North West Kent

Working with schools is a hugely valuable part of the Countryside Partnership's work. We encourage the pupils, staff and parents to work alongside us as much as possible to create nature areas within the school grounds that can be used to learn about wildlife and the wider environment. A wide variety of subjects are often taught in these nature areas, such as art, science, music, drama, maths and geography.

Since the North West Kent Countryside Partnership was founded in 1984, dozens of schools have benefited from our skills and experience. Currently we are working on a large nature area and heritage project at Furness School and also a water conservation project called the Just a Drop of Water initiative with Bexley schools.

Apart from these two projects, the following are just some of the other schools we have worked with recently.

The school contacted the North West Kent Countryside Partnership to create a nature area within the school grounds to help teach the pupils about wildlife. Of particular importance was the creation of a pond, but the area also has a pergola, fencing around the pond and a bark chip path linking the area to the playground.

The area was created over seven days with volunteers from the Partnership and the hedge that borders the pond was planted by the pupils.

Over the course of three years, this project grew into a whole-school approach to environmental and wildlife education within the grounds. Hundreds of volunteer hours went into creating this vast area with numerous raised beds, two ponds, a wildflower meadow, hedging around the playing field, a mini orchard and an outdoor classroom.

Formerly an orphanage for boys, Furness School is now a special needs school for children with behavioural problems. The orphans were taught nautical skills to prepare them for a life at sea, travelling the globe in search of adventure.

Set in the tranquil village of Hextable , the school grounds boasts a wide range of habitats for wildlife, including chalk grasslands and woodland.

The school contacted the North West Kent Countryside Partnership in 2003 to ask for help in developing their school grounds into a nature area that would improve its habitat value for wildlife, create an educational resource for schools and link the maritime heritage of the school with nature.

With funding from the Local Heritage Initiative, Awards for All, HSBC, Kent County Council and Sevenoaks District Council, work began on a three year project to turn large parts of the school fields into a nature area that linked the heritage of the school with nature and wildlife. All of the parts of the area were created by volunteers from the North West Kent Countryside Partnership with the exception of the path and digging out the pond.

Pond Area
This was the first area to be created and includes a huge pond which is fenced off with two lockable gates, a wildflower area, a mini orchard and some seating for classes. The pond already hosts a wide range of wildlife, including damselflies, Emperor dragonflies, frogs and newts.

A pond dipping platform allows pupils to survey the pond and get a close look at the creatures that inhabit the depths and margins of this incredibly rich habitat.

Sensory Garden
The sensory garden is sectioned into four areas, each concentrating on one of the four senses of touch, sound, sight and smell. It was decided that taste would not be included for health and safety reasons, though there are allotment plots for the pupils to plant their own fruit and vegetables.

The touch area contains large slate monoliths, heathers, lavenders and other plants that have textures to the stems and leaves.

The sound area has quaking grass, Chinese lantern plants, bamboo and several other plants that create sound.

The sight area has a variety of different coloured plants, climbers and different sizes of plants.

Lastly, the smell area contains lemon balm, curry plant and other herb and fragrant plants in raised beds and ground level planting areas.

Wildflower Meadow
The area at the very bottom of the school field has been left to grow naturally as a wildflower meadow. The site will be cut twice a year, with the grasses raked off to keep the site nutrient poor. Chalk grasslands are very rich in their diversity of wildflowers and grasses and this site is no exception with plants including germander speedwell, bladder campion, birds foot trefoil, rough hawk bit, lady’s bedstraw and bugle.

Interpretation
Two interpretation boards have also been produced for the site, reflecting the maritime and nature link. Along with these, two small boats and two anchors were also donated to the site. One of the boats has been secured upside down in the sight area and is used as a bench, whilst the second boat is used as a raised bed.

Further work is planned for the site, including a range of story boards with tales told by the orphans when they lived there and two more interpretation boards will also be produced. Funding is currently being sought for these.