Monday, 5 March 2012

here be dragons...


The year one children at Dunkirk, the staff and myself recently found an enormous nest in the school community garden.  It had appeared unexpectedly and the children were full of ideas about where it might have come from and who – or what – had created it.  They wondered about different birds and animals and spent a long time searching for signs and clues.  They felt a dragon had possibly created it – and their explorations of the site seemed to hold out their theory.  They found HUGE footprints, dragon poo, several trees that had been torn down, plants that had been crushed, feathers (maybe the dragon had eaten a pigeon?) and much more. 

They wanted to create another nest as a present for the dragon – it was really interesting that their instinct was to welcome and invite it into their world.  They found so many signs and clues of the presence of a dragon and back in school drew and painted their ideas about what the dragon might look like…






“The natural world is a place for exploration, learning about risk, building confidence and escaping into the imagination.”
From “Natures Playground” by Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield.



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