Our vision is to green Cumberland Infant School and nurture the children's curiosity about the living world.
The children are so excited to see more nature around the school! They want to look after the plants, grow fruit and vegetables, and of course to see the bugs, birds and other animals the new plants will attract!
We would love you to help us achieve this by donating to our Crowdfunder page!
Cumberland Infant school has amazing potential to be a wildlife haven. We will plant wildlife-friendly plants, fruit bushes, vegetables and trees and install bird boxes, bat boxes and bug hotels.
As well as this, we will set up a Wilding Club to encourage families to create wildlife-friendly areas at home. The experts at Wilder Portsmouth will help us on our wilding journey!
The greener outdoor spaces will be used for children to learn about nature and will provide exciting new opportunities to teach literacy, maths, science and arts subjects.
They will provide calm spaces to support child wellbeing and spaces where staff, parents and children can meet to talk about the challenges facing the planet and how we respond.
'It’s about bringing nature into the school, and making it come alive. Getting the children involved so they understand, love and respect nature. To give them a chance to engage and feed their curiosity. That’s what the response to climate change is about.' - Mrs Herbert, Headteacher at Cumberland Infant School
- Getting families involved
- Engage with the local community
- Green the area with plants and flowers
- Invest in tools and equipment
- Create homes for wildlife
- Teacher training
Part of the wider project is to create a Wilding Club that will help to green the school and maintain it in the long term. The funds raised will also equip a garden tool library so that parents can borrow the tools they need to wild their own gardens. This will be run by the Wilding Club along with skills sessions to inspire the Cumberland community to do more with their own outdoor spaces.
Through connections with the local community, we hope to share the green spaces created through wildlife events such as an environmental activity day and evening bat and moth watching.
We will also be encouraging the local community to get involved with the garden tool library and skills sessions so that it benefits those who live close to the school.
Our target is to raise £6,000. This is how we will spend it:
Our first priority is plants! Approximately £3,000 is earmarked for plants, seeds, bulbs, climbing plants and trees for the wildlife garden, school grounds and building. Along the currently bare fences we will build new wooden planters with trellis and archways.
Planters will be filled with wildlife attracting plants that interest the children because of their scent, colour, fruit, texture or sound.
This planting forms the backbone of the greening ambition, firstly to increase the wildlife within the school grounds, but also to bring benefits to the students, staff and community.
£2,000 will be used for tools and equipment. We will need tools for the Wilding Club to green the school and to set up the tool library. Tools will include forks, spades, hand tools, gardening gloves, wellies, and kneeling mats, for adults and children.
We will buy and set up shade sails to make sure the children can get outside on even the hottest days. Attractive new outdoor seating will be built to provide engaging spaces for enjoying the wildlife and using outdoor spaces for learning.
As the school is located in Southsea, we want to use the local surroundings to educate the children on climate change, particularly on coastal issues.
£500 would cover training and resources for one teacher to enable them to set up and run Beach School sessions where children can explore coastal issues and marine biodiversity.
£500 is earmarked for bird boxes, bat boxes and bug hotels which will be placed around the school and its trees. Local experts and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Wilder Portsmouth team are supporting the school to help us make the most of the spaces we have available.
Lots of local businesses have stepped forwards to offer rewards. Please take some time to browse through them. We will also be setting up a Thank You tree which will have pride of place in the school garden, which will look something like this:
Cumberland Infant School and Little Cumberland Preschool has over 200 children from 2 to 7 years old. The learning is delivered by a team of over 40 enthusiastic staff.
The school’s vision is to be a safe, happy and nurturing environment, inspiring the children to develop their skills, confidence and enjoyment of life. The school’s learning values of imagination, collaboration, thinking, independence and perseverance will be used as the wilding project enhances the school learning spaces.
The Cumberland Wilding project is being led by a team of parents and teachers with skills in gardening, science and nature conservation, and above all, with a passion to help children connect with nature.
A big thank you to the many local businesses who have supported the project:
Briny Restaurant
Runr
Herbies Healthstore
Nicholsons Tapas Bar
Cafe Fresco
Human Nature
Charmaine Florists of Southsea
The Southsea Deli
Bubblehead Barista