Friday 17th January 2025

Today’s nature club was supposed to involved making fat balls for the birds, but an incident involving the car going to the garage meant that had to be postponed for next time.  Fortunately, by lunchtime the mist had cleared, but there was a decidedly autumnal smell to the decaying wood in the nature area, despite us being in winter.  It was lovely to see the children wandering around touching things, asking questions and sharing so much of their own experiences of nature outside school.  We talked about what mist is and why it occurs-low cloud, low pressure and a lack of sunshine or wind to evaporate it or blow it away.  We talked about how evergreen leaves like holly and ivy have adapted to withstand rain and mist-waxy surface and drip tips.  We looked at how the delicate fern moss has adapted to its conditions all over the nature area and why birds would find that useful in the spring.  It was lovely to hear of all the things children have grown and eaten in their own gardens and encounters with nature they had over the weekend.  Just being in nature and talking without actually doing something is great for the soul.  I will end with a quote from Felicity in Year 5 who said that she couldn’t wait for the spring because she would get to see all the newts in her pond.