Warren Road Local School Journey

Tuesday morning dawned as we peered out onto a dark and brooding sky. The weatherman promised dry after nine. Crossing our fingers we set out the activity information for the first Local School Journey in Bromley.

Hordes of excited children greeted us as we all prepared to walk out of school and discover nature on the doorstep. The study day paid off as each child knew what to expect and started by doing a new leaf rubbing in their journey book while waiting to meet their adult helper.

The heavens opened just as the first class was about to leave. We simply shrugged into our waterproofs and looked for the patches of blue sky in the distance. One child summed it up with delight - "ooo I love jumping in puddles!" After a short but heavy shower the sun came out as we reached the green and started the Tree Trail; hunting for and identifying the mystery trees on our map. The journey had begun.

Each group departed on their separate routes guided by their journey book to discover the history of the local area, hunt for minibeasts, sing bug songs, listen for natural and manmade sounds, meet a countryside ranger to find out about woodland management and have many I-spy moments along the route.

We all met up for lunch in the rose garden at High Elms Country Park. The children used their "hug-a-tree" techniques, learnt on the study day, to measure and compare the big beech trees with their beech trees at school. A sudden downpour saw the child and their adult making up a wonderful array of mini shelters with the groundsheet and tarps in their packs. It was very hard to convince them to come out even after the rain had stopped because they were all snug in their dens.

The journey continued in a big loop back to school with many shouts of BINGO being heard as they reached the final stages. Each group met up on the common to share their experiences and talk about what they had seen and done. A massive well done to all the children in Year 2 for taking care of their adults, looking out for each other and bringing the right clothes to have a great day.

"there's no such thing as bad weather – you just have to wear the right clothes"

Update: Thank you for the lovely thank you cards – here are a few that we received...