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Summer, Clay, Play

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With a little space created in the lobby of our house, this summer I have been able to start to play with clay for the first time since March. Inspired by the wonderful flora and fauna out in the garden, some rather floral large-scale clay butterflies have started to emerge! I have also had a little play with Sgraffito into iron oxide slip…

Every week I have been setting daily nature poems from the book I Am The Seed That Grew The Tree for a small group of pupils from school. The following is one I like and enjoy, and feel particularly relevant currently:

Moth Masks, National Moth Week & the Big Butterfly Count!

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In the run-up to National Moth Week (which starts today: 18th-26th July) year 8 pupils from New Mills School researched the work of Australian artist Deborah Klein. Over the last few weeks of the summer term, I asked the pupils to each create an artist research page about Klein’s mysterious Moth Women and, subsequently, to create their own Moth Mask in response to Klein’s fairytale “The Story of the Moth Masks”.

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The finished artist research pages are wonderful – beautifully arranged, with creative portraits and some deeply thought-through analysis, it has been a pleasure to read and look through them all.


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The Big Butterfly Count is a nationwide citizen science survey aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment. It began yesterday and will run until Sunday 9 August. Please see the link below to find out how you can take part:

https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/

It’s National Insect Week! 🐛🐞🐜

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To celebrate this National Insect Week, Year 8 pupils from New Mills School have been busy creating drawings inspired by last week’s virtual trip to the Manchester Museum’s Beauty and the Beasts… Falling in love with insects exhibition:

https://mmbeautyandthebeasts.wixsite.com/mmbeautyandthebeasts

Here are a few awesome museum specimen drawings that have been submitted so far:

I am looking forward to receiving more of these gorgeous specimen drawings! Currently I have been spending the last couple of days observing and rescuing(!) Peacock Butterfly caterpillars who are on the move from the nettles next door… Here is a lovely little poem that sums up this week perfectly:

NMS does 30 Days Wild!

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As part of the Wildlife Trust’s 30 Days Wild campaign, 1-30 June 2020, I set Year 8 pupils from New Mills School the challenge of completing an Act of Wildness each day over ten days: for their health, for their wellbeing, and for the planet.

I have been so impressed by the effort and resilience of these pupils. Below are the super creative and top-quality results of these ten Acts of Wildness:

ACT OF WILDNESS: 1

ACT OF WILDNESS: 2

ACT OF WILDNESS: 3

ACT OF WILDNESS: 5



ACT OF WILDNESS: 6


ACT OF WILDNESS: 7


ACT OF WILDNESS: 8

ACT OF WILDNESS: 9

ACT OF WILDNESS: 10