Hands on our marsh!

Charlie Peverett
, 16 January 2026
Hands on our marsh!
Ricky Dymond / Prime Photography

Students and staff at an Eastbourne school are experiencing the natural world where they live in new ways through an ambitious new project, with support from Sussex Wildlife Trust.

'Nature In Our Hands' aims to connect communities to celebrate and safeguard local natural spaces for learning, wellbeing, and wildlife. 

The project kicked off in style in July 2025 with an epic engagement day, which saw over 500 students from West Rise Primary School getting out and exploring their local marsh.

Across the day pupils got involved in pollinator surveys, mindful sketching, pond-dipping and mapping the marsh, supporting by a host of staff, volunteers and members of the Wilder Learning team at Sussex Wildlife Trust.

"It was a true celebration of wildlife on our doorstep," says Dr Poppy Lakeman Fraser, a citizen science specialist at Imperial College London, and project lead on Nature in Our Hands. 

"What has become evident is the diversity of experiences. Younger students loved the sense of discovery - exploring the marsh and trying creative activities - while older students engaged deeply with species identification and ecosystem learning."

Students surveying for pollinators at West Rise
Students surveying for pollinators at West Rise © Charlie Peverett

Students produced 328 artworks for a giant marsh map, 50 individual art pieces, six video clips, and 157 designs for marsh-adapted species, alongside 69 surveys capturing their reflections.

"One of the most powerful insights was that the majority of students asked felt young people’s voices should shape science and, by extension, conservation decision-making," says Poppy. 

"That belief is at the heart of our next phase, working closely with a smaller 'Nature Team' of co-researchers to lead conversations about how the marsh can be protected and enhanced for nature, learning and wellbeing for generations to come."

Annie Dean is Nature Science Lead at the school and teaches Year One students.

Annie was attracted to work at West Rise because of its long history of nature-focused work, and she sees potential to do much more with the renewed energy channelled by Nature in Our Hands. 

"I love getting the children outside and making that an integral part of their learning," says Annie. 

"I would love for the community to get involved, seeing families out there, hearing about their trips to the marsh as much as we hear about them going up to the shopping centre." 

Hear more from Annie in this short film:

Zoe Boulton, Wilder Learning Officer at Sussex Wildlife Trust, has been bringing her experience to support the project. 

"Once immersed in our natural world, especially those spaces on our doorstep such as the West Rise Marsh, children’s curiosity, thirst for knowledge, energy and compassion grow rapidly," Zoe says. 

"By recognising their impact on the environment, it empowers them to take action and the unique Nature in Our Hands project encapsulates that."

Follow Nature In Our Hands via the LinkedIn page or on Instagram.

Looking for support for your school?

See how our Wilder Learning team could support your school and teaching staff, with our Wilder Schools programme and Forest School and Wild Beach training courses.

Booking now for March 2026: Exploring the outdoors with the early years foundation stage hosted at Rye Harbour Discovery Centre in collaboration with STEM Learning.

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782513599.67340 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782513599.69870.0253Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782513599.69880.0001Server address: 216.73.217.174
1782513599.69880Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782513599.69890Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/hands-on-our-marsh
    [s] => hands-on-our-marsh
    [1] => hands-on-our-marsh
)
1782513599.69910.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782513599.70010.001 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782513599.70180.0017 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782513599.70230.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782513599.7040.0018 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22328252
1782513599.70460.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22328252
1782513599.7050.0005 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-26 22:40:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-26 22:40:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782513599.70630.0013 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='hands-on-our-marsh')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-26 22:40:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782513599.70890.0026 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782513599.70950.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3870 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-26 22:40:00'
1782513599.71030.0008 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782513599.7110.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782513599.71160.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=274 LIMIT 1
1782513599.71220.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782513599.71240.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782513599.71330.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-26 22:40:00' AND postSlug='hands-on-our-marsh'
1782513599.73340.0201Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782513599.73410.0007 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782513599.73560.0015Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782513599.73590.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782513599.73680.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782513599.73780.001 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782513599.74090.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782513599.74150.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782513599.74350.002Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782513599.74350 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782513599.7440.0005 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782513599.74430.0002 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782513599.74610.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782513599.7470.0009 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782513599.74770.0008 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782513599.75040.0026 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782513599.75120.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782513599.75350.0022 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782513599.7540.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782513599.75420.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='34' LIMIT 1
1782513599.75490.0007Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782513599.75530.0003 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='hands-on-our-marsh')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-26 22:40:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782513599.75730.0021 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782513599.75780.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782513599.76060.0027Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782513599.76140.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3870 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782513599.81490.0535 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782513599.81510.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782513599.81530.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='34' LIMIT 1
1782513599.81630.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782513599.81710.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782513599.81770.0006 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782513599.820.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782513599.82050.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782513599.82250.002 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782513599.82310.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782513599.82370.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782513599.82420.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782513599.82660.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782513599.82720.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782513599.82910.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782513599.83190.0028 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782513599.83250.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782513599.8330.0005 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782513599.83540.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782513599.83590.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782513599.8380.0021 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782513599.84040.0024 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782513599.8410.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782513599.84140.0004 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782513599.84360.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782513599.84420.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782513599.84620.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782513599.84730.0011Request time: 0.177
1782513599.84730Process time: 0.1769
1782513599.84730Memory: 1.6485