Pupils from Sageston CP School recently spent the day with the Dragon LNG Darwin Experience exploring the outdoors.

The Swan Class from Sageston CP School visited the Stackpole Estate on an ‘Incredible Invertebrate’ themed fieldtrip, learning about the importance of insects, threats to their existence and what we can do to help them.

In the morning the year 3&4 pupils searched the woodlands and grassy meadows for a range of minibeasts including beetles, shield bugs and spiders.

Pupils used a range of sampling methods including grubbing, sweep netting and tree beating to collect and examine lots of different species before setting them free.

Then it was time to see what invertebrates were living in the pond, from dragonfly nymphs to swan mussels they were amazed at the diversity.

During their pond dipping session, they were lucky enough to have a visit from their class mascot a Swan.

The fieldtrip concluded with an afternoon wildlife walk around the Bosherton Lily Pond Trail to see what other animals they could spot and identify along the way.

The Kingfisher Class joined Sam and Amy from the Dragon LNG Darwin Experience and Meg, Lottie, and Amelia from Câr-y-Môr - teaming up to deliver a new fieldtrip, combining the importance of marine primary producers, seaweed farming and highlighting a range of coastal careers.

Pupils had a morning on the coast path, learning about their seaweed and shellfish farm.

The zero-input farm uses no fertiliser, pesticides, or freshwater with the goal of improving our coastal community and pupils were able to spot the large amounts of Sugar Kelp growing just beneath the surface of the water.

Back at Câr-y-Môr headquarters the year 5&6 pupils helped to process the farmed seaweed whilst working on their seaweed identification skills and learning about their different adaptations for survival.

Combing science with art they created seaweed suncatchers and decorated empty crab shells whilst discovering the different types of jobs available in the seaweed farming industry and what products Câr-y-Môr make on site.

Samantha Williams, manager of the Dragon LNG Darwin Experience said: “The Stackpole Estate is a fantastic place to deliver our outdoor learning sessions, we are grateful to the team at the National Trust for letting us use their amazing sites with Pembrokeshire school groups and we look forward to continuing these field trips next academic year.

“Swan Class really embraced their day with us and following on from their fieldtrip, they held an Explorer’s Day to raise money for adopting an endangered animal.

“They raised an impressive £70 which is enough to sponsor two different species. Now they face the difficult task of choosing!’