Pre-Prep adventures in Woodland School
The incessant rainy weather finally showed Pre-Prep some mercy, and we were able to enjoy a lovely afternoon over at our Woodland School on Merton Field. The children were fascinated to see a lot of changes within the wood since we last visited, with four wood-chipped seating areas having been constructed for us, the beginnings of an attractive perimeter hedge partially assembled with Christmas trees from our 'School Light Show', alongside natural changes such as the first snowdrops, and hazel trees heavy with delicate catkins.
The children had a fabulous time building camp fires with sticks and leaves, and roleplaying creating delicious meals using a range of cooking utensils. We also went on a 'minibeast hunt' throughout the woods, finding worms, snails, slugs, woodlice, and earwigs, examining our discoveries using our brand new insect kits with magnifying glasses.
We are tremendously excited by the forthcoming projects that we will be undertaking this year to develop our Woodland School, in partnership with the Christ Church Gardening Team (as outlined by Mr Murray in last week's newsletter). In February, we will be assembling and hanging bespoke hand-made bird boxes, bug hotels, and hedgehog houses, throughout the woods, to encourage more wildlife for us to study. I am extremely grateful to our incomparable Parents' Association, who have provided a donation to help us facilitate this. In March, we will be having a 'Planting Day' , when our new hedgerow and saplings arrive, courtesy of The Wildlife Trust. I promise to share plenty of photos as these wonderful projects take shape.
