Botany Day Out

Recently class 5 were lucky to set out for a day of adventure with Emily Fawcett, an experienced outdoor educator. We went to a beautiful piece of bush and farmland near Paraparaumu and explored bush and meadow.

The children practiced identifying and recalling different plants and their leaves, wrote poetry about a stunning rimu tree and blindfolded each other, working in pairs to recognise a tree just by feeling it. At highlight for me was the koru of the mamaku fern we foraged for, prepped and cooked on a fire. Delicious. The children also loved playing in the muddy creek.  

Thank you to Emily, the wonderful parents who came and Chris Vannisselroy who saved the day at the last moment. What a great way to end the year and finish our Botany Main Lesson.

Here is rhe poem we wrote as a group with everyone’s words and ideas added:

You feel solid and smell of Grandpa’s basement

I feel calm, as old as time, in Grandma’s garden

Whispering words yet always silent

Standing proud

Smells like damp carpet

A guide, mighty and twisted

Peaceful

I thought I saw you take a step

Woody smelling and scary

Whispering airy silence

Feeling dark and damp, but dry, musty

Sounds like whispering

Purdy Biddle