Sheffield schoolchildren create artwork in fight to protect endangered animals

Sheffield schoolchildren have been showcasing their understanding of species which are at risk of extinction as part of a project to help protect them.
By Alana Roberts
Published 16th Jan 2020, 10:00 BST
Updated 17th Jan 2020, 10:55 BST
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Children at both Whiteways Primary and Owler Brook Primary schools worked to create exhibitions after spending a week learning about endangered animals as listed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a charity which works to protect and restore species and their habitats.

The schoolchildren then created large scale models, habitats and fact files on some of the species, including the giant panda and elephant, to demonstrate what they had learnt.

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These were then used to create an ‘around the world’ display at both schools on January 14, for parents and carers to visit.

Owler Brook Primary and Whiteways Primary school annual building learning power exhibition. Pupils from Whiteways primary with exhibition.Owler Brook Primary and Whiteways Primary school annual building learning power exhibition. Pupils from Whiteways primary with exhibition.
Owler Brook Primary and Whiteways Primary school annual building learning power exhibition. Pupils from Whiteways primary with exhibition.

Throughout the day all children were also given the opportunity to vote for their favourite exhibition, with the winner being adopted by each school through the WWF website.

Emily Todd, assistant headteacher of Owler Brook, said: “It's about teaching the children the learning powers of the four R’s – resilience, reflectiveness, reciprocity and resourcefulness – with the theme of ‘endangered’. It is teaching them to be good learners and to be very respectful of the environment as well.

“It is part of the Building, Learning, Power exhibition, which is held every year. Last year we focused on plastics and how to increase the children’s understanding of that and reduce plastic waste.”

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For the displays the children selected which animal they wanted to make and which materials they wanted to use.

Owler Brook Primary and Whiteways Primary school annual building learning power exhibition. Yousuf Afsar and Jasmina Horvathova from Owler Brook Primary school.Owler Brook Primary and Whiteways Primary school annual building learning power exhibition. Yousuf Afsar and Jasmina Horvathova from Owler Brook Primary school.
Owler Brook Primary and Whiteways Primary school annual building learning power exhibition. Yousuf Afsar and Jasmina Horvathova from Owler Brook Primary school.

Aayan Ahmed, a Year 6 pupil at Whiteways Primary, said: “We made a yellow-headed parrot and a zebra head as a whole class using things like a large cardboard box and stuffing bin bags with newspaper.

“It was really fun and made me think about all the animals that are dying out all over the world and how we need to save them.”

Pupils in both schools are taught the four R’s – resilient means not giving up, while reciprocal stresses the power of teamwork. Being reflective involves thinking carefully about problems while being resourceful means youngsters using their imaginations.

Whiteways and Owler Brook also worked with Beck Primary and Hucklow Primary schools to allow their students to visit the exhibitions.

Related topics:SheffieldPrimary Schools