NEWSBOARD

I nf ormation for Parents, Teachers an d C arersNews Round Let’s Count

BRAKE’s kids walk

ThiS Year’S road safety campaign is on 22 June. Schoolchildren will walk in pairs in crocodile formation within their community, to emphasise the importance of being able to walk without fear or threat from traffic or pollution. Schools can go to www.brake.org.uk/kidswalk to sign up and get a free action pack.

ThE OFFICE FOr NaTIONaL STaTISTICS, together with education resource centre, iChild, have created a range of fun and engaging teaching resources to go with the Let’s Count campaign which will bring census data to life in the primary school classroom. Resources include five new easy-to-use lessons which take children on a journey from collecting the data through to analysing and publishing the findings. There will also be a video lesson for participating schools delivered by ONS experts. The programme supports numeracy, history, geography and writing skills, and follows on from last year’s lessons which are all still available. Alongside the lessons, schools are encouraged to hold their own Let’s Count! day in the build up to the first Census 2021 results, where children can count things and collect data on any cause or subject that matters to them or their school. Schools can go to letscount.ichild.co.uk to register and get the new resources.

The Big Count helps people to connect with nature

SoMERSET Wildlife Trust has launched its Big Count 2022 initiative, part of their joint citizen science venture with Somerset environmental record Centre.

Running from June 17 - 26, it aims to encourage as many people as possible to get outside and connect with nature, while also becoming important eyes and ears on the ground as they collect vital data about some of Somerset’s native species and help prevent further species decline.

For a period of one hour in the day (and it can be done every day as long as it’s in a different place each time), the public are being asked to record their wildlife sightings on the popular iNaturalist citizen science platform for 8 individual species of wildlife and any species within 4 whole species groups, which includes dragonflies, goldfinch, spiders, and several species of butterfly.

This is an activity for everyone to get involved in. There is a free downloadable pack available on the Somerset Wildlife Trust website, which will explain everything participants need to know about this project.