EcoHub

In September 2022, we were very excited to open our school’s brand new EcoHub. The overriding aim of this new space in our school building is to promote the idea that ecology and natural diversity start at home. There are two learning spaces in the EcoHub: an indoor classroom space and an outdoor classroom, both large enough for 30 students. The outdoor learning space is surrounded by natural, native wildlife, encouraging students to experience the richness of local animal and plant species. 

The EcoHub has been created not only for Ruislip High School students, but also as a resource for other local schools and the wider community. We plan on inviting all schools in the area to use the facility and also produce specific learning experiences for them. Our hope is that students will be taken beyond the curriculum with a range of exciting new ventures in the space. So far, this has included the introduction of clubs that cover responsible pet care and sustainability; allotment growing and bee keeping. In the future, we plan to continue to extend the EcoHub’s work by building bat and owl boxes and setting up night vision camera ecology.

RHS is also extremely lucky to have close links with Mankwe Wildlife Reserve in South Africa. A group of sixth form students visited and worked at the reserve last summer. The EcoHub aims to strengthen these links by having live feeds from Mankwe during their rhino conservation work. The students at school will have the opportunity to participate in real time q&a sessions with the Mankwe scientists whilst they are out in the field.

Our dedicated EcoHub Coordinator, Ms Stone-Weyl, told us: “We are very excited about the potential of the EcoHub as a major resource for not just RHS, but also the local community.”