Sustainable and regenerative projects 2023-4
Year 7 students took responsibility for beginning the process of transforming the College gardens into a self-sustaining ecosystem. The theme for Year 7 has been water. Students have designed an irrigation system that harnesses rainwater, limiting the amount of tap water required to sustain our gardens.
Students and staff have contributed to the inaugural Gardens Biodiversity Audit. Year 7 made bird feeders in November to help our feathered friends over the winter and to see which species we could spot in the gardens. In May, we undertook pondipping, finding sticklebacks in our stream and newts (not tadpoles!) in the pond. We concluded that the newts must be eating the frogspawn that was laid in early spring.
Year 7 have visited the river Stour at Fordwich to observe beavers’ effects on water retention and local ecosystems. We also went to Bough Beech Reservoir in Edenbridge to learn how SES Water treat and conserve tap water.
Orchid counting and deer spotting
We spent a glorious couple of days volunteering at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve in Cuxton. Ben Sweeney, Reserve Manager for Plantlife entrusted RIC’s Year 7 students with the annual audit of Man orchids and Common spotted orchids at the site. Ben said, ‘This is the first time children have been involved with the vital conservation work we undertake here and they have carried it out with such expertise and skill. I am very impressed.’
Plantlife is the global charity working for a world rich in plants and fungi. Ranscombe Farm includes chalk grassland, commercial farmland, and ancient woodland, and is their flagship site. It is the foremost habitat in the UK for rare arable wild plant species in the UK.
7A found 104 Man Orchids, in line with numbers two years ago. 7B, surveying a smaller section of the site, found 28 Common spotted orchids which will contribute to Ben's total count.
We were honoured to see two specimens of a rare varient of Bee orchid that enthusiasts have travelled from all over the UK to see. Rare Meadow clary still grows on the same site that it was discovered in 1699. We also saw Pyramid orchids and a range of other plants including another rare species - Rough mallow - along with irises and clematis (student's photo to follow).
On the second day a pair of fallow deer welcomed us as we followed Ben up the track and as we left, Alex, our Biology teacher, saw five deers on the edge of the woods.
Ben explained how he is gradually restoring the ancient woodland's biodiversity. He showed us the importance of standing deadwood for insect species.
As if to prove his point, Arlo in 7B, looking at the deadwood in an ancient pollarded Hornbeam, spotted the first Stag beetle Ben had seen on the site in his 16 years managing the estate.
