Stick Insects take over!

Bringing nature into the classroom benefits students in so many ways. It heightens their awareness of the world around them, instils a love of nature, encourages oral language skills and gives them the responsibility of caring for a living plant or animal. In Junior School, we have decided to start the year with some interesting class pets – stick insects! Already the students have developed a connection to these mini beasts – having named them and begun learning how to care for them.

Each morning as they enter our classrooms, the students head straight for the stick insect area to check out how their pets are doing. They show compassion for the stick insects well-being, ensuring they have had their daily water spray and have plenty of fresh eucalyptus leaves. The ‘I wonder’ questions that are frequently being asked create wonderful discussions and opportunities for research. We are all looking forward to our first stick insect ‘shedding’. This is sure to bring forth a whole new set of questions and lots of excitement. And, hopefully, in the near future we will experience the marvel of creation when our pets lay eggs and possibly present us with a new generation of stick insects to care for.

Mr James Morris (Year 4 teacher)
Mrs Tamsin Taylor (Year 2 teacher)