A juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus. Bristol, August 2023 (Photo credit: Julian Welsh)
After more than forty years spent researching and regularly ‘ringing’ gulls, the birds are now able to recognise Rock. Having gathered more than a few insights into the lives, behaviours, and natural history of these amazing creatures, he was more than happy to share these in a whole school assembly.
“…lots of people do call them seagulls but they’re not seagulls they’re herring gulls.”
“I think that seagulls are dinosaurs.”
Students at Hannah More Primary School
The next step for Julian was to work with the children to build up a picture of their most pressing questions and ideas about gulls, by collecting and categorising student’s comments thematically. What emerged varied from child to child, with some focusing on the bird’s less popular, ‘pest-like’ traits, such as scavenging food, and others sympathising with and appreciating the perhaps-misunderstood creatures. The children’s questions collectively explored the intriguing dynamic that occurs when different species like humans and gulls end up sharing close quarters in a city like Bristol.
“Why are seagulls protected when there are so many?”
“I think that seagulls are annoying and I don’t like them because they snatch your food and they make lots of noises.”
“It’s their home too. They live here. They make their nests here. There’s the harbourside and really that’s where seagulls like to be.”
“Seagulls are just having fun.”
Students at Hannah More Primary School
“When I asked the children what they thought of seagulls in the city, they showed me two things – some seagull behaviour is a ‘problem’ for people, but also, they understood that gulls are amazing wild creatures worthy of appreciation.”
Julian Welsh, Special Projects Producer at We The Curious
Find out what students at Hannah More Primary School had to say about their journey to finding out more about seagulls
Taking flight
To encourage the children to embrace a new perspective and experience Bristol and their own school site from a gulls-eye-view, we recorded drone footage from the roof of the school and overhead. Billy, an artist based a stone’s throw away from Hannah More Primary School, then partnered with us to support the students to create seagull-inspired live drawings in chalk, using their own playground as a canvas.
A seagull-inspired drawing created by a student at Hannah More Primary School
The project culminated in a vibrant mural on the school playground, incorporating brilliant visual elements identified by the children and inspired by their deep dive into understanding gulls. The chosen themes ranged from gameplay to relationships and food.
Students and Headteacher Kevin Hawkins from Hannah More Primary School, celebrating in front of their new seagull-inspired mural (Photo by Freia Turland)
Two exhibits, highlighting the children’s ideas, will also be showcased at We The Curious this summer. In addition, Hannah More’s School Parliament and Eco Group are also due to visit the venue in the coming weeks in recognition of all the excitement and enthusiasm they have brought to this project and to build on the fantastic foundation it has provided for future opportunities to work collaboratively, bringing together students and research.
Teachers at Hannah More Primary School reflected on the benefits of children being able to apply their science learning to a real-world situation and take a leading role in determining what they wanted to explore.
“Our children have loved learning all about seagulls with the brilliant We The Curious team – the way the children have been able to co-create the project has been fantastic for their confidence and creativity and it’s not the sort of thing that we would be able to do within the day-to-day curriculum.''
Hannah More Primary School Headteacher, Kevin Hawkins
Learnings and looking ahead
One key takeaway for us has been the importance of building trust with communities like Hannah More. Longer-term relationships like these create opportunities to develop a strong foundation and collaborate on projects that are meaningful and authentically driven by participants. This project has been exciting step in this important journey for We The Curious, as we strive to develop more effective ways to support increased agency of schools and communities in engaging with and ultimately determining the direction of science.
For Hannah More’s students, they’re already gearing up to tackle another project close to their own lives and experiences. In a recent meeting between Julian and the School Parliament, the children expressed an interest in investigating air quality for their next research project, opening the door to potential conversations with other local schools, industry and the wider community.
The opportunity for us to come alongside children from a local school and develop a project where students can engage with research and have their thoughts and opinions heard, has been both a rewarding and significant one. This partnership has resulted in some fantastic learnings for science centres like us to look ahead to the ways in which we could support children to be more firmly in the driving seat of scientific research, with their voices leading the way.
Have you been inspired by the students at Hannah More School, or your own experiences with gulls, to weigh in on the ‘friend or foe’ discussion? We certainly were! Check out this thought-provoking, humorous and totally unbiased *cough cough* article exploring ‘Are seagulls a problem?’ by Gemma Kerr, Content Creator at We The Curious.