Children get close to nature; Learning doesn't start and end in the classroom and one Newcastle school is hoping to make a local nature reserve into its own outdoor education area. AMY HUNT finds out more.

SCREAMS of fright and yells of excitement ring out over Gosforth. It's the sound of Year Two pupils from Broadway East First School taking part in a minibeast hunt.

The six and seven-year-olds are searching for different insects that live in Fencerhill Wood, Whitebridge Park.

Trudging through fallen leaves in bright wellies and warm coats, the youngsters don't expect to find much. But poking under logs with sticks and shaking tree branches, they soon make their first discoveries.

Slugs, snails, harvestmen, worms, beetles, flies, ants, springtails, earwigs, spiders, mites, millipedes, centipedes and woodlice suddenly appear to be trapped and examined in magnifying jars.

This afternoon for Year Two is part of a partnership between the school and Northumberland Wildlife Trust.

Jessica Grinsted of the Trust is taking sessions with different classes from Broadway East down at Fencerhill Wood, with the aim of introducing the children to the wildlife living under their noses.

The hope is that after working with the Trust the school may be able to use the reserve as a resource to do its own activities. Jessica says: "This is a fantastic environment for them to explore. The children have been really enthusiastic so far."

Jessica is project officer for the Living Waterways Project, a partnership between the Northumberland Wildlife Trust and Durham Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency and funded through the Northumbria Regional Flood Defence Committee's Local Levy fund.

The aim of the project is to improve areas which are at risk of flooding, making them better for people and wildlife while also cutting the danger of a flood.

As part of Living Waterways, Fencerhill Wood, which is on the Ouseburn is getting its own flood defence measures.

Fencerhill Wood is already a magnet for wildlife and its wetland and woodland are home to roe deer and great spotted woodpecker, among others.

After examining their own catches, the children from Broadway East, which is already an eco-school, release them, then make models out of them using clay.

Amelia Wingate, seven, says: "We found a worm and a centipede and a snail. We also found a daddy longlegs but we didn't catch it because it was too fast."

Ella Taylor, six, says: "I really enjoyed it. We found more minibeasts than I thought we would."

Brooke McPherson, six, says: "We caught a snail, a beetle, a millipede, an earwig, a slug. We got to have lots of fun."

Tom Cox, six, says: "I found a huge slug. He was really fat."

Teacher Carol Gurr says: "It's great for the children to be actively involved in the local environment. They have thoroughly enjoyed it. We can come down and use it throughout the year to watch seasonal changes and learn about it.

"The children can see minibeasts in their natural environment. Rather than just looking at them in a book they can experience them first-hand."

Jessica is hoping to set up a Friends of Fencerhill Wood with members of the community. For more details about this and events at Fencerhill, call Jessica at the Trust on [phone] or email [e-mail]

CAPTION(S):

HUNT - Above Abigail Sykes, top left Luke Waller and Sam Lomax and, right, Ellen Ridley on the hunt for minibeasts