Kenilworth primary school becomes Warwick district's first 'bee friendly school'

A primary school in Kenilworth has become Warwick district’s first ‘bee friendly school’.

St John’s Primary School recently received a silver award in the Bee Friendly Schools Awards scheme, which was launched by Bee Friendly Kenilworth and Leamington.

Led by the school’s STEM lead Claire Tennant and Year 3 teacher Saurabhi Bhave, the children completed a project on bees and carried out activities to support bees and other pollinators, including sowing wildflower and vegetable patches, leaving wild areas of the school playing fields and making bee hotels.

The children received a ‘why bees Mmatter’ awareness session by Bee Friendly Kenilworth’s education coordinator and chair of Bee Friendly Leamington, Jo Harper.

They also took part in the ‘pollen hunt challenge’ – physical game which simulates life from the point of a bee, to experience some of the threats to their conservation, how to overcome these threats and collect sufficient pollen for the colony to survive.

Jo Harper commented on how enthusiastic and determined the children were to help bees and was impressed by their knowledge about the importance of habitat quality and connectivity for pollinators and other wildlife by the end of the project.

In recognition of their award, the Mayor of Kenilworth, Alix Dearing, presented a certificate and a native apple tree to the children and their Head Teacher Adam Lee, commending them for being the first school to achieve this award.

She said, “I hope all the other schools in Kenilworth will be as successful in being friendly to bees by learning how important they are, planting pollinator-friendly plants and creating bee-friendly habitat.”

Chair of Bee Friendly Kenilworth, Fern Arnold said: “I am delighted that primary schools are getting involved.

"Their activities will make a positive contribution to bee conservation in the area.

"Five schools across the Warwick district have already started their journey to becoming a Bee Friendly School, receiving our awareness sessions and carrying out planting activities and we look forward to receiving their applications for an award in due course, as well as welcoming more schools to the scheme.”

She also thanks Kenilworth Lions Club for funding, which is being used to support the initiative, including purchasing a fruit tree for silver and gold award schools and wildflower seeds for schools achieving bronze award.

For more information on how to achieve ‘bee friendly school’ status email: [email protected] or [email protected]