Children at Peasedown St John Primary School held a Zoom session before the summer holidays with Journal Editor, Becky Brooks, finding out about what it takes to be a journalist and how to write reports. The children asked some brilliant questions throughout the session and then went away to work on their own projects. The following is a culmination of what they have learnt, as they report back on the school’s plant investigation. Well done to all of the children from Aqua and Sapphire classes – we are proud of you! A big thank you to Mrs Roughan for inviting The Journal.

On Monday, 14th June, a sunny day, young children from Aqua and Sapphire classes at Peasedown St John Primary School delightedly went to investigate plants and leaves in our outdoor conservation area.

On cloud nine, we gathered around the old fire pit waiting to hear our instructions. Mrs Roughan explained that we were going to partner up and look at leaves, we would sketch them and label them then use them to make a temporary artwork of natural life. We found our partners and jubilant smiles spread across our faces as we collected our whiteboards, paper and pencils.

We were excited to start, so we ran off to find leaves. We found them by searching around and picking them from the floor. I found a willow leaf, but Isabelle and Florence found an ivy leaf. I found a fern but I couldn’t find it on the identification sheet so I asked Mr KcKay and he said: “Your fern is beautiful.”

We hunted in trees, on bushes and on the ground. Tilly and Neve both found an ash leaf, a lime tree leaf and a birch leaf. Neve came back with a giant sycamore leaf in her hands. It was hard to draw the midrib of the leaves because the lines were so small. Surprisingly, we found some leaves that were not on the laminated identification sheet. Then Mrs Roughan called us back to the firepit area, I was worried that she would say we had to go back into the classroom. I was so glad that we stayed outside. It was enjoyable learning about the names of leaves although it took some time. Charlie commented: “I liked learning about leaves.” Afterwards, Addy commented: “I loved sketching leaves and doing something I’ve not done in a while.”

Our next activity was to get into partners and share a whiteboard and collect flowers, leaves, grass or whatever we wanted to put on our whiteboard and make a temporary artwork. We looked all around the conservation area and we found all the leaves, flowers and even small apples that we needed. It took us about ten minutes to get the right pattern with our leaves because the apples kept falling off the whiteboard. Henry partnered with Archie: “We just need grass,” shouted Archie. We were making a beautiful field with flowers and grass, but it was hard to snap the flowers to the same size.

William and Jude were giddy with excitement. We set off and went in the willow arch where we discovered a bush of pink and white flowers. Jude picked a white one and I picked five sweet scented pink ones. Along with a stick of nettles, they looked brilliant. Jude said: “Together they looked good because of the difference in colour.” Suddenly, the wind caught my work and blew it away, so I frustratedly picked up all of the leaves, calmed down and remade it.

Olivia and Ffion explored and found pretty blossoms. Ffion got the blossoms and I made a picture. I added a leaf broken into pieces. The leaf was green and glossy. I arranged the broken leaf all over the whiteboard.

Finally, Mr McKay gathered us in a circle around the benches and read us some of our class story book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was really peaceful with everyone listening. “I love getting fresh air,” said Bobby, “so I was upbeat about this afternoon.” When we came back inside, I kept thinking how fun it was. We had had a brilliant day. “I liked doing this,” said Dylan, “I hope we can do it again.”