Pre-Prep have taken advantage of the dry spells this week and have been out and about on lots of walks, looking for signs of spring.
Children (and staff!) have spent some time trying to be silent and listen to the beautiful singing of the spring birds; they all sounded very happy and busy chirping away! Then, in flew the crows, squawking and flapping and everyone thought they sounded very cross and argumentative. The children were lucky enough to hear a woodpecker noisily looking for bugs to eat, but couldn’t pinpoint where to see it. As they stood still and looked high up into the trees, someone spotted and correctly identified a messy nest. Further into the walk they found several blue tits nesting amongst the large ivy covering an old hazel tree.
Once they started looking properly there were signs of spring everywhere; shoots emerging, buds bursting and lime green catkins (not to be confused with Kit Kats!) blowing in the wind. Using their spring flower identification sheets, several types of flowers were identified; daffodil, crocus, snowdrop, primrose and the lesser celandine.
Of course, no spring walk is complete without a big stick and jumping in the muddy puddles. After splashing in the puddles outside the main building, we went on to discuss the Victorian drainage system, two out of the three grates were working! Next opportunity for learning; rain, streams, rivers and reservoirs. The boys built a dam out of leaves to create a huge reservoir. Thank you to the parents for supplying the waterproofs!
