On a rather chilly day last month, myself and Advocates for Animals volunteers, Barbra and Lindsay, left Edinburgh westbound on the train for Harrysmuir Primary School in Livingston. We were all very excited (and secretly nervous) to be spending the day with around 60 primary five students to hear all about their ideas and suggestions to help conserve the Scottish Wildcat – of which sadly, there are only 400 left.

We were welcomed into a very enthusiastic class keen to show us their projects. The pupils had spent weeks researching the plight of the Scottish wildcat and began devising ideas about how they could help protect this endangered species. Their finished projects were superb did not disappoint.

From power point presentations, funky campaign leaflet and poster designs, suggestion and idea boxes to a GMTV special and a spot of classroom theatre, we could tell that all the pupils had taken their assignment very seriously and cared deeply for all animals. Many of the projects touched on the issue of snares and how these cruel traps are not only a threat to the so-called pest species such as foxes and rabbits but to all animals, including wildcats. The primary five pupils of Harrysmuir Primary School joined our call to ban the use of snares in Scotland.

The students were also keen to get involved in OneKind and spent the rest of the day re-creating their own version of our celebrity-fronted OneKind adverts (with Paul O’Grady and Alesha Dixon among others) featuring alongside a number of animals and displaying similar feelings and emotions. Others took part in short video podcasts telling us why they are OneKind and why we should look after animals. And as one smart cookie said: “Animals have feelings as well, so please be nice to them.”

Barbra, Lindsay and I left Harrysmuir Primary School with huge smiles on our faces – not only did we have a day full of fun and laughter, we also felt inspired. We knew that the idea of OneKind had been understood and accepted by all the primary five students and as one little boy said: “They’re (animals) no different to us just because they’ve got four paws and fur” – we couldn’t have hoped for more.

You can watch the students in action below, and to see further pictures of our visit to Harrysmuir Primary School, visit our Facebook page here.