Moor Hall Egg Watch!

Reception classes have some chicken eggs at the moment.

Why not have a look at the live feed video below to find out if they have hatched yet!

Climate Action Awards

Taking action for climate change is important at home, but it's just as important at school.

Children taking part in the RSPB Climate Action Awards have been keen to take action. They have spread the message using posters and our club's noticeboard, they have been proactive checking taps, thermometers and lights, they have organised the composting bins and have planted seeds to form wildflower beds.

This morning more 'Greening our School' took place. The school pond is very active with tadpoles at present, helping protect this wildlife area of the school is part of our award action.

Mrs Glare said: "Well done children, you are all doing your bit to help combat climate change."

RSPB Wildlife Action Gold Award

Twelve children have recently been presented with their badges, certificates and stickers for passing the RSPB Wildlife Action Gold Awards. Mr. Fisher from the RSPB attended the assembly to help with the presentation.

Over many months children from the 'Bird Club' have been completing activities to help wildlife and the environment. To gain the Gold Award the children had to complete eighteen tasks, which is a huge achievement.

Thank you children for your hard work and commitment. Well done. 

 

Meeting Peter Holden MBE

All the children from the 'Bird Club' were invited to meet Peter Holden MBE, a national ornithologist who has worked for the RSPB for 47 years.He has written many books, appeared on television and is responsible for the youth membership in the RSPB. He also founded the Wildlife Explorer's Awards and the Big Schools' Birdwatch that we take part in at the school.

He presented a signed book and certificate to some children who have done extra fund raising for wildlife. It was such a privilege for us all to meet and talk to such an inspirational man.

Sutton Coldfield RSPB presentation

Six children from the Bird Club who had participated in extra fund raising activities at Christmas time were invited to the Sutton Coldfield RSPB local group's meeting to give a presentation. All the children had prepared their own speeches explaining about their Wildlife Action Awards and how they raised the extra funds, then practised them in their lunch times.


On the night the children did themselves proud as they talked to a hall full of people and showed a PowerPoint of their work. In the interval the local group members made comments about how amazing the children were; they were thrilled to know that children are thinking about the future of animals and their environment.


The children presented the president of the group a cheque for £25 from the money they raised, which was gratefully received. The Group's own report of the evening is here.


Well done to you all.

Falconry Display

Children who are working towards their RSPB Gold Wildlife Explorer's Awards had fun attending a falconry display in the school hall in their 'Bird Club' time. Children who already have the gold award and the RSPB Climate Award also attended.

We saw a variety of birds flying: owls including a beautiful Spectacled Owl, a kestrel and a majestic Harris Hawk.The Golden Eagle was large and grand but a little nervous, however the Little Owl was cocky and very noisy! The talk was interesting and informative and we learnt lots of new facts about raptors and owls. 

The event was a fitting treat for all the children's hard work and perseverance in gaining these awards. 

The 'Wildlife Explorers Club' go on a 'Forest Experience'.

Children in the 'Wildlife Explorers Club' were 'environmentally friendly' today as they walked instead of using transport to an exciting 'forest experience' event.

We made 'God's eyes' out of wood and wool which we found hidden in the forest, then we made dens and finally drank hot chocolate. 

You can see by our photographs what a wonderful nature filled time we had.

Leopard Slug

After the 'Bird Sale' we all went into the 'Wildlife Garden' to fill up the feeders and check the bird baths. We found an unusual slug which was identified as a 'Leopard Slug'. Scientists are unclear of their whereabouts and to date there have been no reported sightings in this area. I have therefore registered our sighting to the Open Air Laboratories Network run by Imperial College, London. These slugs are garden friendly as they eat rotting vegetation and other slugs - they don't eat healthy plants!

Bird Club Sale

The 'Wildlife Explorer's Club' (though we call ourselves the 'Bird Club') are now working towards their RSPB Silver Award. Part of this award is to 'raise funds for wildlife'. 

The children have been working hard making items to sell and today was the sale. They raised over £200 and have several ideas how they want to spend the money: ideas include a bat box, an owl box, a donation to the RSPB and BirdLife Malta and stones for the wildlife garden! A special thank you to Mrs Edwards and Cara's Nan for their contributions. Well done to you all, you should all be very proud.

Wildlife Action Awards

We are pleased to say that the children in the Wildlife Explorer's Club have achieved their bronze Wildlife Action Award. Well done from Mrs Glare!
If you would like more information about the award it will be announced on:www.facebook.com/RSPBWilldlifeActionAwards  and on Twitter @RSPB_Learning

RSPB Sandwell Valley

Pictures from the visit to Sandwell Valley have been uploaded to our special events page.

Radishes

Today we harvested our very first home grown garden produce! Ren pulled up four juicy radishes. Come back later for photographic evidence!

RSPB visitors

Today we were fortunate to have visitors from the RSPB and BirdLife Malta. They initially came to see and listen to a presentation  with Mrs. Glare's 'Bird Club'. The children in the club explained the work they had completed for their Wildlife Explorer's Bronze Award. The visitors then worked on a project  'Nature at Home 'with class 3. We used maps we had drawn of the school grounds to plot habitats we had created for our wildlife. We had informative discussions about wildlife in Malta and ideas about how we could improve our grounds in the future. Mr Winter will try to put a few photographs about our exciting afternoon in the year 3 area this evening. Our visitors were very impressed by the children's knowledge, enthusiasm and behaviour. It would be lovely to hear the children's comments on the blog.

RSPB Sandwell Valley

What a superb afternoon we all had at RSPB Sandwell Valley. Thank you to Mrs Glare for organising the event and well done to all of the children who were so enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Some pictures have been added to our special events page.

http://www.moorhall.bham.sch.uk/special-events

Year 4 and 5 trip to West Midlands Safari Park

Year 5, along with Year 4, enjoyed a fantastic day out at West Midlands Safari Park as part of our current science topic about animals. In the coach we went on a safari to see a wide variety of amazing animals such as: rhinos, white tigers, wild dogs, elephants and lions. We had a Park Ranger on board to tell us all about the different species. After lunch we went on a walk through the spooky bat caves (where bats flew freely), fed the colourful lorikeets (some children even had them land on their heads!) and walked through the aquarium and creepy crawlies! Some of use were fortunate enough to feed the penguins, they loved gobbling up the fish! Later on in the afternoon we listened to a reptile talk and ventured through the reptile house. After an ice lolly break we had a classroom session with a park ranger about the classification of animals, we got to touch cockroaches, a hermit crab, a corn snake and even a skunk! Despite a bit of drizzle we went on a walk through lemur woods and fed cabbage to some very hungry hippos! To end the day we went on a dino trail where we saw huge robotic replicas of incredible dinosaurs! What a terrific time had by all! A big thank to all the staff who accompanied the children: Mrs Collins, Mrs Russell, Mrs Newbould, Mrs Latino-Kelly, Mrs Barton and Mrs Brandon-Pike.

Class 5's Fish!!!!

Class 5 are thrilled to announce that we have welcomed 2 new additions to our class, 2 beautiful goldfish named Shadow and Sushi! Shadow is a Black Moor goldfish and Sushi is a Pearl Scale goldfish. We brought them using the money raised from Spooky Snacks back in October. I must say a huge thank you to Ellen and her family for generously offering their fish tank, it looks fantastic! As fish need to be introduced slowly, we have 2 fish to begin with and we plan to introduce a few more once we return from Abernant. I see this as a great opportunity for children to develop their sense of responsibility as we are all collectively responsible for the maintenance and well being of our fish. If you are ever wondering past our classroom, please pop in and have a look at our fabulous pets!

Climate Award warriors at work!

Children who are taking part in the RSPB Climate Action Awards got busy this morning painting the fence around the school pond.

This Award looks at ways all of us can help reduce the effects that Climate Change will have on the Earth. It shows us how 'every little helps' - we can all do something to make a difference. The children have been taking part in various activities over the last few weeks to help save our planet. Today their focus was to take part in making our school more attractive to wildlife.

We all had fun while doing something to help combat climate change.

You too can find out how to take action for climate change at home and school - all those who complete this Award will gain a certificate and badge. If you're interested, please join via Moorhens.

Ladybirds Update!

New galleries have been added to the Ladybirds' class page.

Click here to see what we have been up to over the last few weeks!

The Ladybirds Team

Frogspawn update by Charlie

On Monday 7th April year five started their bike ability course. As my group came back past Moorhens someone noticed some frogspawn in a puddle then it dawned to me that when the puddle dries up the tadpoles will die…..

So, at break time, I told Mrs Glare and we took a tub and some paper to help rescue the tadpoles. Then carefully we fished them out of the puddle. By now we had attracted quite a crowd, who had seen me and Mrs Glare on our hands and knees and come to investigate what we were up to.

Once we had all of the frogspawn out of the puddle and in the tub I carried the frogspawn to the pond. Then carefully I tipped the frogspawn into the pond and it dropped to the bottom. Mrs Glare said it will take a little while till it floats to the surface because the oxygen would have to get into the frogspawn so it could float to the surface. After that I went to the kitchen and asked for some lettuce to feed the tadpoles with. The lettuce had to be really small so that they could eat it.

Soon play time was over and we went back into class as if nothing had happened! I felt proud after what I had done.

By Charlie Y5