The Golden Grove-Gelli Aur project 'Going Local' got underway recently with a three-day residential  educational experience at Stackpole. Pupils from the school worked with National Trust Officer Kim Woodward and Darwin Science's Marten Lewis in a range of activities.  On the first day of the experience, the pupils were given an insight to the natural beauty of the area with a walk to Broad Haven South beach. Mim told the pupils about the beach, the geology and other aspects of the area and drew comparisons with other Pembrokeshire beaches. After a hearty lunch, the pupils set off on an orienteering  exercise in Lodge Park Woods, learning to set a map against the geography of the surrounding area and aspects of navigation.  Conservation is a vital part of work carried out by The National Trust and other bodies in Pembrokeshire. Much of the work is carried out with volunteers, following the woodland orienteering the pupils did some valuable work ridding the area of the invasive ash tree. The pupils were given an overview of the work already carried out by the National Trust to  restore the woodlands to their former state and the importance of not allowing the ash to take over. Ten pupils - fifteen minutes work, total input equivalent of two-and-a-half hours, the value of volunteering should never be overlooked. At the end of the day, the pupils enjoyed a marshmallow toasting session around a campfire.  The second day was a very early start with the pupils being ready by 6 am to go and meet otter expert Jim Bebbington. They spent two hours with Jim seeking out the elusive mammal, but to no avail. They did however find tracks on Broad Haven beach and were able to compare them with other footprints. Jim was rewarded with breakfast back at base where the pupils thanked him for his time so freely given. There then followed an exploration of the exposed rock pools at West Angle Bay with the Darwin Science team, led by Marten Lewis. With a range of equipment, the pupils caught shrimps, prawns and small fish on the edge of the retreating tide. In the pools they found a wide rage of crabs, some of which were described at 'not that friendly', star fish, including the rare cushion star were found and recorded along with other creatures living in the marine environment. Marten explained how the creatures adapt to the environment and their feeding habits, emphasising that preservation of the habitats is  a vital part of Pembrokeshire's future. The pupils were amazed by the range and variety  of wildlife, the 'not very friendly' crab was a clear hit with its feisty attitude!  A coastal walk was undertaken in the afternoon with more work being carried out to understand our sense of place. The high viewpoints from the cliffs around Stackpole Head were central to the pupils understanding of where they were in the county and  our relationship with other places near and far. This was later underpinned with map work back at base. The pupils were also able to observe the birdlife on the high cliffs with chough, guillimots, fulmar, gannet and a lone puffin being recorded. They also saw around 100 barrel jellyfish passing downside. After a good supper, the pupils spent some time watching military activities at the Castlemartin Range observation area. With tracer streaking across the sky, the pupils were able to see some very accurate aiming as targets were hit by fire.  After dusk, the pupils went off in search of the bats that have their colonies in the Stackpole Estate. Armed with a detector and a reference sheet, they were able to listen  to the echolocation sound and turn identify the bat species; greater horseshoe and pipistrelle most commonly heard. The exercise was a great chance to learn about our wildlife in a different way and was much enjoyed by the pupils. A walk back to base in the light of a full moon was a magical ending to a fantastic day and was topped off with a few minutes spent satellite watching at Eight Arch Bridge....perfect. On the final day, the pupils had a fun-packed canoeing session at Bosherston Quarry. With full protection kit and under the expert eye and tutoring by Ack, the pupils learned how to paddle and handle the open canoes. By the end of the two-hour session, all the pupils were handling the canoes well enough to enjoy rafting up, turning through 360 degrees. Good team working was displayed by the pupils in preparing the boats for use and storing away later.  A farewell to Stackpole picnic  lunch was enjoyed at the Stackpole Court site before a tired and happy group of pupils returned to Golden Grove School-Ysgol Gelli Aur having well and truly 'Gone Local'. Thank to all the National Trust and Darwin Science staff who helped out and a special thanks to The Dyfed Powys Police and Crime Commissioner and Pembroke Town Council for their support of the ongoing Going Local Project in the school.