Having survived the Beast of Bodmin last night, I thought I would head off on the trail of some even more exotic local wild-life: the Camel!!!

The Camel Trail is actually a disused railway track, and runs all the way from Bodmin Moor, past Camelford to Wadebridge, along the Camel Estuary, and on to Padstow.  Being an old railway track, the Trail is virtually level all the way. Although not a tarmac surface, it is mainly smooth, ideal for wheelchair users, pram and buggy pushers and people who have difficulty in walking on uneven surfaces. The Trail provides safe and easy access to unspoilt countryside for those people unable to use woodland and coastal paths. Lots of outlets to hire bikes in the area too apparently!

I braved the elements for a gorgeous stroll (well, I thought I was strolling gorgeously! ) along a stretch close to the lovely Trehallas House Hotel where I am staying.

Delightful!

<--------Me, strolling... (gorgeously) ... and "getting out more often"

A camel -------->

(…and me needing to get out more frequently!!)

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A second day at Nanstallon Primary school and MORE fun!!

To teach every year group, from reception through to year 6, in one day is a great experience especially when there is such a range of ages within one class.

With class 1 (reception – year 1) we explored an area I haven’t used before. We found ourselves looking out across the sea in Edanna, an organic age from Myst III: Exile. After a superb speaking and listening session we explored a bit further and found a corkscrew plant that, when we stepped onto it, whisked us upwards to a different layer of the tree. At the top, there is a nest which is home to an unusual bird and her chick, the first to hatch from a cluster of five eggs.
Some remarkable vocabulary came from the session (including an exploration of “spiral”) and I saw some remarkably confident emergent writing too.

Class 2 (Years 2,3 and 4) spiralled upwards in their writing as well, a few surprising themselves with the quality and quantity of their work.

Class 3 (Years 5 and 6) showed themselves to be up for a challenge and have a sense of humour too. Headteacher, Peter Dingle became so wrapped up in the lesson we had to wrestle the pen from his hand to stem the flow of his descriptive writing!

Thankyou to Wendy Bheeston for the nudge reminder towards the VCOP (Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers and Punctuation) elements from Ros Wilson’s book – ‘Strategies for Immediate Impact on Writing Standards’
One particularly useful aspect is the punctuation pyramid which shows the punctuation marks from level 1 to 5:

.
. ?
. ? , !
. ?, ! ’ “”
- . ? , ! ’ “” : ; ()

They make a good display, table pyramid and reminder to children.

I enjoyed myself today and thank the staff and children at Nanstallon for a lot of laughter.

I knew, last night, as I lay awake in a darkened room I was being hunted down by THE BEAST OF BODMIN !!! (Dramatic swell of orchestral strings.)

The terrifying sound of this evil being had me cowering beneath my blankets, searching the room for signs that it may have located my presence. It was after my blood!  No one else, across the barren Moor heard the haunting sound though. I was alone in my turmoil.

The Beast is often thought to be a large, black, panther-like creature. I know the truth. The beast that haunted and terrorised my efforts at sleep last night was black yet considerably smaller and even more agile, able to evade capture as efficiently as the ellusive phantom feline.

In short…
Is it just me or are there considerably more mosquitoes around at the moment after our wet “summer”

(Actually, I have just found the answer to my own question HERE)