Black Isle beach clean helps Kiltearn kids move a step closer planned school trip to capital
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EASTER Ross pupils who rolled up their sleeves to help tidy a storm-hit beach learned a valuable lesson about looking after the environment while raising funds for a forthcoming trip.
Pupils in P5/6 at Kiltearn Primary in Evanton have been fundraising towards a school trip to Edinburgh next May.
As part of their work on tourism in the local area, they decided to have a sponsored beach clean to raise money for the trip.
The pupils were dressed in their spookiest outfits for the beach clean as the effort came shortly after Halloween. As it was part of work towards sustainability, local company Ross-shire Engineering sponsored the bus and provided pupils with water bottles and hi-vis for the trip.
Although the beach was pretty clean, there was a lot of debris from the storm. Pupils tidied up piles of rotting seaweed and any litter they found. Unfortunately there were a lot of dead birds found on the beach which the pupils left for adults to remove. Two of the children had spotted a ringed cormorant and this was reported to RSPB and the Natural History Museum by local volunteer Andrew Newton.
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The school was grateful to be loaned litter-picking equipment from the council and they were obliging enough to pick up any bags of rubbish collected.
Class teacher Louise Ross said: "This was a fantastic opportunity for the children to see the importance of looking after our local area especially given the damage caused by the storm the weekend before. Pupils have been learning about taking responsibility for looking after our local area, and in particular to keep our beaches clean and tidy for both locals and visitors to want to come back and visit the Highlands again. We are extremely grateful to Ross-shire Engineering for facilitating the trip by financing our bus which has helped us towards achieving our goal to raise enough money for our trip to Edinburgh in May next year."
