Friday 29 May 2015

Help the hedgehogs

The hedgehog population of the UK is down 97% for many reasons and so they need help.  At Wicor we provide perfect hedgehog hibernation and foraging sites, but not all gardens are like this.  There are some simple ways to help hedgehogs:

http://www.discoverwildlife.com/british-wildlife/how-you-can-help-hedgehogs

If nothing else cut a CD disc size whole in the bottom of your fence so that hedgehogs can get from garden to garden.  Remember do not feed them milk or bread: water and meaty cat food is much better.  More information can be found at:
http://thehedgehog.co.uk/feeding-hedgehogs/      or
http://www.hedgehogstreet.org/pages/diet.html


Mrs Bryant recently found this stunned and injured hedgehog in Portchester.  She rang a local Wildlife Expert who came and rescued the poor little thing.  Recent updates though are that the hog is doing well and we hope to release it into Wicor grounds where it will find lots of eat and drink and perfect hedgehog shelters.




Did you know that a baby hedgehog is called a hoglet?
Did you also know that a group of hedgehogs is called an array?




Thursday 14 May 2015

Back in business

My work on the stumpery stopped for a while because of the SATS tests and lots of work beforehand, but I have now started to plant some of my plants into the ground and inside the log holes.

Blue bells are starting to grow on the path and I need to start cutting back the thorn bushes. The plants that I`m growing are woodland plants for my woodland area.   I`m hoping to get some more stumps and some more logs soon.  I don`t need to get any more wood chip though because I got some more from the man who comes and coppices the trees in the grounds.

Lately I`ve taken some photos of the stumpery and put them in my book and I`m watering the plants. They are growing very well but I don`t need to water them today because it is raining and the stumpery is going well.

by Harvey 6N

Sunday 10 May 2015

Stop, look and listen.

I happened to find myself at school today - nothing unusual about that I hear you say until you realise that it was a Sunday.  I was there returning tables, boards and plants after the Fareham Gardeners' Market yesterday and while I was ferrying said items from my car to various places I found myself walking past the pond area.  I couldn't resist stopping and looking as it has always been one of my most favourite areas of the school - to me it has a magical quality.  And this morning it didn't disappoint.

I decided to let myself into the area, although I must admit I felt like a naughty school girl sneaking in without permission, and wondered slowly around.  It had the sense that something amazing was about to happen although it was silent apart from the birds singing in the nearby trees.  Year 1 had been busy the previous week planting out the new dry stone wall, and the pond was clearer of weed than I have seen for a while.  The new nocturnal bed, designed to continue to encourage bats into our grounds, is taking shape as the After School Club had been in there weeding and digging on Friday.  I loitered in there for a while, just enjoying the different areas which are usually busy with children, but which were now still, resting, waiting.

A strange sense of guilt made me leave, as if I had trespassed upon the wildlife's territory, and I made my way round to the front of the school ready to go home.  But by now I was beginning to enjoy the solitary atmosphere so I took the opportunity to walk past the wildlife garden at the front, which is about to be filled with late Spring colour, as the Sweet Williams are ready to burst into a myriad of colours and release their bee loving scent.  And as I walked through the bed it struck me how beautiful our school is and how lucky our children are.  Of course I already know this and am constantly reminding people of the fact, but I rarely stop and look myself, as I always seem to be rushing from one place to the next.

So maybe the next time you are walking your child to school, just take a minute to stop, look,  wonder and sense just like I did, the shapes, colours and sounds of Wicor Primary.  It is such a privilege to be a small part of it.

Mrs Nash







Monday 4 May 2015

Feathery visitors

The Ducks Have Landed
We had surprise visitors just after Easter this year when four Mallard ducks turned up to use our pond and poke around among the newly planted wildflower bed. 




They enjoyed the water for quite a while and were not worried about the large audience.  It was quite a sight for about an hour.  Hopefully, they will come back again soon.

Our tropical plants and over-wintering

The tropical plants from the front of the school had been safely tucked away all winter in one of the school polytunnels.  With the frosts almost passed, we will be looking to plant them out soon.  They certainly look like they have not only survived the winter, but are ready to go outside as they are looking strong and healthy.  Our banana plants are showing new growth, and the Aloe vera seem to have almost doubled in size.   The tropical bed itself is looking wonderful.  The larger banana plants which had to be left in situ have been unwrapped and are also showing new growth.  And as we now have so many lilies to fill any gaps, it will be an amazing show in that bed this summer.


Working inside the polytunnel
Banana plants

Spring Grounds Day

As always, a great day was had by all and the learning was fantastic.  The theme of the day was 'The Hidden World' so we all had a good time looking at micro-habitats.  Our grounds are perfect for this as there are so many different areas to study.  The new digital microscope was a big hit as it gave perfect views of creatures you just didn't know were in tree bark, soil or on the bodies or other insects!  All classes all managed to get outside and look after our grounds as well as helping Mrs Bryant; it is such a busy time of year.  We cleaned, weeded, watered, dug, litter-picked, cut the grass, pricked out, planted out, potted up and tidied.  The allotment is looking amazing and is already beginning to produce a harvest of mainly greens at the moment, but the onions are looking fantastic as are the globe artichokes.

Our Year 6 children did an amazing job as always both in the stumpery and potting up the Canna Lilies (Cleopatra).  They worked with Joe Bowen, our trusty volunteer, and learnt how to propagate from the main plant which had been overwintering in the polytunnel.  We have over 200 new plants which will be sold at Fareham Gardeners' Market on May 9th.  During the morning they had gone out into the grounds with Mr Knight and collected 'Spring' items from around the ground.  These were inspected under the microscope and pictures taken.  In the afternoon viewfinders were used to sketch and watercolour the hidden world they had found.
Some of the finished Canna Lilies potted up
David Harrison, another of our sterling volunteers, took charge of the potato planting and yet another crop of mids are now in.  Our early crop of potatoes are poking through and will soon be ready to be earth up again.

Year 4 had a tough job as they look after the wildlife patch; it is a bit overgrown to say the least.  However, thanks to Mrs Rees two patches were cleared and lots of sunflowers have been planted.  They will look fantastic in the summer and will provide lots of seeds for our birds come the autumn.

Mrs Bryant and Mrs Braisher from Cams Secondary School were stationed in the pond area with Year 1.  The children worked wonders and cleared the weed from the pond which was blocking the sunlight; weeded a large patch of ground ready for the planting of nectar rich plants to attract the insects and provide food for the bats, and planted marigolds on top of the bug hotel to again attract the insects in.
Bluebells in the stumpery area



Year 6 continued to work hard through the day weeding the newly designed stumpery area.  It is now looking fantastic with a beautiful display of bluebells.





Mrs Napier and Mrs Pattison provided plenty of hard work outside for Year 3 as they were looking after the compost bins which contained a fascinating hidden world!  Mrs Keeling was busy in one of the polytunnels with children from lots of different year groups who had signed up to help prick out and plant on our herb seedlings.  All the children learnt how to be so careful when handling the tiny seedlings.  They prepared new pots with compost, made a hole, placed the seedling in, popped some more soil around and watered.  Three hours later we had over 100 seedlings ready to carry on growing - these will be sold later on in our living veg boxes (see school webpage). I think they now know what plants need to survive.

All in all it was a day full of hard work and great environmental learning. Now to plan for our Summer Grounds Day!

Mrs Nash

Hibernating Hedgehog

Five years ago we begun turning our school grounds into a haven for wildlife and part of this strategy has been to allow large sections, which were previously tended, to be left alone.  One of these areas is next to a field of scrub where we regularly see deer and we know badgers have their setts.  The area has a low kickboard around it to make sure children do not disturb the area, and large branches are also piled at one end.  This was recommended after a visit by Chris Packham who advised us on how to attract more wildlife into our school grounds.  And this has paid off, as after a visit by a local expert on all things hedgehog, we found one curled up hibernating under a pile of twigs, sticks and branches although it was very hard to see. Very carefully, our expert checked to see if it was still alive after the winter - and it was.  We feel so privileged that the school grounds have been chosen by this spiny mammal and have made sure it is covered back up and is safe and sound until it is ready to wake up.