Tuesday 30 August 2011

Last meeting of August

Today we enjoyed another walk in Fyne Court.

We braved a field with no bull in sight, and spent a lot of time climbing spectacular trees. We very luckily avoided a wasp nest (which stung some other children later on :-((( we all hope they're ok now).

The children also loved swinging on a tree swing brought by Christina, and unfortunately... playing with (slightly too short) sticks and with ... (fresh) cow pat! (withheld photographic evidence ;-) )

Then, a little dip in the stream, and a picnic in the courtyard, with regular visits to "the secret garden". All rounded up with more tree climbing, and playing "mummy, daddy and their two babies" for quite a long time!


Looking forward to September now, with more meetings in Fyne Court, our first Not Back To School Picnic on the 20th and our first meeting back in a village hall on the 27th.



Wednesday 24 August 2011

August fun

In August, we've been back to Fyne Court a lot. Once more we've enjoyed walks around the woods and clearings, and there was more tree climbing involved, as well as paddling in the stream and building dams, meeting the new resident pigs, collecting leaves and picking blackberries, and playing with the giant games which visitors can borrow.

















We also had a great family picnic in Longrun Meadow, Taunton.

Wednesday 17 August 2011

June & July

In June and July we met up a couple of times in Longrun Meadow,  a newly developed green area in the North of Taunton. It's a lovely area accessible from town through French Weir Park. The Willow Cathedral is also well worth a "visit".




 

In June we had a couple of picnics at The Spinney in Kingston St Mary, where the children enjoyed playing in the stream, climbing in the trees and swinging on a tree swing.

We also had a couple of walks in Langford Heathfield, a Somerset Wildlife Trust nature reserve near Wellington. We all enjoyed meeting the mini Shetlands ponies which are kept there in the summer to graze a small area of the reserve. It's a beautiful reserve with wildflower meadows, boarded walks as well as woods with multiple paths where it's surprisingly easy to become lost!










In July we took part in the Big Butterfly Count, a survey organised by Butterfly Conservation
We decided to meet up at Thurlbear Quarrylands, one of the best sites in the area to see a good variety of butterflies. With our copies of the butterfly charts we were able to identify a few species: gatekeeper, meadow brown, ringlet, large skipper, peacock, marbled white, large white, red admiral, silver-washed fritillary ... The children also enjoyed looking for bugs and buildings dens under some trees.













Monday 15 August 2011

A look back on the last few months

Since the end of the winter, our group has met in various places in and around Taunton.

In March we went to plant some trees on a Forest School site near Langport.
The young trees were donated by Monkton Elm Garden Centre. Here's an extract from an article you can find here: "Taunton Home Education Group has been awarded 50 young trees to help teach its students about nature. Group Co-ordinator, Bryony Medhurst explained: "Taunton Home Education Group is a non-profit organisation made up of parents wishing to educate their children alternatively. "We have a focus on nature and forest skills in our curriculum and believe giving our pupils a hands-on experience when it comes to the outdoors is highly beneficial. "We are extremely grateful for Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre’s sapling donation and will be planting them at Wilder Woods Forest School, a voluntary run community group which aims to increase involvement in forestry and conservation activities for all ages."



 

We've also been on several walks in Fyne Court, a beautiful National Trust property with woods, streams and meadows.

The children have enjoyed running free, climbing trees, paddling in the stream, searching for beetles, collecting leaves and picking blackberries.







In Swell Wood (RSPB nature reserve), we all enjoyed spotting the herons and egrets nesting high up in the trees, and had nice walks in the bluebell woods.



 

In the Willows and Wetlands visitor Centre the children loved playing in the living willow wigwams, visiting the museum, and we all enjoyed a walk around the moors.





Wednesday 3 August 2011

A summary of our group so far

Taunton Home Education group was first established in the summer of 2010. Until then there was a home education group in Oake near Wellington, a very busy and oversubscribed group in Chard, but nothing much else for people in and around Taunton.

A Yahoo discussion list and Facebook page were created for the group and a few people mentioned an interest in a regular group. Several meetings at the park ensued, and later on, the search for a suitable hall began.


Our weekly gatherings started at the beginning of 2011 based in a hall in the centre of Taunton and on alternate weeks at Fyne Court (a free National Trust Property at Broomfield). Most of the children in our group are young, so a lot of the sessions are based around free play, generally getting to know each other and starting to form friendships (both children and adults!).

The children have enjoyed art and crafts activities, planting pepper plants with a representative from Taunton in Bloom, planting some donated young trees
at a Forest School site near Langport, and walks and picnics at Fyne Court. 

Mid-spring, we decided to meet outdoors for the rest of the spring and the summer, meeting at different places for a couple of weeks each.  We have visited a variety of places around the Taunton area: the RSPB reserve at West Sedgemoor, the Willows and Wetlands Centre, Longrun Meadow (near French Weir Park, Taunton), the Spinney Wood (Kingston St Mary), Langford Heathfield Nature Reserve, Thurlbear Woods and Quarrylands, and more of Fyne Court.

We've had many picnics (most of them dry!), we've built dens, got lost in the woods, played in a stream and under some lovely willow wigwams and searched for oil beetles. We've taken part in the Big Butterfly Count and learned to identify a few species of butterflies, we've had some great walks and have become familiar with more beautiful places in the area, and have generally been developing friendships while out in the fresh air!

We will resume our meetings in a hall from the end of September. Our main focus will be on lots more free play, along with some crafts activities and simple experiments, and anything else that parents wish to organise!