Soft fur, sharp claws and twitching whiskers, from treasured family pets to animals in the zoo, children at St Nicholas at Wade CE Primary have been investigating the wonderful world of animals.
As part of their Science work, young pupils from Year 1 and 2 have been discovering, comparing and contrasting what animals like to eat and where they like to sleep.
Where better to find out more than a trip to Wingham Wildlife Park where they had a fantastic experience meeting and watching an array of diverse creatures great and small as well as learning all about their habitats and the adaptations that they have to ensure their survival.
Further learning in their Paws, Claws and Whiskers topic will see the children making a food chain to show who eats who, who is a herbivore and who is a carnivore.
They will also explore why whiskers are so important, what claws are for and why are tigers’ teeth so sharp.
Their creative skills will be put to the test when they design their own creatures and decide what sort of habitat will be suit their survival and enable them to thrive and develop.
Head Teacher Taralee Kennedy said: “We believe it is really important to give the children the opportunities to learn from a range of experiences – not only does it help to give context to the learning but it increases enjoyment and gives them experiences which increase their cultural capital.
“Using our own environment in and around our school is equally important, as the children went in search of the animals that we share our grounds with. For example, our pond area is teaming with all kinds of creatures that the children have enjoyed discovering.
“This topic covers so many fundamental parts of our curriculum and it is lovely to see our children so engaged with their learning and enjoying being so inquisitive.”