By Alex Pang, Youth Engagement Officer

The Eco-warriors at St Andrew’s Primary School in Stockwell, London, have chosen to improve the environment in and around their local area. Previous actions have involved educating the school and wider community about the dangers of air pollution and what role we can all play in tackling it. Last term they learned how they can boost biodiversity inside the school grounds.

The first activity the students got stuck into was making bug homes.

They re-used plastic bottles to create a safe and welcoming environment for insects and learned about reusing items in the process. Students stuffed the bottles with lots of leaves, twigs and decorated them colourfully to attract creepy-crawlies, which they hope choose to live in these vibrant homes.

Ms Emma said ‘’Everyone in the group has been very enthusiastic and have learnt many new skills!’’

Inspired by caring for nature, the group also made bird homes! They put in a lot of effort to build the homes from scratch, having only the wood, nails, and instructions.

It required a bit of DIY work which many of the group had never done before, but everyone gave it a good go and particularly enjoyed using hammers! They can all be proud of their superb work and effort to build the bird homes from scratch.

The beautifully decorated 32mm hole nest boxes will hopefully attract a range of species, including Great Tits, Pied Flycatchers and House Sparrows. With help from the School Caretaker, the bird homes have been carefully spaced out across the school grounds.

The group learned that helping local wildlife can be a simple task.

One student, Bisratte, said ‘’this only just takes devotion and perseverance and concentration, and determination. You can try this at home but remember to be careful with the hammer and screws!’’

Tisaun added ‘’We also learned that birds need homes in the winter to live safely. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be safe or have time to rest!’’ and Ciera said, ‘’I’ve learned so much since I started joining in with the eco-group, like the many ways we can stop pollution!’’

The group are more aware of the biodiversity that surrounds them and hope to continue working on projects which raise awareness on environmental issues. Recently they have designed posters to encourage others to use less water and electricity, and to also recycle. Watch this space to see what the group get up to next!

St Andrew’s CofE School is supported by Youth Engagement Officer Alex, funded by #iwill