Well, the forecast for rain was happily proved wrong and the sun did actually shine for us as we enjoyed out outdoor learning fun at Leswalt Primary!
From gathering materials at the Wetlands (to create our bird and bug habitats back at school) whilst enjoying the abundance of wild garlic and the scent of the bluebells- to all hands on deck to spruce up our playground and garden area! HUGE thanks must go to the Wetlands volunteers who very kindly gave up their own time to help us out. As you can imagine, having been off-site for 18 months and moving back home during Winter, our garden area had seen better days! Lots of clearing up and cutting back means that we’re well on the way to rebuilding our outdoor area again.
Whilst at the Wetlands we carried out some wildlife detecting. We used our Spot It sheets to find signs of animals and insects around us.
Brushing, building, planting, weeding, painting, washing and foraging – it was a busy day! All activities were planned to ensure our school stays true to its eco ethos and has a bird and bug friendly environment in our playground.
Enjoy scrolling through the fabulous photos below (we do have a photogenic bunch!) and read all about our day’s adventures in Daisy and Cara’s (Eco committee members) blog report…
Outdoor Education Day
At the start of the morning, P6 stayed back with Jane Sloan and all of her Aloudoran wetlands crew who helped us tidy up the garden. Meanwhile P1 to P5 headed to along to the wetlands to do some foraging! They also met the Gruffalo, the fox, the snake and the little brave white mouse! After 30 minutes or so everyone carried their sticks, leaves, moss and twigs back to school to be used in building the animal habitats in the playground.
Back at school, the P6s had been super busy; Hamish and Carys were tidying the toy box; Faye and Kaiden were helping the Aldouran volunteers with clearing the garden and Brandon, Mark and Cara were loading the branches that had been cut off the willow dome into the trailer. Then we served our adult helpers tea, coffee and a sweet treat!
Once those jobs were done, Mrs Mcknight and Mrs Ferguson put us into groups of three and gave an animal habitat to every group. We were kept busy making a bird bath, creating some earwig houses , designing a toad home, putting up our teacup bird feeders, building a log pile, finding areas for bumblebee houses to go, setting up a snail brick house – as well as weeding, gardening, brushing up and planting up some planters with some lovely red geraniums to hang on the railings at the front door! After a long day of working, the boy and girls admired their efforts – the outside looks so fresh and clean!
By Carys and Daisy (Eco Committee reps)
And there’s always more to do! Our next steps will be … wall and tyre planter painting, path pressure-washing and seed planting. Watch this space…
