Shap School Supports Squirrels

In June last year, Shap CE Primary School was first visited by Rachel Smith, a recently retired headteacher and now a volunteer for the Penrith and District Red Squirrel Group.
Rachel spoke to the children about the decline in red squirrel populations across the country, spreading awareness of the threats they face as a species.

Rachel’s workshop took an active, hands-on approach, as pupils used maps to discover that Cumbria still has a relatively high red squirrel population, with Cumbria—alongside Northumberland and North Yorkshire—being one of England’s red squirrel strongholds. She also taught the children how to identify red squirrels, with Jill Bawden (a kind volunteer and fundraiser for the school) recalling their “tufty ears and large fluffy tail.”
Rachel proceeded to educate the children on the implications of red and grey squirrel interaction, highlighting the danger of the ‘pox’ a virus carried by grey squirrels that is fatal for red squirrels, and sharing ways in which red squirrels can be protected.

“Inspired by her [Rachel’s] visit,” says Mrs Capstick (science leader and teacher at the school), “we wanted to take action to support red squirrels in our school community.”
The pupils of Blencathra Class (Year 3 and 4) and Helvellyn Class (Year 5 and 6) reiterated this point, expressing a wish to “have more up-to-date science equipment that would help them in their lessons and in their desire to help biodiversity in their beautiful school grounds,” according to Jill Bawden.

This was made possible by Jill’s crucial fundraising: researching grants and soon securing funding from the Niveneh Trust, who were “happily” able to support the school’s cause.
With this grant, the school was able to invest in two red squirrel feed boxes, and later they purchased cameras to monitor the feeders.

“Before long,” Mrs Capstick recalls, “we started to notice that the food was disappearing,” and, after installing the cameras, “we were thrilled to see clear evidence… a red squirrel!”

This project has been incredibly successful, achieving the school’s mission of caring for local wildlife and biodiversity, successfully creating a safe habitat for red squirrels on the school grounds, while inspiring pupils through education about the natural world.