Monday 29 September 2014

Pensthorpe Natural Park Adventures


Although the PGCE course is undeniably exhausting (and it really really is) it does still have its lighter moments. Take last Thursday for example: we flipped through the timetable to find that we had the day marked off as 'Educational Visit'. What this essentially means is that we got to have a day off our usual 9 to 5 of lectures and seminars to go off on a day trip! My lovely housemates and I ended up visiting Pensthorpe Natural Park and having a really fantastic day.
The park is a mix of nature trails and walks through the lakes, woodland and gardens. There are so many little details to captivate children on their way and it was inspiring to see the potential it has for school trips. After all, who didn't love going on school trips?
I definitely loved making friends with all of the lovely ducks they have swimming and walking around the lakes.


One of my favourite aspects of the park is the collection of beautiful sculptures they have along the bug trails. Each sculpture has a colourful plaque nearby with fun facts about the critter and sometimes the bugs can be hard to spot, even when they're rather large!

Please excuse the somewhat manic grin, it was rather sunny despite the wind, if you get lucky with the weather like we did it really is beautiful there.


There is a little red squirrel conservation area in the park and they really are adorable to watch running around. Although it's a shame you have to see them in captivity it is a lovely opportunity for children to get to see them as they are unlikely to be able to see them in the wild.
Possibly the best bit? The play area! If there are no actual children around this play area is one the best I've ever seen and I'm sure most grown-up children wouldn't be able to resist a zip wire and a very tall slide...
 

No comments:

Post a Comment