P4 had a great trip to Mount Stewart on Thursday.
We were split into three groups on arrival for a fun morning of outdoor learning.
The first session included mindfulness in nature where the children lay on a large tarpaulin looking up at the sky, through the trees, listening to all the sounds around them. Then they collected lots of natural materials to make mandalas.
The second session was all about trees. Mount Stewart lost many trees during the recent storm. The children had the chance to inspect some of the damage. They learned about the tree nursery at Mount Stewart and the various seeds used to grow the baby trees. They looked at conkers, acorns and beech nuts. They then learned how to count the rings in a trunk to see how old a tree was. They also measured the girths of trees and divided the measurements by two to work out the age of some trees in the grounds. The children also helped to dig up some invasive species plants that were causing a problem for the growth of baby trees.
The last session was exciting when we were taught how to light a campfire. We then had the chance to sit around the fire eating toasted brioche and drinking hot juice.
The whole trip was sponsored by Starling Bank and didn't cost our pupils anything.
A big thank you to all the staff and volunteers at Mount Stewart who made this trip possible and to Starling Bank for financing it.
We all came home with rosy cheeks, smelling of wood smoke and absolutely exhausted after a busy day outside.
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