Life and Learning at Mr Noah’s

Head-over-heals, but not in love

Post author By Mr Peter
Post date 19/12/2023
4 Comments on Head-over-heals, but not in love

The first evidence that there had been mischief at Tarly Pit was that, yesterday evening, the distinctive mailbox was uprooted and thrown across the site entrance.

The damage done to the box is self-evident.

The police were immediately responsive to a call to report the incident. They said that a member of the forensic investigation team would be at the school within ten minutes. The van appeared on time. Material was taken for the sake of fingerprints.

Only in this morning’s daylight could the extent of damage be assessed. Then the clearing up began.

There were wood shavings and compost scattered liberally around the plat. The furniture on the field had been overturned or slung around. Most of it was not too difficult to begin to remedy. But …

this picnic table with benches is heavy oak; the ground was muddy and very slippery. Down went Mr Peter, head-over-heals rolling in the mire. Fortunately, the table did not land on him, but the spectacle would have brought laughter to the culprits – and any other witness.

Craft Events

A demanding term concludes with delightful triumph

Post author By Mr Peter
Post date 15/12/2023

No, unlike the winter of 2022, we did not have a week of snow thick on the ground. But we did cope (very well) with a spell of low temperatures. That prompted the fires that the children so enjoy.

Staffing has been the critical issue, but we shall start next term with a renewed team, having said au revoir to Miss Izzy in July and now to Miss Eve, as they have gone on maternity leave. The blogs ceased through the Autumn because of the pressures, but there are plenty of stories to tell, and we hope to feature the new staff team in January.

Christmas preparations have been a joy. The children made a greeting card, which we had printed for sale to parents.

They heard the gospel birth narrative and learned Christmas songs to share at the Nativity Service, held at Cranbrook Congregational Church. If only we could post photographs of the children all dressed for their parts as they retold the ancient story! They sang out clearly and remembered their lines. They were a delight.

The wise men – all four of them.

Events

May time connecting with community and cultures

Post author By Mr Peter
Post date 23/05/2023

The long coronation weekend started early for our children when we marked the national event on Friday morning. The scene was set with the union flag, and a throne and crown waiting for the monarch. The children were so respectful and responsive to the sound of the national anthem.

The crown did not fit any of our children. Clearly, it was not intended for them. So they made crowns of their own to wear for celebration.

At the other end of the month, we had a Czech visitor to share a maypole. Children chose a coloured ribbon with which to decorate the wreath. There was the rehearsing of the names of colours in Czech before the pole was erected.

Then it was time to dance around the maypole.

Agriculture

The ruthlessness of nature demonstrated in a night attack

Post author By Mr Peter
Post date 16/04/2023

At ten in the evening, all was well. By dawn, something was very wrong. The first sight on approaching the chicken run was one of the residents slumped on the ladder up to the hutch. All was silent, which did not bode well.

Two chickens had gone missing entirely and another was found dead, apparently having been dragged under the damaged chicken wire.

So the four brown chickens had all been killed. The identity of the preditor is in doubt. Perhaps it was a badger, or a polecat, or more likely a fox.

The chicken run fence needs to be strengthened, and the children must have it all explained appropriately.

We already had three or four new chickens on the way. They had been intended to supplement, not replace, the brown ones. Meanwhile, Rosie, the white chicken, continues in her old agae.

Agriculture

A tribute to a poor old bunny

Post author By Mr Peter
Post date 24/02/2023

Larry lost his life last week. Because it was half term, it was not possible to have a burial service with the children. Instead, they heard the story of a rabbit who came to us in 2019, before we were at Tarly Pit, named Liszie, because we thought we had two girl bunnies. We soon noticed the mistake, and so Larry was named. He also had to go to the vet to avoid Annie having lots of baby bunnies.

In 2020, poor Larry was attacked by a rat, and one of his eyes was badly injured. He was back to the vet again and eventually recovered. That eye was always a weakness, and sometimes children noticed that “Larry’s eye is bad today.”

At Easter 2021, Larry and Annie Rabbit were stolen from the site. Through Facebook, they were traced and returned. See https://mrnoahs

They had endured a harrowing time, and Larry was particularly anxious as a result.

A week ago, Larry’s eye looked poorly and very soon he was found still warm but dead. He was buried on the north boundary of our field, and the children prepared a pot of bulbs to mark the place.

One of the best portraits we have of Larry was taken only a few weeks ago.

Events

OFSTED inspection missed the best of it

Post author By Mr Peter
Post date 13/02/2023
2 Comments on OFSTED inspection missed the best of it

We were inspected by OFSTED in January, as recorded in an earlier blog post. Now the report has arrived by email. It is gratifying to be judged ‘Outstanding’, but there is so much more than could be observed on one cold winter’s day.

The inspector missed most of the normal activities on the plat because we sought the warmth of the sunshine on the field.

Then there are the log stepping stones in the woods which are so good for the development of balance, strength and awareness of the body. But we hadn’t constructed it in time.

And there has been the processing and spreading of compost – all that potential knowledge of the world.

This activity deserves a blog post in its own right.

Never mind, we are grateful that the inspector liked what could be seen on the day in question. Well done, staff! Thank you, parents for your generous support, and all those who pray for us.

Site work

The challenge of not-so-glorious mud!

Post author By Mr Peter
Post date 24/01/2023

After a very wet late Autumn, there was mud wherever we walked. It is all very well for the reptiles …

But something had to be done, and the children have been in on the act. Here we record two useful projects that they have enjoyed.

The entrance to the farmyard, where Rosie Chicken lives, was a quagmire. So a small number of bricks were laid in a prepared rectangle, and pebbles were used for a surface.

More recently, in January, a muddy puddle was developing at the main entrance to the plat. The children filled the hole with dirt and then laid a plastic grid on it so we hope to have grass protected and penetrating in the spring.

The challenge of mud seems endless, so there will probably be more projects to come.

Events

That was the ultimate week

Post author By Mr Peter
Post date 21/01/2023

Monday, the rain fell, and the temperature was freezing. It was all a bit of a challenge, but the children coped wonderfully. They are not afraid of being outdoors. The rest of the week, every day was cold, with children arriving on site in minus degrees centigrade.

On Wednesday, we had the dreaded phone call from an OFSTED inspector to say that we were to have an inspection on Thursday. It would be the first full inspection since we moved to Tarly Pit.

We were blessed that day with sunshine and a fire that lit so easily. Between the two we were kept warm on a day when the temperature ranged from -2 to +6 degrees centigrade. All went very well and we were so grateful.

Most memorable will be the boy who was squealing from a tree he had attempted to climb, with another already on a favoured perch. We all assumed that the fuss was a dispute about rights to that branch, until the distraught lad demanded, “Get me down!” It then became apparent that the problem was nothing to do with territory. Unseen even standing immediately in front of him, the boy had caught his hood on a broken branch and could not move an inch. It could only happen in view of an inspector.

All went well. The tree climber was rescued, and the day ended happily. The children went home; the inspector offered feed-back; the staff felt proud.

On Friday, we were doing it all over again, but only under the gaze of heaven.

That was the ultimate week.

Uncategorized

How the Advent Term came to its conclusion

Post author By Mr Peter
Post date 05/01/2023

We were indebted to the Cranbrook Congregational Church for the kind permission to have the Nativity Service in the beautiful Cranbrook High Street building.

The children, who had no opportunity to rehearse in the church, were amazingly confident and sang out their Christmas praises.

Then came the weather.

We coped with a sharp drop in temperature after the super mild Autumn. There is nothing like collecting sticks and the sight of the flames to warm the heart.

That was followed by the snow.

No director’s car was parked; 5 mph was an impossible speed; the gate was frozen fast against all comers.

And then the thaw and the torrential rain.

Overnight, the carpet of white that had lain for the entire week vanished. The track and car park were flooded. Water poured off the field above our site. The waterfalls flowed through the woods.

Let’s leave that behind us, and remember the happy event of the Nativity. Here is a posy for the leading lady.