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Eco-Blog of Elliot the Eco-Bat

Elliot on the 'Eco-Path

Hello, I'm Elliot the Eco-Bat and I'm on the 'eco-path'.

This means I am traveling around all the schools that make up the Eco-Schools Network in Stafford Borough to see what environmental projects they are all doing and write about them in my blog. 

Who Am I?

This is me with Regina who helped to organise the Eco-Schools Eco-Day

I'm the mascot of the Stafford Borough Eco-Schools Network and in March 2006 I made my first appearance at the Eco Action Day.  The Eco-Schools held a competition to design and name me and Regina organised for me to be created.  I think I look wonderful with my orange hat and lovely green scarf!

Jayran Oskoei-Lear from St. Michael's First School drew a lovely picture of how I should look and Joshua Wilson from St Peter's Primary School came up with my wonderful name.  I was so happy that I persuaded one of our local Members of Parliament, David Kidney, to come along and congratulate them and introduce me to all the guys who came along to the Eco Action Day.

 

Eco Action Day 2006

 

All my Eco-Friends and I had a fabulous time at the Eco Action Day.  It was at the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust's headquarters at Wolseley Bridge.  We took part in a special environmental play with eagles, hobbits, quiz shows and scientist.  We experimented with insulation and found out how to save energy, made our own paper and explored the habitats around Wolseley Bridge.  I made a special photo gallery of the day (Link: Eco Action Day 2006 Photo Gallery).

 

After the Eco Action Day I started my 'Eco Path'.  I'm so looking forward to meeting all my Eco-Friends again as I flitter from school to school.

 

So far I have been to three schools:

St. Michael's First School in Stone from March to June 2006;

St. Peter's Primary in Hixon from July to October 2006;

Silkmore Community Primary School in Stafford from October 2006.

 

St Michael's First School, Stone 

 

	This is the diary I'm keeping as I fly round the Eco-Schools.

My first visit was to St. Michael's in Stone to visit my friend and prize winning bat designer Jayran Oskoei-Lear.  I started a diary and the two of us are on the cover.  All my Eco-Friends will help me write about all their wonderful work.

At St.Michael's they do a lot of gardening and I was very impressed with their poly-tunnel where they plant seeds and help them to germinate.

The portocabins were painted with designs by Beth Cox Key Stage 1 and Chloe Hatton Key Stage 2 during Art Week.  These really brighten up the playground.  Emily in Year 2 showed me how to plant flowers in tubs with the Reception Class.  I saw all different habitats with Year 4 and Year 1 took me pond dipping, which was great fun.  The Nursery eco-walk helped me to understand why having a compost heap is good and how it can help plants grow.

 

Here are some of the pictures from my diary.

  

St Peter's Primary School, Hixon

 

At St.Peter's I visitied Joshua Wilson who won the competition to name me.

 

Katie Burgess, Year 6, told me all about how they saved rain water to water the plants in the garden.  I really enjoyed working with Year 5 where we did some weaving with willow sticks and used this to separate the wildlife area from the main garden area.  I helped Year 4 clear the nest boxes and Year 1 make some 'natural art'.  We were able to harvest the new potatoes and make some leek and potato soup with the leeks the children had grown earlier in the year which had been frozen.

 

 

Here is a picture of a water butt	These are photos from my diary showing how we made willow fences

Silkmore County Primary School, Stafford

Well, now I am at Silkmore Primary and I have been learning all about their project with the 'Bird Watch Garden'.  Year 5/6 decided that this area, which is right outside their classroom, needed tidying up.  The gardening club have spent many lunchtimes clearing the path and pruning the shrubs. They have just put up some new bird feeders and some of the pupils have to check these each morning.  There is a group of pupils who are trying to find how this project came about, what has been done to improve the area and how this area might be used in the future by all the children in the school.  They have let me join in with their interviewing.

This week Elliot went to the gardening club and helped with the weeding.  The reception class showed me how to plant bulbs which will be stored until Spring when the children will take home the bulbs that they have planted.

Gardening Club clearing the bird watch garden	This is a new bird feeder
Here is a picture of me helping out at Gardening Club	And this is me helping Ewen and Kara to plant some bulbs

That's all for now but be sure to come back soon and catch up with me as I continue on my Eco-Path.

Walton Hall School (March 2007)

Here I am at Walton Hall School where they have been showing me around their farm, I've met Donna and Ellie the pigs and Mary and Mavis the goats, they loved having their picture taken!

I watched the children clearing away the dead branches to put on the compost heap and then they fed the free-range chickens.

They planted new seeds and trimmed the hedges, cleared the weeds out of the pond...a gardeners work is never done!

Every week here at Walton Hall a group from P16 do horticulture and conservation, such as planting the willow weave at the millennium walk.  The school are even planting seeds in hanging baskets and planters for the schools in bloom competition!

St. Austin's Primary School (June 2007)

I've had a very busy week here, I helped year 5 to realise how much paper they throw away...they even had a go at recycling old hand-outs.  I went to a habitats workshop at the museum of Cannock Chase, with the year 4 children, and we met lots of birds and even Monty the snake!  We also learnt about how animals and plants depend on each other by creating out own environment webs!

With year2 I learnt about how we can reduce the amount of packaging in our lunch boxes!  And we did an experiment to see what plants need to grow and after we watered the tomato plants.

David Kidney visited to see what we had done in 'go green week' and the children showed him the playground, which is made of recycled tyres.  Then we planned another investigation to see if we could use the sun to heat water, so we could save energy...it worked.  Phew!...what a long week.

St.Leonard's CE first School (July 2007)

With some of the students I visited Water Eaton farm in Gailey, which is involved in the 'Countryside Stewardship' scheme.  This was really fun and we got to try lots of different fruit and vegetables. 

Then year 3 took me to the Perkins engines factory, we went because the school were finalists in the Perkins Eco Awards.  The best bit of the day was watching the birds of prey; there was an Eagle owl and a Kestrel and they did a demonstration.

Tom and Chris showed me how they had done some research into what bats like me like to eat and they made a food chain too.

Marshbrook First School (October 2007)

I helped the children at Marshbrook first school to join the 'Scrap store' scheme.  The class who collected the most scrap won me for 2 weeks.

Then I helped the gardening club to grow loads of potatoes in the national competition, they were 'chitting' the potatoes when I visited...this was very interesting. 

Manor Hill First School (May 2008)

We visited the school wildlife pond, and everyone showed me how to catch the tadpoles, we had lots of fun and examined them and then put the tadpoles back in the pond.  Then when we got back into the classroom we drew some of the animals and plants that we had found around the school.

In February the parents came and helped to replant the new wildlife area, which we hoped would attract more wildlife.

Christina wrote me a poem too, called 'Hurt no Living thing':

Hurt no living thing
Ladybird nor butterfly
Nor moth with dusty wing
Nor cricket chirping cheerily
Nor grasshopper, so light of leap
Nor dancing gnat
Nor beetle fat
Nor harmless worms that creep.

Elliot.