If you are a regular blog watcher you might remember how grim and unwelcoming the school pond looked earlier this year.
After great work from LWVP volunteer Chris Hughes and Rachel Hemmings the school's Class 2 teaching assistant, not to mention the diggers in the school Eco Club and after school group it is looking much more welcoming.
It is certainly very popular with smooth newts and the children couldn't fail to catch a newt in their nets today, ranging from newly hatched ones, that look like tiny fish, to adults with orange bellies and a male with a crest down its back and tail.
The pond is also home to frogs hiding out in the rocks and stones in the newly constructed dam across the middle of the pond and a toad was visiting last week. This project has generated a great deal of interest and satisfaction, particularly for the children involved in the work on the pond. Thanks to Rachel and colleagues they have also created a vibrant wildlife garden around the pond with a bug hotel made from pallets, a blue garden, a living willow structure and lots of other wildlife friendly features that were buzzing with bees, hoverflies and a myriad other insects today.
