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• Children enjoy an educational odyssey at Waterlow Park

• Date:

  14th May 2008

• Contact:

  Sarah Egerton

• Organisation:

  The Civic Trust

Much hard work, marketing and word of mouth has seen Waterlow Park grow in stature as an outdoor educational resource for schools in London’s Camden town.

This educational drive is largely down to Nature Conservation/Education officer Ben Genovese who handles all marketing of this resourceful site and runs all sessions himself. Before Ben came along in 2004, the site’s potential as an educational resource wasn’t being realised and he set about changing all that.

The first thing he did was put together some ideas for educational sessions and include them in a mass mailout by post to more than 50 schools around Camden. This generated a lot of interest and Ben was soon receiving calls from schools keen to get their pupils involved.

Very soon, primary, secondary and even nursery school children were trotting along to experience first hand the bounty of nature on offer at Waterlow Park. Over the past four years, the initiative grew and grew – last year, around 2,000 pupils enjoyed outdoor studies at the park.

Ben said: “I took four bookings only yesterday! It’s been such great fun and very interesting watching this grow.”

For the first 18 months, all visits by schools were free of charge – now schools are charged a nominal fee of £1.50 per pupil to cover costs of materials.

Activities include hands-on practical conservation work session for schools, where children get the opportunity to use tools and learn new skills about conservation management.

Ben said: “The key is listening and being open to suggestions from teachers. I make sure we sit down and discuss their needs and ask ‘How would you like to see the session progress?’ Sometimes teachers have very firm ideas and we tailor the session accordingly. Other times the teachers are just happy to let me lead the way – and enjoy learning themselves!”

Waterlow Parks projects for secondary schools include:

• Comparing freshwater habitats

In this complete investigation, pupils sample two pond microhabitats for invertebrates and abiotic factors.

• Ground tree canopy transect

Students use quadrats – randomly selected small areas - to sample the changes in species diversity and abiotic factors using this information to consider the wider problem of the management of areas for biodiversity in times of drought while considering specific plant adaptations.

• What happened to the holly leaf miner?

Students collect evidence of the food chain of the holly leaf miner, studying energy flows through population numbers. The holly leaf-miner food chain provides an opportunity to study living organisms in the field and gain experience of ecological interactions in greater detail.

In addition, in 2006, London Borough of Camden’s Nature Conservation Section launched a Key Stage 2 Outdoor Exploration Resource Kit for Schools, entitled ‘Get Out There’. The kit contains resources to help children explore the outside urban environment in school grounds, parks and in the streets.

Ben’s not content to leave it there. “I’d now like to put this all on the council’s website, with a 5 minute video to show just what is being achieved.”