PHOTO: Outside the city, Prague schoolchildren have not only a farm, but also a ‘own’ pool
What is it like to learn ankles in the mud? Or even to the knees? Probably few people have experienced it, but the students of the Archessori primary school Archa could tell. For example, this is more like fun than teaching, although it certainly brings more knowledge than boring classroom lectures. The “school pond” near Chýnice in Prague-west is something quite different.
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“School pond” near Chýnice in Prague-west.
| Photo: with the permission of the Czech Union for Nature Conservation
How is this one? project protected, Jan Moravec from the Czech Union of Nature (ČSOP) explained to Deník. It all started in 2018, when the pupils first visited the pastures operated by ČSOP – the Land Pasture Prague Pasture Association in the Radotín Valley area due to the renewal of securities.
However, pupils leave Prague more often. The school is also creating its own “farm” on the land near the Radotín brook, which made it available to its former teacher. Work with the involvement of children and parents began here by removing overgrowth trees, creating flower beds, compost, establishing orchards and building a shelter for goats and a fence, but the plans envisage further development. In addition to farming in harmony with nature, which includes goat or bee farming, children here, for example, monitor the occurrence of species – or learn a lot about the insects and hollow birds.
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The idea to build a pond was born in 2020 – while the school coordinator of ecological education Věra Konůpková reminds how important it is for the children themselves to get excited about the matter. This is exactly what happened at the beginning, when a group of boys started digging with spades. “But there was a very small pool; it was clear that the road did not lead to the construction of a full-fledged pond. And so the project moved to the next phase, “Konůpková reminded that the schoolchildren, under the guidance of adults, began to provide and solve everything that is necessary to build a” real “pool.
They agreed on what it should look like with each other and with experts, they tried to negotiate with the landowner… And of course – money was needed. Everything worked out thanks to the cooperation with ČSOP and the Veolia Endowment Fund. “Now the pool is ready and waiting for the first amphibians; the pupils are already looking forward to their observation. In the early spring, we will plant several headed willows in the area, “Konůpková explained that the work of people is almost complete – and now the children are looking forward to seeing it become a part of nature.
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“Although the school pond is one of the smaller projects in terms of scope, it has only about 50 square meters, but it is precisely the connection with school teaching that is one of the projects,” said Vendula Valentová, director of the endowment fund.
Jan Moravec from ČSOP also nods when he demands directly that ecological education belongs to nature. “Children should learn about the ceremony in the wetland; not in books or at the computer. And if they help him from A to Z, they will understand everything in context much better than if they had heard about it a hundred times, “he praises. “That’s why we are very happy to get involved in similar projects,” he added.
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