Life is a great learning adventure for children at St Peter’s CE Juniors – especially on a big day out with the whole school and staff joining in.
All 360 children and 40 staff headed off to Pegwell Bay country park to celebrate the local area and explore the fantastic wildlife on their doorstep in Thanet.
The exhilarating day out in the winter sunshine began smoothly with thanks to the accommodating staff at Southeastern trains who helped the school decamp from Broadstairs Station to Thanet Parkway – no easy feat with 400 people.
This was followed by a walk through Cliffsend village to the nature reserve and the sea.
Nathan Williams, the school’s Science Lead who organised the day, said: “We want our children to experience the beauty of our local area and have a chance to see the wide variety of wildlife that visit our shores.”
The children were rewarded with some great sights, seeing pheasants, kestrels, curlews, herons and the beautiful Konik ponies that roam the park. Some pupils were lucky enough to see seals swimming in the mouth of the River Stour.
Head Teacher Tim Whitehouse said: “This is part of what makes life at St Peter’s so special – it takes a huge amount of preparation to make our Great Outdoors Days run so smoothly but every single bit of that work is well worth it.
“The children had an amazing time. They experienced so much – the train ride, the hike, the beautiful view and the fantastic birds and animals – all in our own beautiful part of Kent.
“They returned to school with heads full of great memories, with lunch boxes emptied of anything possible to eat, and with very tired legs – with 23 000 steps being the unofficial average walked on our adventure.
“As well as being a fantastic educational experience it was, importantly, a lovely way to celebrate the togetherness of our St Peter’s community.”
St Peter’s holds two Big Outdoors Days each year taking the whole school to a local area of interest, once in the summer and once in the winter, so children can experience the changes that the different seasons bring to the plants, wildlife and, of course, the temperature.