Year 4 have just returned from the most amazing three-day residential study visit and field trip to Norfolk, taking in breathtaking riverside and marshland settings along the River Ant, on Barton Broad and at the How Hill National Nature Reserve.  The girls now have a very good idea of the wetland habitats, birds and mammals that depend on careful environmental stewardship and which can be endangered by development or pollution.

      With the help of an inspirational all-female team at the How Hill Trust, 4B learnt how wildlife such as muntjac deer, hedgehogs and otters can be tracked with night vision cameras, and how to listen out for the different calls and  characteristics of birds such as green woodpeckers, bitterns and marsh harriers.

      There were also opportunities to see how local people lived in the past, and how they still derive a living and resources from areas such as the Norfolk Broads.  Peat extraction may have been consigned to history, however reed and sedge cutting are still important for maintaining traditional thatched roofs . 

      These hands-on experiences have provided lots of inspiration for speaking, listening and writing in lessons as the girls continue their study of The Iron Woman by Ted Hughes - which is set in a British wetland habitat contaminated by waste from a nearby recycling factory.

GDST Rally 2026 🏏🎾

Miss Abbott