By Sam Dixon, Community Organiser
Crème Eggs, Dinosaur costumes and two schools with lots of very excited children!
Dan and Sam had originally planned to do community walks in East Dene and East Herringthorpe with the support of the Canklow Dinosaur group. They were to take place at Easter when the COVID-19 restrictions were supposed to be eased.
The restrictions stayed in place and we ended up with a cupboard full of crème eggs that couldn’t go anywhere. We struggled to effectively work out in our communities and have had to find new ways to engage with people.
One of our latest projects has been to engage with schools on a literacy based project and as a result of this we have discovered from the staff point of view how difficult it has been for schools to engage with children and their families so that young people can achieve their full potential. Young people are struggling to be enthusiastic about attending school, the rules for them are continually changing and for some of the youngest children in school, they haven’t attended school in a non COVID environment.
We proposed to two of the schools that we are working with that we could go into school, as dinosaurs, as a bit of a treat for the youngsters as they have come to the end of this school year. Both schools said that the Key Stage 2 children are “too cool for dinosaurs” but they would appreciate the gift of the eggs.
So in baking heat, we made two visits to lots of excited children. It was so good to be able to provide a fun activity for the schools and we know that it was really enjoyed by the children as they flocked round us and made comments like “You’re my favourite Dinosaur”.
