Pupils from Parkfield School were treated to a visit from Crazy Creatures where they saw reptiles and insects up close and heard how they live.
Parkfield School pupils welcomed some unusual visitors including a giant cockroach, a tarantula and a waxy monkey tree frog called Pogo.
The animals were brought in by Ian Tite from Crazy Creatures Animal Encounters to complement the pupils’ topic work on animal habitats.
Mrs Lee Hovelmeier, Montessori co-ordinator at Parkfield, said: “Our Lily and Buttercup reception classes have been looking at animals from around the world, starting with those which inhabit the jungle and desert.
“Ian brought a whole host of mini beasts, reptiles and amphibians for the children to look at and some of them were even able to sit on the children’s hands, so they could get a closer look.”
She continued: “The children were fascinated by what they saw, particularly the python and the owl.
“Ian talked about where the animals come from, what they eat and also how valuable they are to nature, such as the cockroach which disposes of waste on the rainforest floor and enables even more trees to grow.
“It was a fantastic learning experience for us all.”
Francesca, five, volunteered to hold a millipede with 300 legs.
She said: “It looked like a giant worm and tickled me when it moved.”
Bournemouth’s only Free School, Parkfield opened in September 2013 and teaches children from the age of four through to 16.
Alex Prout, interim headteacher at Parkfield, said: “Parkfield prides itself on offering all its pupils an all round education and their animal studies are opening the Reception children’s eyes to the world and its many extraordinary creatures.”
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Parkfield School is a publicly funded, co-educational, independent all-through school.
Its ethos is to nurture, inspire and enable.
Parkfield’s interim headteacher Alex Prout is a National Leader of Education and the Director of Primary Education at Ambitions Academy Trust (AAT)
