Primary school poets publish illustrated book on Teesside nature

A year-long literacy initiative, ‘connecting a community with nature,’ designed to bring schoolchildren closer to the nature on their doorstep in Teesside has resulted in a published book of poems.

Award-winning nature reserve and visitor attraction, RSPB Saltholme, launched the literacy project last September, to inspire young children to develop a passion for nature and wild places.

With funding from the National Grid’s Community Grant Programme, Middesbrough’s poet Bob Beagrie, has worked with 60 children from High Clarence Primary School, aged four to eleven, over the last year, to explore nature through the written word.

Bob is a poet, playwright, and senior lecturer in creative writing at Teesside University and spent time with each class at the school, inspiring the children to use their imagination to write poetry about nature.

Children also visited RSPB Saltholme, where they were taught about dragonflies, discovered life beneath the water through pond dipping and walked the trails of mythical creatures created by Bob to help fire up their imaginations.

Bob said, “It was remarkable to see the way the children connected on a deep personal level to nature throughout this project.  Being there on a weekly basis, it was wonderful for me too, to see the subtle changes in the seasons, Swifts coming and going, insects disappearing, leaves falling in the Autumn and then blossoms appearing in May.”

The culmination of a year’s work ended in a celebration event at High Clarence Primary School where the children performed their work on stage and were presented with a copy of their book, Saltholme: A Community Cantata.

This 50-page book contains work from all the children involved, alongside their support staff who also took part in the project, resulting in 70 poems.  Children also illustrated the pages with colourful hand drawn images.

Claire Freeburn, visitor experience manager, RSPB Saltholme, said, “We are delighted to have been able to offer this opportunity to High Clarence Primary School.  Reading the children’s work, you can see their imaginations come to life as they have explored our nature reserve with wonder and amazement, gaining inspiration along the way.”

Nicola Caraher, headteacher at High Clarence Primary School, said, “The children have absolutely loved working with Bob and were thrilled to see their work in this printed book. 

“This partnership project has offered an opportunity to enhance the curriculum by giving our children different experiences at RSPB Saltholme to those in the classroom.”