We have had an amazing week in school! Just when we gave up all hope of having any good weather, Summer arrived! Blue skies and sunshine,warm days and school outdoors! We brought tables outside so children could do their work in the garden if they wanted! I also brought the easel out so that the children could enjoy painting outdoors ! And of course we had picnics every day …in the orchard, in the front garden and down the field!

We played hide and seek, ball games and ran races in the field! We gathered apples from the ground under the trees and brought them down to the horses,Polo, Scoby and little Wilson the foal!And the horses were delighted with their treats!

I thought that the swallows had left a couple of weeks ago with the bad weather but yesterday we saw a couple and waved goodbye as they set off for Africa!

Our new school new year got off to a rocky start with dreadful weather! Rain and wind greeted the children on their first days back and the leaves turned prematurely brown and began to fall from the trees.It seemed like October had arrived before September.

However,the weather didn’t deter my new children and all settled in very quickly. It was wonderful to welcome back Hugo, Arlo, Kate and Emily as my helpers for the morning class and Louis as helper in the afternoon. I would also like to welcome Miss Triona who is job sharing the afternoon class with me.

Despite the bad weather,we managed to get out doors as much as possible and the children were delighted to discover the apple, pear and damson trees laden with fruit!We gathered the damsons in baskets and all helped wash and weigh the fruit to prepare it for jam! The next day after I had cooked the fruit in the preserving pan all helped to sieve the stones and prepare for jarring!Each child proudly took a pot of damson jam home to their families!Apples were also gathered and tasted whilst tomatoes are picked and sampled daily!The children are busy helping to weed the raised beds with the salad leaves and yesterday Benny dug up the potatoes! We picked courgettes today and tasted the last of the garden peas! The children can see that Autumn is the Season of plenty !

And of course, they are climbing the apple trees, swinging on the hammock and having fun!

Its hard to believe that we are once again at the end of another great school year! In May, we had our annual trip to the zoo and once again it was a day that the children wont forget…a great day!!

The weather has been so cold and wet that it has been impossible to have our teddy bear picnic but hopefully we will hold it next week!! Despite the cold,the children are outdoors most of the time and enjoying playing together.

We gathered elder-flowers and made elder flower cordial! Our tomato blossoms are turning into fruit,the apple blossom are now tiny apples and the blackcurrants are ripening! So despite the cold,the garden is flourishing!

At every opportunity we picnic in the field or orchard.At this stage all the children are climbing and swinging of the apple trees! We are also busily practicing for the school concert ! It will be sad to say “goodbye” to the older group,we have come a long way together ! Lets hope the sun will appear and fill the last days with as much fun as possible and lasting memories!

The blossom appeared earlier than normal on our cherry tree this year and was a signal for us to go and look for buds opening all around the garden. There were loud shouts of delight from Saorla when she discovered a ladybird on the cordelyn! All soon joined in the search and the awe and wonder that this little insect initiated always makes me stand back and once again appreciate the beauty of our natural world! Saorla had discovered a real gem and the search for ladybirds took up the remainder of the morning.As we had been looking at the life cycle of the ladybird earlier in the day, seeing him in its natural habitat,made work in the classroom come to life!

We have been so lucky this year as shortly after the cherry blossomed ,the pear and apple trees blossomed. Talking about insects pollinating plants also came to life as we observed butterflies and bees flitting from plant to plant “exchanging” pollen and the blossoms then turning to fruit! Another wonder which open the eyes of the children to all that is happening in the natural world around them!

As these children have such respect and love for all these tiny invertebrates that are so vital to our ecosystem, I decided that we would make a wormery! They were intrigued at how many came to the surface by pouring soapy water on an area on the lawn! We then made the wormery using sand and clay and finishing with leaves and then the worms. A few days later there were shrieks of excitement when we examined the wormery and saw how they had mixed the soil and sand and pulled the worms down!The children just love worms! They can now see that the worms have a job to do and hopefully will understand in time how all of these creatures are intertwined in balancing life on earth!!

During our darkest month,January,the children and I visited and discovered the amazing animals that live in the continent Of Africa! There was great excitement in the classroom when each child arrived in with their wonderful projects! And we learned so much too: all about Lions from Domhnall and Louis, the Rhinos from Frankie and Arlo,the zebras from Lucy and Ella, the Mandrills from Fionn,Water Buffalos from Tom,Cheetahs from Wren and Oscar,Meerkats from Michael,Elephants from Hugo( with real photos from his Mum and Dads honeymoon!),Ostriches from Saorla,Giraffes from Emily,Gorillas from Kate, Monkeys from Oliver and the Hippos from Jake!!It has ignited our imaginations to a great big world out there which we are all eager to discover and most importantly to protect!!

As Wren visited Australia for Christmas and has been telling us all about her adventures, we decided to visit Australia during February!After looking at the animal basket for Australia,the children once again picked the animal they wanted to study!! Hugo was first in the next morning with his Tasmanian Devil and Fionn arrived that afternoon with his Thorny Devil! What very strange animals on this far off Continent,we certainly are learning so much from each other!! Tom was next with his Kangaroo and Saorla with her Dingo! This morning Oliver brought in his Kiwi from New Zealand. A most unusual bird with hair and no feathers so naturally enough, he cant fly!I cant wait to learn more about these very strange animals! Meanwhile,we have lovely stories about our Australian animals in the classroom .

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Spring is in the air!Just like the little lambs romping around the fields,the children are ready and eager to run and play outside again!January was particularly wet and cold but over the past few days,there has been a break in that awful weather and we are outdoors again.Climbing trees in the orchard,playing “old fashioned” ball games like “Banana banana who has the ball”and little walks down our lane! Its all a big adventure as nature unfolds its secrets and awakens once again!We have looked at the buds on the trees and the children can now identify the sycamore,beech and ash!Our first spring flowers are appearing and we eagerly wait for more to awaken from that long winter sleep.All are captivated by the “frogs story” as they make their way back to their pond for mating.Soon we will plant our seeds for the garden but for now there is plenty to do both inside and outside the classroom!