportunity to experience Forest

School sessions each year. Caring for the environment is built into the school’s curriculum, with topics in each age phase related to understanding nature, sustainability and wider ecological issues. Working with forestry experts we manage our hedgerows, trees and wild spaces to encourage as much wildlife as possible.

The children excitedly follow the delights the seasons bring – a family of green woodpeckers hatching and fledging in one of our trees, jays feeding on the field, our resident fox sneaking through the brush around the wildlife area and the myriad flowers and insects that surround them each day.

I may not be in a position to change environmental legislation or repurpose land on a grand scale but, as an educator lucky enough to work in a rural school with wonderful grounds and an inspiring team of fellow teachers, I can work to bring an environmental education to future generations of leaders, landowners and lawmakers.

n For more information about the school, visit www.stmarysclymping.org. uk

Operation Future Hope’s Conservation School Award is offering schools the opportunity to be part of a national rewilding and ecological education programme, enabling children to become practically involved in the conservation of nature and wildlife restoration.

Visit www.operationfuturehope.org for more details.