Wild Explorers – Feedback
Sturry CE Primary School
Film shown: Feathers – Year 3 – March 2019.
“Children enjoyed the video and it prompted a good discussion about why birds have feathers. The video was quite calm and children were able to sit and enjoy the video with minimal stress. The still pictures were also useful as children could delve deeper into their understanding of the structure of a feather.
The notes are very detailed and give children a good amount of knowledge. Some children did struggle to understand some of the vocabulary and this inhibited them from taking as much from the video. Pausing the video was necessary on a few occasions to discuss the meaning of certain words.
Overall, it fitted in very well with our lesson and was a good starting point to get children discussing how different classes of animal are different and what makes them unique.”
Film shown: Bluebells – Year 3 – March 2019.
“The Children were interested immediately as they recognise the bluebell. This made them more active in discussions about what this plant could be. Again, the video was very clam and purposeful and gave the children a good amount of time to get interested and ask questions
The notes are great for giving the teacher as much detailed information as possible but wording sometimes has to be changed to help get the message across to children.
It was great that it linked to Kent and the fact that there are many bluebells here. Children are always more engaged with what they know is happening locally and has seemed to spark an interest more than the ‘Feathers’ video. Often, children are telling me where and when they’ve seen bluebells which suggests that they took on board what was learnt in this video”.
Films shown: Bluebells, Feathers and Dragonfly – Year 3 – March 2019.
“The films were great for mindfulness, the children found them very calming- particularly after lunch time. They also enjoyed looking at wildlife, insects and birds up close, as they wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to do this.
I feel the notes added another element to the films and allowed the children to really absorb themselves in the learning. They love animals and wildlife and really engaged in this learning and were asking lots of Scientific questions. I didn’t most of the Dragonfly notes about the insects mating, as this is not age appropriate for year 3 children, perhaps higher up in the school.”
Wickhambreaux CEP school
Film shown: Dragonfly – May 2018.
“A real pleasure to watch. The sound track added depth. The superimposed titles helped lead thinking and discussion well. The section where eggs were being laid is perhaps a little long for this age group.
The bullet points layout is very good for a quick reference.
The detailed section on mating is potentially too detailed for primary school subject matter but useful for the teacher knowledge base.”
Chartham Primary School
Film shown: Dragonfly – May 2019
“We have used the films in a few different contexts, as part of a calming morning work session and in Forest School sessions. The children enjoyed looking at the intricate details and found the peacefulness of the videos very relaxing.
The teachers notes were very handy for aiding teachers’ subject knowledge, however needed differentiating for different year groups and abilities.”
Swale Borough Council – Officers & “Friends Group”
Film shown: Oare Gunpowder Works – May 2019
“The film conveys the peace and tranquility of the current site and the heritage and biodiversity value alongside the former industrial uses. It will help the partnership to publicise and introduce the site to those who are not aware or have preconceptions.”
Vanessa Dent – Primary School Teacher – Sandwich Kent
“The Wild Explorer films are beautifully made and they do give an ‘immersive’ experience as though one is actually watching the wildlife in the ‘wild’ as it were.
In fact, I can see these films being of equal value in Literacy lessons (‘Describe the sights and sounds of the countryside’; ‘Describe the colours and movements of a Kingfisher’; ‘Write a poem about sitting by a lake’ etc. etc.)….. and maybe even in PHSE/mindfulness lessons ( ‘Listen quietly to the sounds’; ‘Watch the colours’; ‘relax and let your angry feelings go’ etc.) It was interesting to read the feedback from the primary teachers who have already used some of the films and I was glad to read their comments about mindfulness.
As brief visual illustrations of a subject, and as stimuli for creative writing (e.g. the feathers) they are probably just about right.”
Laleham Gap Primary School
Film shown: Life in a pond & Bluebells – October 2019
“The children loved the close ups of the insects in ‘Life in a pond’ and good discussion was produced through this.
Very informative and gave myself ideas for how to encourage further discussion and promote cross curricular links. The teacher’s notes were easy to follow and helped with the identification of wildlife present in the videos. “
Tesco – Bags of Help
Films reviewed by Tesco staff – January 2020
“The staff found the films to be very interesting, and it was great to see wildlife filmed in its natural habitat. Some of the footage they saw was a real eye opener including features of local historic sites, some of which they were unaware of. The staff found how to keep wildlife in natural habitats, and learnt some things to take home to talk to their children about. The staff would like to thank you for taking the time to come to our store and showcase some of the work you are involved in. We are proud that the bags of help scheme has supported the filming of Wild Explorers, and helped to educate people about the wonderful work that you produce locally in Faversham.”