TAKING care of an increasingly rare little critter has earned for youngsters at one York school a special gold award.

For the children at Lord Deramore's primary in Heslington learning about hedgehogs and how to help sustain and increase their numbers has been a fascinating part of their school work.

The school has achieved the gold level Hedgehog-Friendly Schools Award after teachers, staff, pupils and students worked tirelessly for the past year to achieve the standards set out by the British Hedgehog Preservation.

Year 6 teacher, Helen Smith said: “It has been a wonderful, worthwhile project to be involved in. Hedgehogs are fascinating to watch and the children have loved seeing all the camera footage we have captured.

"Everyone has learnt so much about these prickly creatures and we even have a hedgehog first aid kit that we have used several times to help sick hedgehogs before whisking them off to Fiona at Urchins Hedgehog Care.

"A special mention to the Year 6 pupils of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 who have been real hedgehog champions.”

Sydney Allison, a Year 6 pupil was pleased to have been part of the project: “I’m so glad that we are hedgehog champions but, more importantly, we are saving the lives of hedgehogs with the dead hedge, hedgehog highways and when we sent out informative leaflets so people around the village can help them too.”

Hedgehogs are arguably Britain’s best-loved mammal, but have declined by up to 50 per cent since the year 2000. As of July 2020, they are officially listed as Vulnerable to Extinction on Britain’s IUCN Red List. There are many reasons for this drastic reduction in numbers: environmental poisons; roads; litter; drowning; and lack of food, water and connected habitat. Mostly, these threats are created by us humans.

Lord Deramore’s School was one of only 20 schools participating in the national trial where they could work towards achieving bronze (20 points or more), silver (40 points or more), or gold level (60 points or more), depending on the number of audited actions successfully completed. Lord Deramore’s achieved a staggering 93 points out of a maximum 120. They built a hedgehog sanctuary, complete with hedgehog highways and hibernaculums, made log piles, collected litter, held competitions, listened to a presentation from Hedgehog Cottage Rescue, have researched and reduced hazards to hedgehogs, distributed letters into the community, worked with the local ward council and have a collection box for stamps in aid of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

As previously reported by The Press, the University of York achieved the gold level Hedgehog-Friendly Campus award. Their involvement with the Hedgehog-Friendly Campus award began back in 2019, but unlike schools, the university had to progress through bronze and silver levels before being able to work towards the gold accreditation.

Helen said that one of the most rewarding elements was the collaborative work with Lord Deramore’s. The university has been able to create access for hedgehogs between the two sites, allowing them to increase their foraging range and access to suitable habitat.

Gordon Eastham the university's grounds manager said: “The opportunity to work together with Lord Deramore’s on hedgehog-friendly measures has been fantastic and a win-win for all concerned, particularly the local hedgehog population. One of the highlights for me was back in September when the school children put together and presented us with a first aid kit to use in hedgehog rescues. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Helen and the children in pursuit of our common goal.”