February 2023 – Life and Learning at Mr Noah’s

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.

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.