Wardle House Garden

At Wardle we have found a fantastic way to enhance children's awareness of nature and the importance of caring for our world. Pupils and staff are taking a walk on the wild side, planting flowers, feeding the birds and squirrels, growing our own organic vegetables and using plant scents and colours as a way of attracting beneficial insects into Wardle Garden.

We have installed three bird tables and the children enjoy taking turns to be the "bird food monitors" each day. From our classroom window we can observe with binoculars who visits the tables, providing the children with a way of learning to recognise many different birds, such as robins, pigeons, sparrows, blue tits, magpies and blackbirds.

We have nailed a number of bird houses to the trees in the garden and are eagerly keeping a check to see who will move in!

The early spring can be a dull time in the garden To overcome this at Wardle the children are in the process of planting bulbs and flowers. Last week primroses brightened our borders, next week miniature daffodils and pansies will cheer up the borders, staff and children. The uncovering of ant eggs whilst digging a hole for plants was an unexpected bonus to Georgina and Miss Gorse, who had a good look and chat about them, before carefully tucking them back under the soil for safekeeping until they are ready to hatch.

We are all looking forward to developing a sensory area in the garden, by using plants that smell good, such as lavender and honeysuckle, ones that look interesting and attract wildlife and also to hang things that make a sound, such as wind chimes.

This focus on wildlife has inspired the Reception Class to create their own "Garden Magazine", full of helpful hints, what to wear in the garden, seed packets on offer, garden designs and much more. We will enter our completed magazine in the Malvern Spring Show school's competition.