Oxford Brookes donates ‘bug hotel’ to primary school

Primary school children in Oxford will get the chance to enhance their learning about insects and the natural world after a bug hotel donation from Oxford Brookes University.

Pupils at Windmill Primary School in Headington received the ‘Superpillar Bug Hotel’ today which was especially made for them by the estates team at the University.

Bug hotels are eco-friendly outdoor structures and made from natural materials, which provide safe shelter for all manner of different insects. They benefit natural wildlife by giving insects like butterflies and bees a safe place to live in urban areas. As a result, the increase of insects will boost biodiversity and plant pollination.

Lynn Knapp, Headteacher at Windmill Primary School said: “Taking steps to do our part in looking after our environment and educating children about the huge importance of protecting animal and plant species is a huge priority for us. This gift of a bug hotel will support us in increasing the diversity of habitats that we have on our school site.”

Butterflies Under Pressure programme launch

The bug hotel donation comes after Oxford Brookes academics attended Windmill School In March, to launch the ‘Butterflies Under Pressure’ project, a cross curricular programme aimed at Key Stage 1 and 2 children aged 5-11 to help them learn about the perils caterpillars face in their habitats.

Dr Casper J Breuker of Oxford Brookes, Dr Melanie Gibbs from The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), and Dr Ellie Beaman of Oxford Brookes, teamed up with performance company LYNNEBEC to create the learning programme for school children.

The learning combines dance and PE to engage the children in learning about insects and nature, with the dancing activities led by Catherine Butler and Jessica Barber from LYNNEBEC.

Following the launch, the project was then rolled out to schools across the UK.