Top award for Settle Middle School pupils

FRIDAY 13th July turned out to be a lucky day for one group of Yorkshire Dales School pupils when they received a national award for their work with wildlife.

The 15 youngsters from 15 Settle Middle School met throughout their school year during their lunchtime Conservation Club to work towards an award from the John Muir Trust, which encourages the discovery and conservation of wild places, in a spirit of fun, adventure and exploration.

And their efforts were rewarded on Friday when they received Award certificates from Alex Barbour, Education Officer at Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.

"Our links with Settle Middle School started with the work of the Learning In Limestone Country project," she said.

"We were already taking various groups from the school out into the Limestone areas of the Yorkshire Dales National Park where they could experience the landscape and nature of the Dales first hand. However we wanted to focus on an activity for the Year 8s who were not involved in these events.

"The school already had an overgrown garden which was initially created by teacher Bill Wood, who is now the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority's (YDNPA) Outreach and Education Manager.

"Instead of clearing and neatening the garden, we were inspired by the John Muir Trust to involve the students in actively increasing the biodiversity and wild qualities of the area."

They have made a vast improvement to the environment adjacent to the school

Liz Tayler - Settle Middle School

The children were given guidance from YDNPA Rangers Steve Hastie and Nathan Allen, John Osborne of Natural England and Dave Tayler and Alex from YDMT's Learning in Limestone Country Project.

The group was involved in planting Hawthorn hedges, making bee boxes, earwig habitats, building and installing bird boxes (one of which attracted a family of blue tits this spring) and clearing an overgrown pond.

Teacher Liz Tayler said: "The children thoroughly enjoyed working towards their award. They have made a vast improvement to the environment adjacent to the school whilst keeping diaries and photographic accounts of their work. We are now hoping to make the garden more accessible to all pupils by creating a winding path through it."

The children also had the opportunity to be filmed by the BBC which is currently filming in and around the Dales for their autumn series "Nature of Britain" presented by Alan Titchmarsh.