PUPILS GET BUZZY WITH ST. MODWEN HOMES
Green-fingered pupils from the Forest School at Sharley Park Primary School in Clay Cross have been fighting to combat declining bee numbers as part of St. Modwen Homes’ Let’s Get Buzzy initiative.
Over the past six months, pupils have been working with the housebuilder to help design a wildlife friendly garden for its show home at the new Egstow Park housing development in Clay Cross. As well as learning how to create suitable habitats for various animals and insects, the pupils have built bee hotels, made miniature versions of their gardens and helped plant insect-friendly shrubs and flowers at Egstow Park.
In the summer, pupils will be returning to Egstow Park to become citizen scientists and record the numbers of insects and garden wildlife they see over a set period. These figures will be submitted as part of a national research project looking to obtain data from across the country to help identify trends and solutions for decreasing pollinator levels.
Jo Winston, Head of Sales North, said: “There’s been a lot of publicity recently about the decreasing numbers of insects and larger wildlife found in people’s back gardens. Much of this has been around the number of bees – particularly bumble bees – with some species nearing critical levels.
“At St. Modwen Homes we firmly believe that our developments should not only be great places for people to live but for wildlife to thrive too. To help raise awareness of what people can do in their own gardens, we‘ve launched our Let’s Get Buzzy initiative which looks to get children involved and understand the importance of garden wildlife.
“Egstow Park is our first development to take part in Let’s Get Buzzy and we’re over the moon with the enthusiasm, hard work and creativity that all the pupils put into the project. The garden looks fantastic and it’s incredibly rewarding to see the children develop a real appreciation for the insects, hedgehogs, birds, bats and other animals that live in our gardens.”
The pupils aged between seven and eight are now helping to educate other pupils at Sharley Park Primary School and have planted insect-friendly flowers at the school to further encourage wildlife numbers.
A report conducted by 25 wildlife organisations demonstrated that 60% of garden wildlife species have declined in recent decades.
Mrs Thornhill, Headteacher at Sharley Park Primary School, said: “As well as being hugely enjoyable, working with St. Modwen Homes on Let’s Get Buzzy has been massively informative for the pupils. Not only have they learnt about the various plants that can help attract bees and other pollinators, but they’ve helped design areas to attract hedgehogs, learnt what encourages garden birds and now understand why we actually want lots of bugs in our gardens. It’s also been lovely to see their confidence and creativity develop whilst working on the project; it’s certainly something they’ve been telling all their friends about!”
A five star housebuilder, St. Modwen Homes is committed to working with the local community close to all its developments, believing that building new homes is about much more than delivering houses.
Since launching in February, Egstow Park has seen substantial sales success with seven homes sold in the first four weeks. Prices for the new homes start from £181,000 for a three bedroom semi-detached home.
The Marketing Suite and show homes at Egstow Park (located off Derby Road, S45 9AG) are open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 10am to 5.30pm and between 12pm and 7.30pm on Thursday. More information can be found at www.stmodwenhomes.co.uk or by following the housebuilder on Twitter and Instagram (@StModwenHomes) and on the
Egstow Park Facebook page. Appointments can be made by calling 0333 399 0550.
