St. Patrick's NS: Glanworth 🌞On Wednesday 24th April the fourth and fifth class from St. Patrick’s National School went for a river walk. They were accompanied by artist Julie Forrester and horticulturist Fiona Healy. The pupils were encouraged to use all their senses throughout the river experience. The weather was glorious and really added to the pupils’ enjoyment.
We made our way to the bridge to spot any wildlife lurking near the water and went underneath also to see lots of water insects on the surface of the water.
Pupils followed the trail and walked by the castle making our way towards a swan’s nest. We were very quiet as the mother was nesting. Fiona spoke about some of the very unusual plants by the water’s edge and the insects that relied on them for food and shelter. We noticed many birds flying overhead like swallows and sand martins.
We found ourselves a nice tree trunk to sit on and had a picnic. We witnessed many birds flying and diving towards the water. The area had many butterflies, and we could hear birds singing in the bushes.
Animal tracks were hard to find but we noticed heron footprints by the riverbank and excitedly we spotted otter footprints but as usual they are very elusive and hard to find in the river. Fiona mentioned how the trees formed a very important part of the river habitat as they provided shelter for birds and mammals.
On the way back towards the bridge we were treated to a swan landing in the water. He made his way to the nest. At the bridge we drew what we saw during our walk. Julie gave us natural inks to draw with and reminded us to draw what would represent the local river habitat in Glanworth. We would like to thank Julie and Fiona for guiding us on this fantastic day and taking the time to impart their knowledge. Huge thanks to Glanworth tidy towns, especially Marie, who organised this great community link with the school.
