CHILDREN from a South Lakes school are helping to save the dodo – more than three centuries after the legendary bird was declared extinct.

Youngsters from Dean Barwick Primary School at Witherslack have joined a campaign to keep a replica of the dodo – the metre-tall bird that once roamed the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean – as an exhibit at Kendal Museum.

After learning that the museum needs to raise £3,000 to pay for its recent acquisition, the school council came up with a number of fund-raising ideas, including a breakfast club for pupils and parents with a new dish every morning.

Head teacher Linda Graves said: “We’re aiming to raise at least £250 and the pupils have been really enthusiastic about fundraising.”

The school is the first in South Lakes to use the museum as a classroom. Key stage 1 and 2 children from the school have been taken to the museum one morning a week since January.

As well as using the dodo to learn about extinction, pupils have ‘risk assesed’ the museum’s stuffed polar bear and used Roman pots to learn about circumferences and diameters as part of maths lessons.

Anna Hall, education co-ordinator at the museum, said: “It’s been wonderful to work with Dean Barwick Primary School and see the children explore, enthuse and enjoy the museum to such an extent. ”