The Wild-Live Streaming (WLS) initiative recently made an exciting visit to Brentfield Primary School in North-West London, as part of its efforts to raise awareness about conservation among young people. The students of Year 4 were in the middle of an entire week dedicated to turtles and had clearly learned a lot about turtle life cycles, habitats and threats. During the event, the students showed a huge interest both in turtles and in conservation more generally, which led to an engaging discussion over two Q&A sessions with Débora Newlands, the Volunteer Coordinator of Project Biodiversity who joined us for the session.
Before the event, the team was unsure how much of the information would be engaging for Year 4’s 8- and 9-year-old students, but the students participated eagerly with all the activities. The engagement was also reflected in the feedback. After discussing the type of work done by conservationists in the field, 65% of the students said they could see themselves working in biology or conservation, compared with only 43% at the start. This change demonstrates the potential for outreach events to make conservation more accessible for younger students.
Miss Noorgat, the class teacher, also believes that the WLS initiative will have a lasting effect on the students, with many of them repeating afterwards that they could see themselves working in biology or conservation. The passion and engagement shown by the students of Brentfield Primary School were encouraging and confirm that this type of message is of interest to younger students. But just as importantly, the students had fun! “The children were very engaged and enjoyed the activities provided. This event has been amazing”, Miss Noorgat wrote in the feedback.
Connecting young people with nature and raising awareness of how to protect it will be crucial as we seek to preserve the biodiversity on our planet. The WLS initiative's visit to Brentfield Primary School was an excellent example of how outreach visits by biologists can inspire and educate young people about conservation efforts. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the school and are looking forward to more events like this in the future.