Virtual project brings farm and countryside to local classrooms

Kate Ponting, countryside learning officer at Pebblebed Heaths Conservation Trust. Picture: Matt Austin (Image: Matt Austin)

The sun was shining, a Chiffchaff was calling, I was standing in the lee of a thick hedge with a beautiful view of the Estate’s farmland but unusually, I was a bit grumpy.

This is because I was having to film myself talking for a virtual education project and I really miss working with people of all ages and answering questions in real life!

I last hosted an educational visit with a school group fifteen months ago and haven’t led a walk, given a presentation (other than online) or organised an event in even longer.

Next month, I would have hosted 400 primary pupils at one of the Estates’ farms for a project called the Kingfisher Award. Instead, their teachers will show films shot on farms across the South West and follow activities outside in their school grounds so the children can still take part in this initiative to explore the connections between food, farming and wildlife.

One of the Kingfisher Awards (Image: Kate Ponting)

First launched in Devon by the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes and friends in 1992, the Kingfisher Award Scheme (KAS) works with around 800 children each year across four counties (Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Wiltshire).

It is such a worthwhile project, which I love co-ordinating for Devon, so rather than cancel, it meant finding a different way of working.

Taking the farm and countryside into the classroom will be a bit of a challenge but for the children involved there will still be lots of fun, hands-on learning, follow-up work and the chance to compete against other schools.

This year’s participating schools include six from the Exmouth and Budleigh area who are looking forward to taking part, albeit with this new format.

To ensure everyone’s safety, we can’t come together at the end to celebrate either, so their final presentations will be judged virtually too.

I cannot wait to see what the children chose to showcase and hope it is a local school who hold the trophy high come July. For any schools not already taking part, there is still time to get involved, contact kate.ponting@clintondevon.com or visit www.fwagsw.org.uk/eastdevon-kas

Thankfully, the filming went well and the chance to educate and interact more normally again is just around the corner. Some events will remain virtual, self-led or small in the short term and youth groups like Guides and Brownies are already booking activities on the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths and other countryside areas.

I am hopeful that it won’t be too long before schools and adult groups follow suit and Countryside Learning returns full time to where it should be – the outdoor classroom!