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Teachers' feedback
After Big Schools' Birdwatch hundreds of teachers told us about the creative, exciting, or simple ways they found to link this activity to the curriculum. Below are some examples of the feedback we received. 'This is the first birdwatch that our school has done and the class involved really enjoyed it. This will become an annual event at our school. It is also helping towards our green flag status.'
'We used our outside hide, held competitions in school to identify birds, had special assembly times, made bird feeders, used books and binoculars, created artwork and generally had a wonderful few days.'
'We found the resources for the foundation stage children really good and we have used them as part of our topic 'the weather and birds'. The children have been feeding the birds and learning to identify and count them. Thank you for a valuable resource.'
'Birdwatch Breakfast was a great success. Over a few days we worked with four different classes and the enthusiasm and interest in birds has grown enormously. Even parents are now sending things in - such as the prize book for 'Ornithologist of the Week 1979'!!'
'We have all had a fantastic time doing the birdwatch and learning about birds. The children have all benefited from being involved. The birdwatch was integrated into a four week cross-curricular unit and has encouraged their motivation and given them a real purpose for their learning. Thank you for all the resources provided, including the website. I will be recommending other teachers to participate in this activity.'
'This was a wonderful morning! We used the great idea of beginning with hot chocolate and biscuits, which got the children really excited. Throughout the birdwatch, the pupils were enthusiastic and very interested. Children were coming in the next day saying what birds they'd seen in their garden that morning. We used the information collected to carry out an investigation in maths, drawing graphs, concluding from results and to discuss probability.'
'This was our first year taking part in the Big Schools' Birdwatch and I would certainly do it again. The children have been really inspired by this project and it made sense to focus two weeks' Literacy work around birds. Having become experts, the children are now busily making wallcharts, birdwatching guides and factfiles for other classes in the school to read.'
'Participating in the Big Schools' Birdwatch has created a sense of pride in the environment as well as promoting science by looking at habitats. It has given the children an opportunity to become part of a community outside of their local environs and a sense of citizenship with other schools in the nation. I would recommend any school to take part in the Big Schools' Watch.'
'Ours is a special school for children with epilepsy, autism and learning difficulties. Looking for birds is a great way to focus the pupil's attention. One of the boys (age 10) remembered many of the birds from last year. We had a great time listening to the birds.'
'The RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch livened up an otherwise mundane part of the school year and has encouraged the children to get outside into the wildlife more. The week ended with a sighting of a green woodpecker, which the children found highly exhilarating and good fun was had by all.'
'We spent 2 weeks talking and thinking about birds. During this time we listened to bird song on the RSPB website and made collage owls. We undertook data handling in maths by counting the birds and creating graphs. In English we researched birds using books from the library and from various homes. We are really looking forward to next year.'
'During our birdwatch we turned part of the class into a bird hide, where we watched the birds eat the bird cake we had made. We used binoculars and the digital camera and worked in pairs. We had a video conference with a school in Mississippi and saw inside their woodpeckers nest.'
Last modified: 23 September 2008 |
