Our trip to John Clare Cottage

After a long week of assessments, the Year 3s took a well-deserved trip to John Clare Cottage.

Whilst there, we were able to explore the beautiful gardens where the children discovered new beehives, the museum and cottage, as well as John Clare’s gravestone. We began our exploration in the cottage and museum, which had two floors. As we reached the kitchen area of the cottage, the children were blown away at how modern-day life has progressed (they were especially shocked that the kitchen wasn’t like their own at home).

After learning lots about John Clare and how he lived, we headed outside to explore the gardens. Whilst there, the children noticed the new beehive located by the fire pit. They made some fantastic links to our science topic this term, explaining how bees pollinate plants. We were then tasked with finding one of John Clare’s poems that had been cut into sections and hidden around the garden. After finding all the different sections, the children then pieced the poem together and read it amongst themselves. Just before we were due to come back, we took a lovely walk down to the church where we were able to see John Clare’s gravestone. The children walked wonderfully and showed great respect in the graveyard.

We had a fantastic day visiting the grounds, the children were mesmerised by all the amazing artefacts dotted around the cottage. We had some fantastic discussions on poetry and how the garden was a brilliant source for inspiration. It was also lovely to see how they made links in their learning of plants and pollination to poetry. I am really looking forward to seeing how this trip has inspired their poetry writing this week.