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Discovering tadpoles wriggling around the nature pond at Jerry Clay Academy in Wakefield, West Yorkshire captured children's interests and the finding took them on a new line of enquiry.
Staff had started to discuss plants and growth with the children, based around reading The Little Green Hen by Alison Murray, a retelling of the traditional tale with a message about caring for our environment. They had done some planting, observed the school's tortoises and ordered a butterfly kit in preparation for observing the metamorphosis when exploring the outdoor area led to the idea of pond dipping. ‘We had planned to explore lifecycles but not necessarily frogs, so it took a different slant,’ says EYFS teacher Nicki Burrows.
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