Written by Cienna Selby - Year 6 pupil – April 2026

At Juniper Hill School, we have a special Butterfly Curriculum. Every year group champions a common and rare butterfly, we learn and research about our different butterflies. Year 6 learn about the rare butterfly, the "Duke Of Burgundy".

We work with the Chiltern Rangers. As young rangers, we aim to protect, conserve and advocate for our butterflies. The Duke of Burgundy is a rare butterfly, it has lost its habitat and food source over recent decades. We are so lucky in Buckinghamshire to have a few Duke of Burgundy sites left near Princes Risborough!

Year 6's at Juniper visit the few remaining sites with the Chiltern Rangers and the Butterfly Conservation Trust to help clear the shrub and plant cowslips to help protect the Duke!

On Wednesday 15th April, a group of 15 (including myself) Year 6 children, with Mrs Garnett, our Headteacher, and Miss Harris visited 'Far Kingdon' a conservation site near Princes Risborough to carry out our conservation work.  We went to plant cowslips we had planted and nurtured at school for the Duke Of Burgundy butterfly.

The BBC programme "Countryfile" heard about our work and came along to film us with Matt Baker! It was truly a magical, once in a lifetime experience. We had to get on and off the bus a few times, plant cowslips, dig them up and replant them for the TV crew! Two classmates and I were even interviewed by Matt. However, it is not just about fame, our project was to plant the cowslips to connect two Duke Of Burgundy colonies. Then they can mate and make more butterflies.  Sadly, they have reduced in numbers by 89%, so we are just trying to make a difference.

Cienna Selby

 

Email from Claire Whitehead the Researcher for Countryfile 

On behalf of the Countryfile Team I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for all of your contributions towards our Duke of Burgundy film. It was a joy to film with you and the pupils of Juniper School who were so patient with us, even when we asked them to repeat actions 3 times over! I hope you managed to catch the sneak peek at the end of last week’s episode and will enjoy watching the upcoming episode on Sunday. 

’The Chalk in the Chilterns’ will air at 17:15 on Sunday 3rd May 2026 on BBC One and will be available on BBC iPlayer. 

I know filming days can feel long, so it is extra special when we have enthusiastic people such as yourselves and all of the pupils involved. Of course, a special shout-out to Cienna, Arjun and Zoe who did so well on camera. I know we all were very impressed with their professionalism; there may be a presenting career ahead of them!