Primary pupils enjoy a cat-chatty-afternoon ...
21 July 2016
Update 21.7.16. Since the talk, the pupils hit on the idea of doing a sponsored walk to raise money for cats and kittens, and raised £288.71p ! And on the last day of term asked Sheila and Richard to come back into school to present them with the cheque. Lots of purrs and thanks from all the volunteers and supporters of the North Birmingham Branch - 'it was lovely to meet you all again - have a great long summer holiday'!
Pupils at Paget Primary school had a treat early in May, when Cats Protection volunteers Sheila Pennell and Richard Brown popped in to show a cat care DVD, listen to the children’s own ‘cat tales’, answer their cat questions and – best of all – delight them with lots of CP goodies. And in return the children plan to organise some fund-raising events with the proceeds coming to the Branch.
Volunteer ‘speaker’ Sheila took a call from Y2 teacher Claire Ewbank, asking if she could come into school and offer a workshop/cat-chat session to her own Y2 class and the Y2 class of her colleague Michelle – 60 children in all.
Claire had requested that the session be based around ‘why animals are important, what cats need and how we can help to protect them’ - which is, of course, precisely what the charity and our volunteers want to put across.
The afternoon went really well and Sheila and Richard confirm that the ‘children were delightful, most already had cats or dogs – or both - and soon recognised and understood the main five welfare needs of cats and kittens. One lad, who had six cats, did say ‘Dreamies’ were important! We’re not so sure about treats being essential – but this certainly showed his heart was in the right place'.
Says Sheila: “From ‘good afternoon’ to the polite finale of ‘thank you Sheila and Richard’ the pupils were engaged, involved, asked lots of questions and seemed to know a lot already. A great day and we hope we can go in again another time and impart the same vital ‘animals are important’ message to other year groups and maybe other schools in North Birmingham too.”
** Schools/teachers/groups can call the helpline (0345 260 1503) to request a Cats Protection workshop or talk.