School Visit Sydney – Balgowlah

This week I was invited to visit Balgowlah North Public School. I had such a brilliant time with these impassioned kids.

They have been studying sustainability this term and knew all about endangered species and the problems our planet is facing. It’s fantastic that schools are covering this.

After my presentation I was invited back to one of the classrooms to see the lion drawings the children had produced and their ‘save our planet’ wall. I was so impressed.

One of the teachers said to me that it’s very difficult to find information that is suitably presentable to young children on these difficult issues. So she was really pleased that I had come in to speak to the children and read them my book.

It’s vital that we stimulate interest and passion in our children about our planet’s wildlife and the need to conserve it, if we are to have any hope of changing the direction of destruction we are heading in.

I got asked some great questions on my school visit. Here’s just a few of them…..

Are the elephant’s tusks used to make false teeth? I thought it was really interesting how the innocent mind of child can’t imagine what you would want another animals teeth for unless it was to use them as teeth yourself.

One little boy stated that if rhino horn is made of the same stuff as your finger nails and hair it would make you more sick if you ate it, not better. Kids have all the answers for us silly adults.

One little girl asked me where Immy and Jonny live. I said they live all over the world with the other POWEs saving wildlife. Clearly she was not satisfied with this answer and later on in the question time she asked where were Immy and Jonny born? A future reporter in the making I thought.

What do elephants and rhinos do with their lives? What do they do all day? I loved this question. I can’t help but wonder what she was thinking they might do all day.

School visits drive me to continue what I’m doing – creating a series of conservation based children’s books. The children are always so engaged, enthusiastic and caring. They love wildlife and want to save it.