Throughout the summer term, the John Muir award has been undertaken by 22 lucky Year 5 pupils and 2 lucky teachers!

  We have discovered, explored and conserved a natural area that is important to us and then put together an assembly to share our experiences with our friends and our families. Undeterred by the awful weather during our first session, we have been out in our school’s nature area for four full days, even picnicking outdoors at lunch time. The conservation element of our award has seen us clearing the pond and saving the newly planted trees and hedge row by clearing much of the long grass growing around the base of the trees, ensuring that the competition for water is minimised. We have splashed in the rain and created our own mud packs; we’ve conserved anthills and discovered newts; we’ve built dens and made fire; we’ve worked together and had quiet, alone time to reflect on our achievements.

And, of course, we’ve learned all about John Muir, the man. Living in Scotland, in the 1800s, Muir was an inventor by trade. An explosion at work damaged his eyes and left him blind – the doctors said that he would never see again. 

Amazingly, his eye-sight did return and at that point Muir decided that the world was too beautiful to miss and so he set off to see it. He packed a bag containing only 4 books, a bar of soap and a towel, and he began his epic journey. For two years, and 1000 miles, he walked, not stopping to talk to anyone as he worried that contact with society would detract from his mission to fully immerse himself in nature.

We have all really enjoyed our time spent connecting with our natural surroundings and are tremendously proud of everything that we have achieved in conserving this vital and valuable part of our school.