Nature Journal
Updated weekly by our very own Nature Club.
- 01/09/23
Thursday 31st August 2023
Our first nature club meeting of the year unsurprisingly involved weeding and watering. The herb bed is absolutely flourishing and full of pollinators as almost every plant is flowering. The eagle-eyed children spotted various bugs which you might be able to pick out in the photo o...Read Full Story - 24/08/23
Thursday 24th August 2023
One of the exciting aspects of creating a wildlife pond is that you never know what flora or fauna will arrive as it develops. A lot of the insects such as diving beetles and pond snails have been brought in as eggs on plants we have submerged such as water mint, water soldiers and water lilie...Read Full Story - 07/07/23
Thursday 6th July 2023
Nature club really enjoyed the pond-dipping session this Thursday. We managed to identify most of the creatures, except a scorpion like one which may have been the larvae of a damsel fly. We spotted leech, pond snail, pond skaters, water boatmen, diving beetle, spider and ladybird, as we...Read Full Story - 30/06/23
Thursday 29th June 2023
It was the final session on Thursday where the pupils choose an activity and Parker had organised an amazing treasure hunt in the nature area, which called on all the children’s knowledge that they have developed over the year. The rain held off and they all entered into the spirit of it...Read Full Story - 22/06/23
Thursday 22nd June 2023
Really pleasing to see all the dill and coriander coming up that we planted, which means that we now have 14 kinds of herb. It was Louisa's turn to be Head Chef this week and she chose oregano and chives to be cooked with....you guessed it...pasta! Next week Parker has chosen a treasure hu...Read Full Story - 15/06/23
Thursday 15th June 2023
This week our new Head Chef Lila was cooking with herbs. She picked oregano and sage, which have really bushed out in this warm weather and added them to a tomato sauce flavoured with onion and garlic. All six children had two helpings, as well as Adam and myself. Everyone declared it delicious. It...Read Full Story - 09/06/23
Thursday 8th June 2023
Today our schedule changed as our Head Chef forgot her ingredients to cook with herbs! Not a problem as she will get another opportunity in a couple of weeks. Instead, we headed out to the nature area and our two raised beds-one in the back and one on the front of the school. We ha...Read Full Story - 26/05/23
Thursday 25th May 2023
It is lovely to see the nature area springing into life with all the warm weather. All the Mediterranean herbs are enjoying this dry, warm spell and the Hope Garden Mrs Bratu has planted with the children is a beautifully colourful corner. This week was Anya's last turn to be He...Read Full Story - 23/05/23
Tuesday 23rd May 2023
As the weather is warming up and the Nature clubbers are all busy harvesting and cooking our produce, I decided to fill up the pond and weed all around it and our fruit trees. I was thrilled to spot a lot of pond snails, boatmen and pondskaters, as was Bobby the Robin who was perched nearby. I was e...Read Full Story - 18/05/23
Thursday 18th May 2023
For the rest of this year, nature club members have been allowed to choose an activity to lead and they all chose cooking! Today, it was the turn of our newly appointed Head Chef Anya and her cooking team Lila, Louisa and Parker. First of all, she went to the nature area and chose t...Read Full Story - 15/05/23
Monday 15th May 2023
Today, a huge thanks to Quey in Year 3 who helped me tie the labels on the wild plants that are coming up in the grassed area: St John's Wort, Mallow and Speedwell to name a few. We also looked at the pond and he told me all about fishing, as well as his own pond which he made at home...Read Full Story - 12/05/23
Thursday 11th May 2023
This time last year we made a rather smelly nettle fertiliser for all our plants. This year, we don't have quite so many nettles, but we still needed to responsibly forage, so only picked a few handfuls (with gloves of course), so that we left plenty for our pollinators, especially peacock and s...Read Full Story