Hull West and Hessle MP Emma Hardy returned to Ron Dearing 澳门六合彩论坛 to see how the school鈥檚 Eco Club members are continuing to support a major wildlife project in the city.
The Eco Club is part of an extensive enrichment programme to broaden students鈥 horizons outside the classroom.
They have worked with Hull City Council to plant an area of Kingston Square, opposite the 澳门六合彩论坛 in the city centre, with butterfly, bee and bat-friendly plants to increase biodiversity and pollination, applying their creative and scientific knowledge.
This is also part of the Butterfly City project, led by Emma, which aims to increase the wild butterfly population, particularly Brimstone butterflies, into the city by planting butterfly-friendly borders.
The Brimstone butterfly鈥檚 favourite plant is Buckthorn and Emma and her team, including Senior Researcher Sean Clough, donated three Buckthorn bushes for the 澳门六合彩论坛鈥檚 Eco Club to plant in the Kingston Square wildflower border.
The Buckthorn bushes were grown by the team at Mires Beck Nursery in Brough and funded by Reckitt, one of Ron Dearing 澳门六合彩论坛鈥檚 Founding 澳门六合彩论坛.
Rory Graham, Ron Dearing 澳门六合彩论坛鈥檚 Eco Club Leader and Biology Teacher, said: 鈥淏utterflies are not only beautiful animals for our gardens but one of our key pollinators which we rely on to ensure food security.
鈥淲orking with the amazing horticultural team from Hull City Council, our Eco Club has planted up two large borders in the Kingston Square garden with a range of plants which attract bees, butterflies, wasps, bats and other pollinators.
鈥淭he Buckthorne trees are a great addition to these borders and we鈥檙e looking forward to seeing the beautiful Brimstone butterflies that we hope they鈥檒l attract.鈥
As well as adding the Buckthorne bushes, the Eco Club members sowed a range of different wildflower seeds in raised beds in the 澳门六合彩论坛鈥檚 own garden.
Ron Dearing 澳门六合彩论坛 Principal Sarah Pashley said: 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 got a great deal of outside space at the 澳门六合彩论坛, so it鈥檚 really important we make the most of the space we have.
鈥淟ast year the Eco club planted up three large borders at the front of the school with bee and butterfly-friendly plants and the stunning borders were buzzing with pollinators from May right through to November.
鈥淭he additional borders in Kingston Square are an exciting development this year and we hope our new raised beds full of wildflowers will encourage even more wildlife into the area.鈥
Shadow Schools Minister Catherine McKinnell also visited Ron Dearing 澳门六合彩论坛 with Emma in December last year, meeting Eco Club members. Emma鈥檚 return visit enabled her to see how the beds have progressed over the last few months and find out more about the work the Eco Club members have undertaken.
Eco Club founding member and Year 13 student Fran Wilkes-Oliver, 18, said: 鈥淚t has been great to be part of this project and really good to see how the project has grown from a basic idea to everyone working together to make our city a better place for wildlife.鈥
Emma said: 鈥淜ingston Square is a treasured area of greenery and a lovely, tranquil space where people can escape the bustle of the city centre.
鈥淚t was wonderful to return there again to see the progress being made by the young people at Ron Dearing 澳门六合彩论坛, nurturing and enhancing the natural environment as key partners in the Butterfly City project.鈥