Our celebrations began with a special launch assembly where the children had to guess different animal noises. The sounds made by house cats — chirping, purring and meowing — caused lots of laughter and excitement throughout the hall!

We also launched an animal mask-making competition using recyclable materials. The entries were sensational, and it was clear how much creativity, time and effort had gone into making them. Congratulations to our winners: Maisie from Year 1 for KS1 and Indie from Year 5 for KS2.

One of the highlights of the celebrations was a live video link to the Kruger National Park in South Africa, where the children met two of the park’s rangers. They introduced us to the “Big Five” animals — lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards and buffalo — as well as the “Small Five”, including the rhino beetle, leopard tortoise and elephant shrew. The children were amazed that some of the “Small Five” animals were tiny despite their impressive names!

The rangers shared fascinating facts about the park, including that it is the size of Wales and home to 147 mammal species, 114 reptile species, more than 500 bird species and over 336 tree species. The children enjoyed seeing videos of the wildlife and learning how tourism helps conserve the animals and their habitats.

Alice from Year 3 said:
“The rangers showed us all the animals in the Big Five and the Small Five too. It was really interesting when they showed us how big the park was and a video of thousands of animals drinking together. I really enjoyed it!”

We also held a ‘Walking with Dinoaurs’ themed lunch on Sir David’s birthday. Mrs Stainer would like to thank Kelton Riley for all the dinosaurs & decorations he lent to her for the lunch.

The PTA also arranged Beach Explorers workshops for every class, where the children learnt fascinating facts about sea creatures and the importance of caring for our environment. They discovered, for example, that a blue whale can grow to nearly 30 metres long and that its call can travel up to 1,000 miles away.

Colby from Year 3 said:
“We talked about sea animals and how some hide under the sand until the water goes out. I learnt you can tell the difference between boy and girl crabs by the pattern on their tummies. My favourite part was learning about the cuttlefish.”

A huge thank you to the PTA for organising and supporting these fantastic events, especially Mrs Riley for all of her hard work in making the celebrations such a success.

Throughout the week, the children developed a greater understanding of conservation, wildlife and the importance of protecting our planet — a wonderful way to celebrate Sir David Attenborough and his inspiring work.