At one with nature
Children in Blackpool don't have enough access to nature, at least according to teachers at Westminster Primary Academy. They have cited a nine-year-old who had never seen the sea, despite living in a seaside town, and a ten-year-old who didn't know what a duck was.
"As a school, we're in a very built-up area in Blackpool," Kim explains. "We've had some very extreme examples of our children with nature." Westminster Primary Academy is in an area with few green spaces where wildlife and nature are in short supply. Although many children live only minutes from the beach, they may not get to spend much time there. And while Blackpool is surrounded by spectacular countryside, such as the Forest of Bowland, Kim says many parents don't have cars or can't afford public transport. "They're just not getting the opportunities a lot of other children would get," she adds. "So, we thought, 'well, let's bring nature to them'."
Helen Briggs, BBC environment correspondent
I'm sure that inner city depravation has its role to play. But so does poor teaching. Does a child really need to see a real, live duck before they understand what a duck is? My children first came across ducks not in the wild, or on a farm, but when learning to read. Same with the sea; since we live in Switzerland, the genuine wavy-waves sea is quite a journey away.
Clearly, something must be seriously wrong, not just at home, but also at school, for a nine-year-old not to be aware of the sea, and a ten-yer-old not to know what a duck looks like. These children obviously have no hope. They're set for a dismal future, scraping a living from drugs; sex work; or, worse, as BBC journalists.
Kim is now outdoor education lead at the primary school, which became a Nature Friendly School two years ago.
Helen Briggs, BBC Environment correspondent
That's nice, it'll get her out of that stuffy classroom and into the fresh air. Perhaps even a trip to the beach, where she can go paddling in the sea.
When I was at primary school—long ago, back in the days when we had proper education—teachers would take us out on field trips as a matter of course. They didn't need a fancy title, or a network, just initiative. Then again, we'd seen pictures of ducks and the sea in funny collections of paper. Books…I think that's what they were called. (thinking)