Jim Grogan "Countryside and Wildlife Award" 2021-22.

Florence and her award

The Jim Grogan "Countryside and Wildlife Award" for 2021-22.

This award is presented annually to the pupil of Tarvin Primary School who is considered to have the greatest breadth of knowledge and the best understanding of the animals and plants that make up the immediate environment of Tarvin School and Tarvin Village. The recipient is chosen by the staff of Tarvin school and, this year, the presentation was made on a sunny Friday morning at a whole-school assembly outdoors, on the Hard Play Area. The recipient for the school year 2021-22 was Florence Beamish and her citation, placed in the hand-made book kept for the purpose, gave a great deal of information about her. What follows is a summary, drawn from that citation:-

"Florence is never happier than when outdoors, surrounded by nature. Since she was very young, she has always had an interest in the wildlife in her garden and she has investigated ways of encouraging tiny visitors by building a bug hotel, arranging to put up a nest box and taking charge of the bird feeder, which she regularly fills up to attract the local birds. She is able to identify a good range of insects and animals and is quickly expanding her knowledge of the plants and animals within the woodland. She especially enjoys watching the bats at dusk!

Following on from Florence's class topic around animal habitats, she helped build two habitat piles from tree cuttings and vegetation in the garden in order to provide a safe shelter for creatures (especially during the winter months). She is keen to learn about ways to increase the number of pollinators using the garden, has a bee brick and loves to watch the butterflies on the buddleia bush throughout the summer months. Florence enjoyed taking part in this year's RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, painting a tally chart to identify different types of birds and recording those that visited. She also grows potatoes and strawberries in the vegetable patch and enjoys being able to dig to reveal her dinner in the soil!

Florence has a good appreciation of how important it is to nurture and protect the local landscape in order to conserve it, with its beauty, for the future. As a result of her school topics, she understands the negative impact of climate change and will often point out the harmful effects of pollution, considering possible ways of reduction.

It is for these reasons that Florence was chosen by the school staff as the deserving winner of this year's award."

Ed: Well done Florence! Good to know that we have young people like you who care about climate change and nature!