The Biology department has been making great use of the new wildlife pond, the creation of which was generously supported by a donor to the Sevenoaks School Foundation. The pond will be used to help with curriculum teaching for all year groups in the academic timetable.
It has also been adopted by a very enthusiastic group of Year 12 students who have created a brand-new Voluntary Service Unit called ‘Action for Biodiversity’, with support from two teachers from the Biology Department (Hayley Andrews, and Emily de Viliers). The remit of the group is to monitor the pond and its surrounding area, manage the site and to educate the school community about the vital importance of biodiversity.
Sophia Bartleet (Y12) writes: “The pond is an incredible site and currently already has a wide range of birds, plants, insects and pond life. We hope that by cataloguing, measuring and researching we can record the wildlife that’s already present and encourage the pond to be a complex ecosystem for many of the natural species in Sevenoaks.”
To date the group have measured the area and have been busily recording all the species that are present. They have done this through a variety of means including the use of the new camera traps.
Another aim of the group is to produce a publication – ‘The Natural History of Sevenoaks School’ – in which we hope to account for all the species with which we share the grounds. In doing so there is an outreach possibility by creating a model for other schools to follow.
The pond is in an idyllic setting behind the STC next to our wildflower meadow which students and teachers have enjoyed picnicking around at lunchtime. It is truly a beautiful spot.
Hayley Andrews
