Gresham Primary School's reverse school trip

I was delighted to be invited to Gresham Primary School for the day as this term's reverse school trip to show all 250+ students the wonders of British wildlife! I had two talks going on throughout the day which I alternated between for each class, but with the same message about protecting our habitats and promoting conservation of native wildlife.

One talk focussed on woodland habitat where the children got to see up close our beautiful yearling grass snakes and we talked about their interesting defense mechanisms, diet and how they fit into the habitat. They then had the opportunity to handle Conker the big female common toad and we talked about their annual migration and why they are found in woodland. We finished off with looking at an apex predator of the woodland - Freddie the tawny owl. This gave the opportunity to discuss owl adaptations, diet, hunting techniques etc.

The other talk focussed on heathland habitat where we started off looking at Wren the baby smooth snake. We talked about why this species is so rare and why they are heathland specific, as well as their diet and Wren's future value to captive breeding programmes. The children then had the chance to handle one of the slow worms and we had a look at why they are classed as lizards rather than snakes, their diet, their defence mechanism and other habitats they can be found in too. We ended with having a look at Bob the kestrel, and discussed why he prefers hunting in open habitats such as heathland as well as looking at his diet, hunting techniques and adaptations.

​The animals were all beautifully behaved, and the children too!