Super Bloggers

Launching our brand new Super Bloggers Competition!

This week has seen the launch of our exciting new ‘Super Bloggers’ competition, which is open to all pupils who come and enjoy an educational visit with us here at Holkham. The challenge we are setting you is to come armed with your best blogger’s notebook & camera, so that you can take down all the details of your fantastic day here and capture the best moments on film, ready to write your prize-winning ‘Super Blog’!

Blogs should include a detailed description of everything you did while you were here - what you enjoyed most, new things you learnt and new experiences you had. You can choose the style you write in to make your readers really enjoy and remember your blog. Your articles can also include photos, diagrams, facts, quotes and funny stories. Individual or group blog posts are welcome too.

The Top 3 blogs from your school will each win a special ‘Holkham Super Blogger’ certificate and the blog judged by our Education Team to be the overall winner for your school will be published online, here on our Holkham Education Blog!

Also, the best individual Super Blog from all schools each half-term will receive a FREE FAMILY TICKET to Holkham Hall and Park.

For more information please contact the Education Team – education@holkham.co.uk or 01328 713112

Seaside Fun

Seashore ‘treasure’ sorting

On Tuesday, 20 Key Stage 1 pupils from St Andrew’s Primary School visited us for a day of beach and woodland activities at a very blustery Wells. The air was heavy and the skies very moody as the excited children arrived. Sure enough, within seconds the rain was hammering down – not beach weather at all! Quickly, the black clouds had cleared and the sun shone brightly down on us.

Pupils split into groups and were challenged to find as many things from the strandline scavenge list as possible. Before long buckets were filling up with shells, seaweed, driftwood and dead crabs. After lunch fortresses of all designs were built and decorated with treasure, moats had been dug and each work of art signed in the sand by our budding artists and architects. Despite the weather these children (and, it has to be said, their accompanying grown-ups) were made of tough stuff! Not a murmur of complaint was heard all day as they well truly immersed themselves into their seaside topic.



Luxurious bug house

On Wednesday & Thursday the Reception Class of Wells Primary School came to Holkham Park to explore the woods as part of their topic Science Lab. They went on a treasure hunt, looked for mini-beasts and learnt lots of interesting facts about them – did you know a worm can live for up to 10 years and it doesn’t have eyes? It moves round by feeling its way with lots of micro hairs on its body!! We then made some (luxury) bug houses to put our mini-beasts in.  One had a swimming pool made from a puddle of water caught in the tree, a trampoline made from spongy moss and the fine example shown in the photo a garden complete with a tent, camp fire, pond with ducks and a table and chairs!

Michaela & Will Education Coordinators

Park Life

Fallow Deer and the Monument

Last week pupils and staff from St. Nicholas Preparatory School in North Walsham visited us for a full day of challenging field work. The Year 5 & 6 pupils began with a morning of Team Challenge - team building exercises in our woodland area. Teams battled it out, crossing ‘Toxic Swamps’, limboing blindfolded under ‘Electric Fences’ and solving the mystery of the ‘Magic Cane’. Great fun was had and the children made super progress throughout the morning, strengthening their resilience, leadership and problem-solving skills.

In the afternoon the group used OS maps and learnt about the different symbols used to indicate positions of important landmarks and geographical features. They honed their compass and map reading skills, investigated grid references and finally mapped their own key features of Holkham park – including the mandatory deer!



Pond dipping tray

As the weather is warming up, so life underwater is beginning to get very busy. The lifecycles of our countless aquatic creatures in Holkham lake are now speeding up as everything awakens from its winter slumber. Testing the waters in readiness for this year’s first school pond dipping visitors (not because we love pond dipping ourselves!), our Education Team found a good amount of activity in the shape of masses of Water Fleas, several Mayfly Nymphs, some Meniscus Midge Larvae and a Freshwater Hoglouse. Soon we’ll have Water Boatmen, Dragonfly Nymphs and the amazing Cased Caddis Fly Larvae to get excited about. This activity is always one of our most popular and can be differentiated for all year groups and levels. Book up and come dipping!


Sue Penlington, Education Officer