An ARK for Mr Noah’s

We are certainly experiencing some afflictions and frustrations.

Many hours were spent preparing the ground. It was dug, levelled and cleaned of all sorts of debris. Grass seed was then sown and watered.

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But we then had weeks of dry days and beating sunshine. Covering the ground to prevent evaporation seemed to make no difference.

Eventually, last Friday, there was rain in the early hours. That has been the only thing that could bring about the necessary germination.

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The question is, how long will it be before we have a lawn?

What we do have, neatly camouflaged, is an unexpected plague …

The high, forbidding railings round today’s academy schools always seem excessive. Nevertheless, our softer version of boundary security is about the same things: we cannot risk strangers entering uninvited, or children leaving unaccompanied.

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So the length of the woods has been fenced to provide the necessary protection.

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The task has been completed.
Evening comes and all is well.

Safeguarding is the highest priority.

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Sometimes it is assumed that the specific areas of the curriculum like literacy and maths cannot be addressed outdoors. That always seemed strange to my mind. For example, you don’t have to be indoors to display signs.

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These labels are lightly engraved such that children can trace the letters with the forefinger, as is encouraged in the Montessori method.

Structures, tree surgery and fencing are significant aspects of the work that is being done, but there is attention to detail too.

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Inside the polytunnel, a beautiful stone floor has been painstakingly created by using material quarried on this very site.

Surely, that is what you call ‘local stone’.

The older children at Mr Noah’s Nursery School will be able to tell you that although some creatures entered Noah’s ark in twos, of some, there were seven.

Today, the run being complete, our livestock was transported to the new site at Gills Green.

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None was travel-sick, and all seemed to take to the new home immediately.

At the moment there are only two of each.

So many things and the plans of so many people have been affected by the Coronavirus. We too, have been frustrated. The process of obtaining planning permission to put up a base building on the plat has been significantly delayed.

So, while we wait to be permitted to build something permanent, a temporary structure will be sufficient to provide cover in extreme conditions.

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This was quite a big job, but the result is a firm and substantial structure.

Looking across the plat, one can see the whole impression of a rural kindergarten site developing.

“We are perplexed, but not in despair.” We are not deterred.

At the heart of the nursery site is the school ground or plat. In a series of phases over the past week, the bounds of the plat have been circumscribed with fencing.

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First, the posts were erected around three sides of the plat, and then the stock-proof fencing was fixed.

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Then came picket fencing across the front of the plat: the school railings as they were in days past.

Last of all came the gates.

Here is the delivery point for little people first thing in the morning.

And then an extra gate was hung, offering a shortcut to the woods and an emergency exit from the plat.

So nestling beside the woods and on a large site, we have been able to create a protected enclosure for the young children entrusted to our care.

An essential part of the seasonal risk assessment is at tree level. Dead limbs are a potential danger and must be removed, and the tree made safe.

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Yesterday our tree surgeon did his work on one after another specimen, going higher and higher to the capacity of the machine: a full 17 metres.

Of course, we are all about young children, but we have livestock too. God’s creatures have to be accommodated, and so work has begun on a prominently located run for guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens.

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It is not yet finished, but it is certainly looking good.

The idea is simple: a place to locate the shacks, and give a good space for the animals to wander safely.

Before it is completed, it is proving essential for keeping apart, not the fauna and the pet rabbits, but the flowers from wild rabbits.

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I always tell the children that this is what the angels say: “Fear not!”

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Perhaps the car park needs to be a little larger. We are extending it. First comes the hardcore …

Concern was expressed that vehicles passing on the single track might struggle. So today there was another clearance job done.

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Now it looks much easier.