Cubs Club pupils at Woodlands Primary School in Heideveld were eager to show off the bug hotel they made at school, last Thursday.
The 12 Grade 4 pupils, who built the bug hotel in the school’s food garden, are from Woodlands Primary’s environmental club and were the first pupils who joined Cape Nature’s Cubs Club about a month ago.
The club was officially launched at Woodlands Primary School last Thursday. It teaches school pupils between the ages of 4 and 14 about biodiversity, nature conservation, and the environment at large. They can earn points and badges, and, in their birthday month, they get 20% off entry to any Cape Nature reserve site.
Last Thursday, each member of the club received a T-shirt and goodie box filled with a seedling and educational items from Cape Nature.
Cape Nature’s executive director for tourism and access Sheraaz Ismail visited Woodlands Primary on the day and said he had chosen it as the pilot school for the Cubs Club because of its prior involvement with Cape Nature in planting trees on Arbor Day, setting up a vegetable garden and organising excursions to nature reserves.
“Environmental education is really at the heart of Cape Nature. Over the years, we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of learners going to our nature reserves. In the Cubs Club, the Cape Nature team will interact with pupils via a newsletter with a list of activities about what they can do. They also say, ‘A child in nature is a happy child,’” he said.
Shamiela Isaacs, the coordinator of the school’s environment committee, said the pupils enjoyed working in the food garden and tending to plants.
“This club will really give them exposure to nature. They are our future, and it is good for them to be educated about nature because they will maintain our Earth as they grow bigger. It is important to spread nature awareness.“
Grade 4 pupil Lethal Spannenberg, 9, from Heideveld, said that he loved being a Cubs Club member. “We learn a lot, and I really enjoy learning about animals. My favourite animal is a grasshopper because of the way he hops around and his colour.“
