Chadlington C E Primary School
Jane Bowley writes
At Chadlington I introduced the project and talked to the children about their local wildlife and environment. We identified that a key feature in the area is the number of springs and small streams arising along the junction of the limestone and underlying clay. I demonstrated the water retention properties of limestone with a model made of sponge. It illustrated the way in which a large quantity of water can be absorbed before it suddenly bursts out, as in a spring, to the great amusement of the children.
Amanda talked to the children about the use of water power in mills and showed them photographs of old mill buildings and remains that are still standing today. They were also delighted to see how an old water powered mill from Saxon times worked from the model supplied by the Museum Resource Centre.
In the morning of the first art day, as the result of a special request to a local landowner, we were able to take the children to visit a waterfall and mill pond on land that is now usually closed to public access. We were accompanied by two teachers and two parent helpers and they contributed a lot of local knowledge about changes in land use and access as we walked along.
The children took great delight in the insects and pond life in particular and finding a robin’s nest, complete with eggs, caused great excitement. On our return to school local artist’s Sally Howkins and Tom Ralphs Laman presented their audio-visual tour of the village. The waterfall obviously made a great impression on the children and featured in most of their drawings together with the pond and the houses around that part of the village.
We were joined on the second day by County Councillor Sue Haffenden who thoroughly enjoyed working with the children on one of the tapestry panels.
An interesting addition to the project arose at Chadlington in that Roy Noble, from the Friends of Wychwood, offered to make a film of the production of the tapestry at the school. Roy accompanied the children on the walk and for the rest of the two art days and also filmed some of the work of the printer in assembling the finished panels.
He has produced two versions of the film, one about 12 minutes in length that would mainly be of interest to Chadlington School and will be on sale to parents and a shorter version for public information and display. The Screen on the Square in Witney has already agreed to show the short version of the film.
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