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Patrick McGlinchey Brings Appetite for Adventure to John Muir Assembly
Delight in Learning
Patrick McGlinchey Brings Appetite for Adventure to John Muir Assembly
‘Nature is the feeling of the wind against your face, the rain pit-pattering around’ said nature-enthusiast and world adventurer Patrick McGlinchey. It’s the ‘bronzes, golds and browns in autumn’, and ‘the buddleias creeping through concrete gaps in inner cities’. Patrick was responding to interview questions posed by members of P7, who completed the John Muir Award last term.
The John Muir Award is an engagement initiative encouraging people to connect with, enjoy, and care for wild places. P7 were delighted to attend a three-day session as part of this scheme, during which they made woven fences, and even igloos from recycled plastic bottles.
In today’s special John Muir assembly, P7 recounted their experience to younger members of the junior school. Standing in front of hand-drawn responses to the John Muir outing, P7 delighted the audience with tales from the trip. Poems featuring riddle-like personification were performed, and the class introduced the three new recycling bins that will soon be found around the school.
After P7’s entertaining presentation, they invited special guest Patrick McGlinchey to the stage. He entranced the junior school with his wild tales of journeys through nature, recounting adventures as far flung as Machu Picchu, and as close to home as Glasgow’s concrete jungle. Finally, he presented the well-deserved awards to members of the year group.
After the assembly, Patrick accompanied P7 back to the classroom to respond to interview questions posed by the pupils. The questions were mature and pertinent: ‘Do you think future generations will respect the environment?’, asked Gemma White (Prep Orkney), ‘For you, what is nature and where is it?’, posed Susan Marks (Prep Tiree).
Special thanks go to Patrick McGlinchey for enthralling the junior school with his stories from the natural world, and to P7 for making each of us reconsider our relationship with the natural world.
