WE GOT THE GREEN FLAG!!!

Hi everyone,

I write with exciting news that Parklands has been awarded the Eco Schools Green Flag award. We were assessed in November and found out the same day that we had been successful. The children from the Eco Team did a BRILLIANT job showing our assessor Mrs Webster around the school. Mrs Golding and myself came too. we looked at the Eco notice board with Dylan and Katie, then around unit 2 with Laura and Stephanie to see how we recycle paper and know all about fairtrade. Then we looked around unit 1 with Diya and Yasmin, and finally out into the wildlife garden and nursery garden with Ash and May. Mrs Webster especially enjoyed hearing our eco sung very loudly in the playground at playtime, it put a very big smile on her face.

That was all last month, but fresh news this week!!! THE GREEN FLAG HAS ARRIVED!! Mrs Mellor is working on getting a flag pole so we'll let you know when the big day will be. But in the emantime, a MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS  to all the children and staff at Parklands and to everyone on the ECO team, great job everybody.

Have a very Happy and Green (and maybe white) Christmas

Mrs Padley

Bird of the Day - Magpie

Another brilliant birdwatching club today with some great spots! My little twitchers today were from Class 4. Our first bird spotted today was a female chaffinch feeding on the ground in the nursery playground - it stayed for ages and the girls did really well at identifying it by looking at the bird's colours and markings. Also spotted today were:

wood pigeons x2
black headed gulls
crow x2

and chosen as bird of the day by the children was....the Magpie (first spotted by Zoe)

Magpies can be spotted quite easily anywhere - they are black and white with a long tail and are very noisy - keep your eyes peeled for one this week. Until next time...

Mrs Longmoor

Bird of the Day - Crow

The birds were being very well behaved for us today and we saw lots of birds quite close up. My birders today were from Class 4. They did very well using the little binoculars and we spotted:

blue tit
blackbirds
starling
wood pigeons
black headed gulls
chaffinch
plus a cheeky grey squirrel

but we all agreed that the best bird of the day was a Crow which sat in a tree right in front of us making a very loud cawing noise - you can spot them in the tops of trees around school. Two more crows landed on rooves as we walked back and Macauly managed to get a good close up view through his bins.

The children really enjoyed looking for birds today and birthday girl Polly said it was "Awesome!"
Remember to feed the birds in your garden now the weather is getting colder . Until next time

Mrs Longmoor

Bird of the Day - Starling

Hello again! Birdwatching with me today were from Class 4.
Birds we spotted were:

chaffinches
black headed gull
blackbirds
robin
woodpigeon

and Bird of the Day was the Starling -  two of these flew over us. Starling are well known for gathering together in big flocks and making big swirly patterns in the sky before going to bed - no one knows why they do this - just because it's fun is my guess!

Finally, well done to Jessica for working out that a starling gets its name because it is sparkly like a star:

They may be common but they are a lovely bird! Until next time...
Mrs Longmoor

Bird of the Day - Blackbird

I was joined by members from Class 4 for birdwatching today. Birds we spotted were:

woodpigeon
black headed gulls
robin
blue tit

plus the bird of the day was chosen by the children as Blackbird

We saw lots of these birds on fences and rooves on our bird walk. See if you can spot one this week. Bye for now
Mrs Longmoor

Bird of the Day - Chaffinch

We had our first birdwatching club of the school year today.

Birds we spotted were:
20 black-headed gulls
Blue tit
Robin
Blackirds
Crow

and chosen as Bird of the Day was a lovely female chaffinch we spotted:

Keep your eyes on the eco team board for more bird updates!

Mrs Longmoor

Welcome to Eco Team 2011/12

Hello,


Welcome back to the Parklands Eco blog. We've started the new school year with some exciting news, this Friday, the 4th November our school is being assessed for it's green flag. Hooray!!


We've had our first Eco Assembly this morning to introduce the new Eco Team to the whole school, and we talked about what it means to be green, and eco-friendly. 


The Eco team notice board also has a brand new look, pop into the family room and have a look, see if you can figure out what an eco womble looks like??? This will be a great place to see what the eco team is up to, what activities are going on in school and what exciting events are coming up. 


Thanks for reading.


Mrs Padley
Eco Team co-ordinator

Eco Team Update

Hi there,

thought I should put in an update, I was going to have lots of lovely photos...but I must apologise as they seem to have wandered off into the digital abyss.

Last Term

Parklands had a very busy time eco-wise last term. The Tulips bloomed in Mid April, they looked beautiful, bright red. Most excitingly we had real live chicks living in the family room for a week, the children were able to watch them develop from eggs, hatch and grow as the week went on. This was a big hit with the children, who behaved really well, and stayed quiet so as not to frighten the chicks.

We submitted our application for the eco-schools green flag, it has definitely been received, and we are now waiting for Eco-Schools to contact us about a date for our assessment visit. this is likely to be during the Autumn Term.

Summer Term

Now we're almost half way through the summer term, last weekend we had the annual tidy up the wildlife garden community event run by Mrs Jones. After a bit of a slow start 5 families came to tidy up, and made a great impact on the garden which is looking even more beautiful now, and can be used by the children as a quiet place during playtimes, and also for lessons. We planted some Mint, a few cucumbers, some tomatoes and some flowers to encourage insects.

Next week is Green week at Parklands, we have special green assemblies, planned about recycling and waste. On Tuesday all the children will take part in Scooter Smart Day, when they will be trained to ride their scooters safely and confidently, we hope this will keep our Parklanders fit and healthy as well as encouraging them to scoot to school, rather than come in the car.

Thursday is GREEN DAY, a non-uniform day with lots of fun activities to get us all thinking about reducing, re-using and recycling. Mrs Webster has organised a collection of old clothes to raise funds for the school and re use clothes that we don't need anymore. All the year groups will be involved in creating a bottle top tree sculpture, using bottle tops which can't be recycled locally. A full report in a few weeks time.

See you all soon

Mrs Padley

Bird of the Week - the Osprey

We were really lucky this week as all of Year 2 were able to spend some time watching a pair of beautiful ospreys via a webcam on the internet. The female is called EJ and the male is Odin - they have a huge nest near a loch in Scotland which they have used for several years and raised chicks there. Here is the link to watch the webcam and a lovely but slightly fuzzy photo showing both birds:

 http://www.rspb.org.uk/webcams/birdsofprey/lochgartenvideo.aspx

Ospreys are also called fish eagles as they eat only fish which they catch by flying over the water and grabbing with their huge talons. They are one of the rarest birds of prey in the country so the chance to watch them was a real treat - fingers crossed we see some chicks soon!

Lots of Eco Activity at Parklands

Well, I have so much to tell you all. it's been a busy eco time at school at the moment. As you can see from the picture above Mrs Hallows has finished collecting all the items needed for the aqua box, this photo was taken just before our assembly in March. The children had a chance to see all the different things we were able to put into the box because of their hard work. I also told the children about the alarm clock tulips planted in front of the school entrance to tell us all when spring has arrived. As you can see from this photo they are poking their heads up through the soil, this photo was taken a couple of weeks ago, they are looking much bigger now, have a look as you walk into school tomorrow.

Mrs Hallows and I also had the treat of hearing the new Parklands Eco song sung by all the children. The words are

Reduce Reuse Recycle - words that we all know

We have to save our planet to we can live and grow

We might be only children but we will try you'll see

And we can save this planet, it starts with you and me.

It's sounds brilliant when sung very loudly!! the song was written by Mrs Kilarski's class.

Parklands also celebrated earth hour on the 25th March.

Mrs Meller held an assembly to talk about it and the lights were turned off for an hour. the children were encouraged to take part at home the following day. 

We have an exciting new "Let's Get Cooking" display in the family room at the moment courtesy of Mrs Harvey, it's all about healthy eating.

And finally don't forget to use the Freecycle board in the family room to advertise unwanted goods to be gifted to others who may need them locally.

My what a busy update this has been, and there's even more to come with our green flag application going in soon, environmental reviews, letters to famous people about recycling and real live baby chicks in school. I'll keep you posted, and don't forget to let me know all your green news by catching me at school.

Mrs Padley.

Bird of the Week - Long-Tailed Tit

Joining me for birdwatching this week were Ellie, Elly, Nella and Paula from Year 2. In the wildlife garden we spotted:
Crow
Pigeons
Great Tit
and the bird of the week - Long-Tailed Tit. I spotted a pair of these in the trees outside Class 1. They are a lovely little bird with a pink tummy, black and white face and ....you guessed it... a long tail!

We also practised using binoculars for spotting birds in the tops of trees:

Finally, I wanted to tell you that the results of the RSPB School Birdwatch are in! Here are the girls proudly showing off the certificate we received for taking part:

You can check out the results for yourselves at http://www.rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch/ - the winner was.....the Blackbird!  Closely followed by woodpigeons, starlings, blue tits, sparrows, crows and magpies. The wildlife garden is looking really lovely now with daffodils, bees and butterflies to spot as well as birds - so go and have a look one lunchtime and let me know what you find! Bye for now, Mrs. Longmoor

Bird of the Week - Peregrine Falcon

We did something a bit different this week for birdwatching club. We had a look at birds on the internet. We are very lucky to have peregrine falcons nesting in Derby and Nottingham which you can watch 24 hours a day by webcams. Follow these links to have a look for yourselves.
http://www.derby.gov.uk/dccwebdev/museum/peregrine/webcam.htm
http://www.ntu.ac.uk/ecoweb/ntu_doing/falcons/103295.cfm

 A female falcon at Derby Cathedral.
There are lots more webcams on the internet that let you watch birds close up as they raise their chicks. Have fun! Mrs. Longmoor

Fairtrade Fortnight at Parklands

Here is our fabulous Fair trade Fortnight display which was recently seen in the family room during Fair trade fortnight. The display was put up by Mrs Jane Harvey, a member of the Eco-team. Mrs Meller held an assembly to tell us all about Fair trade fortnight, and to look out for the Fair trade Logo on the things we buy. Mrs Harvey also used Fair trade ingredients in cookery club on a Monday after school.  Mrs Padley.

Tulip Test Garden - The Tulips have emerged

Exciting news, our alarm clock tulips have started to emerge from the ground. the tulips were planted back in December ( have a look in the blog history) and are part of a worldwide project to track the start of spring. Check out their website to see the amazing map that shows how Spring is starting across the whole world - www.learner.org/jnorth/ and click on tulip test gardens  on the left side. As you can see Parklands pupils are keeping an eye on the tulips, our photo shows some serious weeding going on.

The tulips are planted just in front of the main entrance to the school, so check them out if you are passing by, and keep me posted on their developments. Lots more Eco news to come soon, so watch this space. Mrs Padley

Birdwatching Club - Spot of the Week - the Great Tit

Well it looks like the beautiful spring sunshine has really brought the birds out this week. Spotting with me were Billy, Sachin and Myles from Year 2. We spent around 10 minutes in the wildlife garden (lovely spring flowers coming up too) and there was plenty to see - robins, blue tits, goldfinches and my spot of the week - the Great Tit.

These are a very common bird found in parks and gardens - a bit bigger than a blue tit with green wings and a yellow tummy with a black stripe down its front. It's a great time of year now for birdspotting as birds start making their nests - see if you can spot a bird collecting twigs for its nest this week. Until next time, Mrs Longmoor

Christmas Card Recycling

As you can see Parklands have completed a magnificent amount of Christmas Card Recycling this year, slightly more than the height of Minnie Padley from class 2. We recycled 1918 cards and a reindeer hat, the pile was quite sizeable as you can see (approximately 2 metres 14 centimetres). The cards were taken to TK Maxx on Chilwell Retail Park, where they will be recycled and raise money for The Woodland Trust. Hopefully next year we will recycle even more.

Birdwatching Spot of the Week - the Robin

Hello again, birdwatching club has now moved to Mondays so we were twitching today. It was a bit chilly but we did spot a few birds. Birds we saw were:
Seagulls
Blackbirds
Pigeons
A carrion crow
and our spot of the week - a lovely cheeky little robin

We could hear some singing from a hedge but couldn't see the bird - we were patient and after a couple of minutes of waiting quietly, a lovely little robin hopped up right in front of us. Hopefully now spring is on the way we will start to see a few more birds around school. I heard a woodpecker as I walked through West Park last week but couldn't see it anywhere! Another example of why listening for birds is so important! Until next time, Mrs. Longmoor

How can you recycle a plastic bottle and help birds?

Here's the answer! and thanks to Oliver, Elia and Chloe from Year 2 who helped me make a bottle top bird feeder for the wildlife garden today in birdwatching club. All you need is an empty plastic bottle, some bird seed and a bottle top feeder kit which I bought at Attenborough Nature Reserve for £3. It's a brilliant idea and the children said it was fun to make too.

BEFORE.....

....AND AFTER!



It was too windy to see many birds today - only seagulls and pigeons were brave enough to be flying around - the bird table even blew over! So until next time.....Mrs Longmoor

The Big School Birdwatch

This week we took part in the RSPB's School Birdwatch.

We spent a total of an hour in the nature garden and walking near nursery and here are our results:
2 blackbirds
1 sparrow
3 blue tits
2 robins (including one juvenile)
1 magpie
2 woodpigeons
1 great tit (spotted by Jacob B)
2 crows
60+ seagulls
and my spot of the week this week - 3 Goldfinches - these were spotted by me eating berries at the top of a tree in the nature garden. Goldfinches are very brightly coloured little birds who really love seeds and thistles. They are easy to recognise with their red faces and bright yellow on their wings.

I have submitted our results on the RSPB website and we have been entered into a prize draw to win cool bird things for school so keep your fingers crossed! 

One last thing - lots of people have been telling me lately about the birds they see in their gardens or just out and about. I saw a flock of chaffinches on the way to school and lucky Mrs Padley spotted a whole flock of waxwings in the middle of Long Eaton - waxwings live in Scandinavia but come to England in the winter to feed. They love red berries so keep your eyes peeled and you might be lucky enough to see some too.

Birdwatching Spot of the Week - the Robin

Hello again! This week we gave the wildlife garden a bit of TLC. Thanks to May from Class 1 who litter picked with me on Monday and Tommy, Lucas, Jessica, Jack D, Sachin and Nikita from Year 2 who filled up the bird feeders and put bird seed on the bird table as part of birdwatching club this week. Not such a good week this time for spotting birds but when you look at this lot - it's hardly surprising the birds decided to hide.....

We did manage to spot woodpigeons, crows, seagulls, a blackbird and the spot of the week - a robin, spotted by Tommy and Lucas in the wildlife garden. Robins are not just around at Christmas - look out for their red front all year round. I would love to hear if you spot a robin in your garden this week.

One last thing - this weekend is the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch - if you go to their website you can find out how you can get involved too http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/takepart.aspx
Until next time.....Mrs Longmoor

Birdwatching Club - Spot of the Week - the Magpie

Well done to Jordan for picking out the songs and noises from the birds too. Archie was our recorder and wrote down all the birds we spotted which were:
Seagull
Carrion Crow
Collared Dove
Pigeon
Blue Tit
Long-tailed Tit (a lovely little fat bird with a very long tail and pink tummy)
and
My Spot of the Week - a Magpie spotted by Lawson

Magpies are easy to spot - they are quite big, quite noisy and have very distinctive black and white feathers. See if you can spot a magpie this week and....keep watching the skies! 

Mrs. Longmoor

Good start to the year

On Friday we held a bring and buy sale so that we had a guilt free way to pass on unwanted Christmas presents!  There was also a nearly new uniform sale.  The collection for the Aquabox is going really well.  There are just a few more items to collect before the box can be packed and sent to where it's needed......thanks.

Just before Christmas, we managed to plant the tulips for the mapping climate change project,  there had been snow on the ground when we had originally planned to plant.  Mrs Longmoor, Mr Meller and Mrs Hallows, braved the bad weather and planted 250 Red Emperor bulbs, one for each pupil in the school.  The tulips are an early flowering variety and registering when they flower on the Journey North website will help map the arrival of Spring worldwide and the effects of climate change.

Birdwatching Club News

The first meeting for birdwatching club was a great success. Members from Year 2 spotted 8 different types of bird in just twenty minutes. They were:

Collared Dove

Wood Pigeon

Blackbird

Seagull (lots of these)

Robin (who was singing very noisily)
Blue Tit
Starlings (a whole flock flew over)
Crow (in the top of a tree)

If you would like to see pictures of these birds - have a look at the Birdwatching Club section of the Eco Team notice board in the family room. You can also find pictures of birds to colour in and magazines which you can borrow. Until next week - keep twitching!
Mrs. Longmoor

Birdwatching club

Mrs Longmoor will be running a birdwatching club on Wednesday lunchtimes.  We'll be updating the blog with news of our feathered visitors.

Recycling month

Happy New Year!  At Parklands, January has been designated as recycling month. Please bring in your Christmas cards for recycling by The Woodland Trust.  We want to create a huge pile to show just how much recycling we as a community create.  The children will be learning about recycling in assembly; did you know that it takes 100,000 years for a glass bottle to break down in a landfill site?  Plastic bottles never break down.

• Recycling helps to tackle climate change. Waste sent to landfill can create methane – a powerful greenhouse gas. If we all recycle just one card this Christmas this would save 1,570 tonnes of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases – the same as taking 500 cars off the road for a year.
• Recycling cards makes people think about consumer waste – particularly relevant at Christmas.
• 73.6 million cards were recycled by the scheme in 2008.