Kimbolton School is proud to announce that it’s Young Environmentalist project is a District winner and has been selected to move through to the National finals of the Young Environmentalist Competition.
Their entry to the District Competition (11–13 Intermediate Group category), submitted by a team of two pupils, Henry D. and Anna VW, was highly successful—earning both Club and District winner titles—and has now progressed to the National Final, with judges expressing strong praise for their birdwatch project.
The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is the UK’s largest Citizen Science Wildlife Survey. This year, the Kimbolton School Curiosity Club wanted to host a bigger and better community event to bring people of all ages together, to enjoy the nature in our surroundings and share the joy of the outdoors.
This event also contributed to Citizen Science which helps with the ongoing monitoring of birds and our environment. The team researched why it’s important to monitor birds and why their numbers are declining.
In January, pupils in the Curiosity Club organised and led their own bird watch project called ‘Big Garden Birdwatch Community Event’, inviting pupils, staff and parents to take part in this whole school event. This involved a morning of wildlife spotting as they headed to allocated observation points such as Squirrel Wood, Spinney Pond and Duchess Pond to survey the wonderful birdlife around the school campus. After a rewarding session outdoors, everyone headed inside to warm up with a hot chocolate and submit their findings to the RSPB.
The pupils also created bird themed games to play to entertain and educate some of the younger participants. This included hand made games such as pin the beak on the bird, bird top trumps and bird memory match.
“A huge well done to pupils in Curiosity Club who were involved in the initiative and a big thank you to Kimbolton Castle Rotary for supporting our journey.” – Kate Latham, Assistant Head for Learning
The results from the morning were impressive: they saw 27 different species of bird and submitted 137 recorded sightings to the RSPB. This achievement highlights the enthusiasm, creativity, and environmental awareness of Kimbolton School pupils, and the school community looks forward to cheering them on in the National Finals.
