Year 1 visit to Dobbies
This term, Year 1 have been working on a new topic all about growing. It was launched with much excitement earlier this month as it coincided with the excellent production of Jack and the Beanstalk by Years 3 and 4. The pupils have also explored the captivating book The Flower by John Light which is about a boy, Brigg, who lives in a world without any flowers. Fortunately, Brigg discovers a packet of strange brown wrinkly things called “seeds”.
The pupils also visited Dobbies, a garden centre in Shepton Mallet where they had a wonderful experience smelling, planting, tasting, giggling and exploring a variety of plants and seeds.
The children began the day by refining their palates with a herb tasting session in whcih they sampled basil, mint, parsley and chives. After much discussion and conferring they agreed that basil was the yummiest by far.
This was followed by an active session hunting around the store on a “herb search” where they smelled further herbs and discovered their varied uses. The children then went on to plant coriander, basil, parsley and mint from seed. They have taken these home to germinate so we look forward to hearing when the seedlings appear.
The children also had a fantastic tour of the store. They were particularly taken with the fish and reptiles and they were even granted permission to have a look inside the enormous warehouse.
After lunch there was a further treat in store but this time for their mummies. The children took great pleasure carefully replanting and arranging primula and narcissi for Mother's Day presents.
It was a wonderful trip and we are looking forward to following it up by creating our own garden centre in the classroom.
We are grateful to the fantastic Amy Milverton at Dobbies who made all this possible. If this sounds like fun you could try Little Seedlings, a free-to-join gardening club in which youngsters aged 4 to 10 learn about plants, wildlife and the environment.
Mrs Rebecca Glenny
Year 1 Teacher