Endangered Hedgehogs

Children at Kennet Valley Primary School in West Berkshire explain how they made a difference to endangered hedgehogs

We looked at a series of photos representing different causes and wrote questions and comments against the photos. We then had a secret vote to choose a cause to champion and endangered animals got the majority of votes. We then researched several animals endangered locally, such as honey bees, black swans and stag beetles. However, we decided we wanted to focus on supporting endangered hedgehogs.

We wrote to several hedgehog charities, requesting further information on how to help hedgehogs in the local area, and invited a charity representative to the school to talk about their hedgehog rescue work.

We designed an animal welfare survey to gather data on the community’s attitude towards hedgehogs, and how to help increase the hedgehog population in the local area. We walked to a local supermarket to interview local shoppers then entered the data into a computer and analysed the results, finding that 94% of those interviewed wanted to see an increase in hedgehog numbers, and 82% would like more information about how to improve the environment for hedgehogs.

Years 6 and 3 generated fundraising ideas, and decided to hold a ‘Great Hedgehog Bake off’! Entrants were charged a small fee to submit a home-made hedgehog themed cake. We also concocted ‘Hedgehog juice’ to sell!

The event was a great success, raising £130.95. We decided to use the funds to buy a ‘hedgehog hotel’ for our school field and donated the remaining funds to local hedgehog shelters.

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