Why not look at our gallery to see even more photos from our sessions this year.
Trees for the Jubilee!
Our pack of saplings arrived in school at the beginning of November. We received a mix of rowan, wild cherry and silver birch and have begun planting them in front of the fence surrounding the pond. We hope in years to come they will provide shelter and food for wildlife as well as creating a shady area for us to escape the hot summer sun!
Spring Term 2023
Our first afterschool session on the 31st January saw us retrace our steps. We followed the same walk route we did back on a rainy Hedgerow Day in October to observe the seasonal changes (and have fun!).
On 28th February we spent most of our session moving very long willow branches across the field to the forest school area where Colin from Seedpips is beginning a dry hedge project. We enjoyed marshmallows round the fire as a reward for our hard work!
We had some tricky decisions to make in our afterschool session on 28th March. After a tour of the whole school grounds, we split into groups to decide what conservation items we would spend our John Muir Group money on: hedgehog houses, frog houses, bird boxes, bird feeders, wildflower seeds, bat detectors,... Too many choices! Luckily we have a budget of £300 so should be able to make some great improvements for wildlife in our school grounds.
In our lunchtimes this term we have also been setting up the wildlife camera trap in different places to see what creatures are around.
In September 2022, twelve children from class 3 volunteered to begin their John Muir Award. This page will share their journey!
Our first afterschool session saw the children exploring the school grounds looking at the different microhabitats we have. As well as checking out the school pond, we also enjoyed tasting tomatoes, cucamelons, raspberries and apples from the school garden. Some of us got a little muddy too!
On Friday 7th October, Cath Landles from Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership led a Hedgerow Day with us. We completed an OPAL survey of some hedgerows close to school before walking around the local area to observe a variety of hedgerows. It was a little bit wet on our walk but we had lots of fun. Thank you Cath for a brilliant day!
Our afterschool session on Tuesday 18th October had a tree focus. The lovely autumn sunshine and beautiful leaf colours made his a special session. We walked around the local area using a key to help us identify trees and collecting leaves as we went. Back at school we used ink and rollers to print using our leaves. Messy but fun!
On Tuesday 15th November, we held an after dark session form 6pm. We went for a walk across the fields to the veteran oak tree, stopping and turning off our torches on the way to be still and quiet observers. Then we enjoyed feeding the Corvedale Dragon (our kelly kettle) to make hot chocolate and toasting marshmallows over the fire. Mr Brough joined us to keep the fire burning bright!
On a bitterly cold after school session on Wednesday 7th December, we focussed on the pond area, clearing back some dead plant growth near the gate to give us better access to the pond. We planted us some pond plants but had to leave them in the shallows as most of the pond was frozen! We also began planting bulbs around the new tree saplings by the pond area. Then to warm up, we went for a brisk walk down through Delbury woods and back up to school via the brook.
Summer Term 2023
On Tuesday 9th May, we explored the pond habitat, spotting many newts in the water! We found a variety of water creatures including many snails. We also installed our new hedgehog house and frog house.
On Tuesday 23rd May we had a bird-focussed session and spent time quietly watching birds in different places around the school grounds. Then we installed our new bird feeding station and bird bath in the quiet area next to the school kitchen. We hope Heather enjoys watching the birds as she prepares dinner for everyone at school!
Our next session on Tuesday 13th June saw our final conservation session. We sowed wildflower seeds that were sent from King Charles to celebrate his coronation. We cleared the long grass from around the trees we planted and replaced two of the saplings that had died.
Our final afterschool session on Tuesday 27th June was for FUN! We went to the stream and got a little bit wet then dried off back at school with a fire, marshmallows and hot chocolate. What a great way to finish our award!