BIKING BIRDER I May 15th 2010

 

15^th May 2010

Three, is a magic number!  Jack Johnson

There had been some amazingly wonderful days on my trip and I know that you must be getting a little jaded from my constant use of superlatives but today was special, simply a wonderful day.
St Mary's Primary School was quite simply the best Eco School that I had visited ever - period.
The children were delightful being friendly, polite and inquisitive. The staff were likewise and, upsettingly for an old timer like me, very young and with Miss H. Pile at the helm, the Head Teacher, they all made St Mary's a very special place indeed.
My visit was because of one of those wonderful coincidences I love so much; a coincidence that shows me that my guardian angels are looking after me. I have a few and I talk to them a lot when cycling!
I was visiting my friend Mike and it just so happened that when I met his two beautiful children at the end of their school day at St Mary's as Mike and I collected them, I couldn't get over what I was seeing around the school grounds. Raised beds with vegetable growing for each class, willow mazes, composting bins everywhere and I asked Mike's daughter whether this was an Eco School and to my delight it was, and still is a Green Flag Eco School.

A very friendly teacher, Mr Thorpe took me to the Head Teacher, Miss H. Pile and a visit was arranged for the following day. Mind you it came at the price of working on the willow structure.
What a fabulous school, with a great atmosphere and as I have already mentioned great children and staff. Stuart, the site manager showed me around and one of the children, Matthew with a Teaching Assistant, Mrs Woodcock, a good name for a birdwatcher to meet, did likewise.
So what makes St Mary's so brilliantly special Eco-side? The list was long with a grassy school amphitheatre just like the Romans, a meadow for wild flowers, an orchard with a carefully placed buddleia for insects to aid pollination, raised veg beds for each class, with all of them planted up and being used. Hanging baskets were everywhere and a nest box had a video link to a monitor in the classroom with Blue Tits nesting inside sitting on eggs. More nest boxes and bat boxes were sited around the grounds
There was a pond with picnic benches, two willow structures, more raised beds for flowers and herbs, composting and recycling bins, dens made for the children to play in using large logs, pallet insects houses, not just one but many and log piles for the same purpose.
I could go on because I was completely blown away by the enthusiasm the whole school had for outdoor education. Some classes had just returned from Anglesey for instance. What a wonderful school and what a wonderful day.
Thank you so much Mrs Pile, Mrs Woodcock, Stuart, Mr Thorpe, Mrs Pilling and all the other staff who chatted but whose names I did not hear. Thanks to the dinner ladies for a lovely dinner and especially thanks to the children. Parents of these lovely boys and girls can be proud of them and be proud that they go to St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Congleton, Cheshire !   

Tickle My Feathers