Harvey and Joe's dry stone wall

On the 23rd of January I helped to make a dry stone wall with Joe. Joe is a helper at our school and a very good helper too. The first thing we did was dig a hole about 3 or 4 feet and filled about 2 feet of it with broken pebble and bits of stone from the rocks.  This gives it a good foundation.  Then we started to level out the second layer on top. When we finished we had to put some slate on the top to make it look neater. When we were putting the mud on we started to find newts and they were frozen.  This was because it was a cold and frosty morning, and in winter newts bury themselves into the mud to survive.  So me and Joe blew on them and this made them start to wriggle.  We carefully placed them back in the Bug Hotel next to the wall, so they could bury themselves amongst all of the debris there which acts as insulation and will keep them warm. 

This is a picture of our completed wall.  Next job - building a mini-greenhouse for inside the poly tunnel! So keep reading my blogs and find out how I get on!

Harvey, Class 6N

The dry stone wall

Prepping daffs

Today I helped to clean the daffodil bulbs by cutting the dead leaves off, removing the loose tunics and brushed off any loose earth away from the root.  These bulbs had been dug up after they had finished flowering last spring, and were stored over summer.  All of the dead leaves and tunics were put on the compost bin and the bulbs are now ready for planting. Ideally they should be planted in autumn but its not too late.  They should be carefully planted now their shoots are showing!

Post by Harvey, Year 6

My Wicor Grounds by year 2

The grounds look good because of the plants.  I like the carrots and broccoli that we grow. 
I love the Darwin's Path because it is so long, it feels like you are having a race!
I went to visit the Bug Hotel with Mrs Pattison and the beetle was my favourite bug in there.

by Joshua 2W

Hedgehogs in Year 2

An acrostic poem about hedgehogs:

Hedgehogs are nocturnal.
Everyday they sleep.
Defending their hoglets.
Gorgeous hedgehogs.
Eating mushrooms.
Hedgehogs, spikey.
Over the eye a black button.
Great, glorious, gorgeous hedgehogs.
Small hoglets.

By Amelia in 2W

Composting with Year 3

Last time we went out with Mrs Bryant we planted Oriental Mustard 'Ruby Steaks' and Mizuna 'Kyoto'.  We also planted two different types of spinach which were planted in the courtyard and the polytunnel.   We planted them in different places to see which will grow better. The plants in the polytunnel or those in the courtyard? The next time we went out with Mrs Bryant we looked at the compost bin. 

At the bottom of the compost bin there was some soil which was very crumbly.  This soil is very good for potting up plants and seeds because it is full of nutrients.  In our compost bin are apple cores, orange peel, banana  skins, greenery (small twigs, leaves, grass and weeds), and tea bags. The micro-organisms help all of this to rot down. Unfortunately we also found some plastic wrappers which do not rot down.








We are really looking forward to learning more science with our teachers.

If you want to find out how to make compost here is a very informative link to the Royal Horticultural Society web page on compost:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/Videos/Advice/Making-compost

Post by Ruby and Lewis, Class 3K

Propagating mint.

Mrs Bryant taught us how to propagate mint plants. We propagated many types including pineapple mint, chocolate mint and Moroccan mint. We really enjoyed smelling all the mints. The pineapple mint smelt very exotic and wild, whereas the chocolate mint smelt warm and at home. We had to find three different types of mint, and cut the tips off, but we had to cut them off at an angle, so that the rain wouldn't go through the stem. We really enjoyed the experience of the process of  propagation. After cutting off the tips of the mint, we had to put the tips in soil and water them a little bit, remembering to be careful, because they are quite fragile.
Post by Abigail and Amy, Year 6.

Winter Grounds Day - 16th January 2015

The whole school (435 of us!) managed to spend most of the day in our grounds working hard pruning our apple trees in the orchard, clearing areas of branches and leaves, planting new blackthorn and spindle trees and re-modelling our stumpery.
Our visit to Prince Charles' home at Highgrove...

 http://www.wwf.org.uk/about_wwf/working_with_schools/green_ambassadors/green_ambassador_award_2014_goes_to__.cfm

...spurred us on to improve our stumpery and give it the status it deserved.  So, two Year 6 boys, Joe and Harvey spent the day carefully shifting logs, stumps and boles and arranging them to create our new stumpery.  In the process they had time to find a female frog laden with eggs, several giant centipedes scuttling in the rotten wood and routs of hibernating snails and slugs.  In addition they were treated to a fantastic array of fungi including Jew's Ear and Candle Snuff.
Four hours later the stumpery had taken shape and waiting for the next step of planting with ferns and hellebores.  Thank you Harvey and Joe for an incredible day's hard graft and a fantastic result to show for it.

Hibernating garden snails (Helix aspersa)

Jew's Ear fungus (Auricularia auricula-judae)

Candle Snuff Fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon)

The stumpery moves into its new site

Joe and Harvey assess the job

Hard graft

A great day's work - ready for planting