This club is all about running around outside exploring life in our wondrous school grounds. This last half term Miss Rooks and I have been reined in a bit; I’m always happy to take the group out regardless of the weather but for children who arrive without raincoat or wellies this could be more of an ordeal than a pleasure, so once or twice we’ve stayed indoors and played games with an outdoor angle.
Earlier in the term the children had been learning to identify leaves from some of our commoner plants. They happily demonstrated their botanical proficiency and their memory skills playing a Pairs (pelmonism) game using photos taken on previous sorties outdoors. (Thank you Miss Rooks in your role as OOTB photographer!)
There was a touch of Nature’s magic at one of our June meetings when we each chose an attractive twig, shed from trees outside, to create a wand along which every child arranged and attached a carefully-selected collection of natural objects. Once again we noted how dominant our sense of sight is when making a choice. But the textures and even the smells of some flowers also featured. Whilst staff working indoors have been nurturing our pupils, our Gardening Groundsman Dave has nurtured a variety of sweet-smelling plants such as bay, lavender and sage. (See if you can spot them outside!) There is always much to admire and the children enjoyed making something nice to take home whilst also learning about the vital interaction between human life and our natural environment. This is what I call essential education: explore nature, understand it, value it, protect it!
Mrs Hulbert
