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School trip: Samui Sheep Farm in Maenam
30th May 2018. It was a first rate experience for the Year 2 students and a truly pleasant day with the usually hot tropical weather. The group wasted no time in the morning and after discussing the important reminders and proper behaviour whilst around the animals, we headed off to the northeast of the island where a herd of sheep and a colony of rabbits warmly welcomed us (that goes for the staff as well who were very kind to assist us the whole time).
The class was sectioned off in small group discussions about the sheep -- they discussed different features such as,
"What do you call the thick covering on the sheep?"
"What is a baby sheep called?"
We also observed that some of the sheep have small horns, whilst others don't; some have fleece whilst others were shaven. We later got out our sketch books and sat under the trees to draw the sheep and label our drawings with their features.
Generally, the sheep were all very friendly and happy to see us, especially as we were provided with milk to be given to them.
Next to the sheep pen was another pen for a different group of extremely cute cuddly animals: rabbits! The best behaved students each had a go at holding the rabbits and calming them until they didn't want to leave their laps. We also fed the rabbits their favourite snack: crunchy carrots.
Some of the students worked on their drawing task with the beautiful bunnies on their laps. Once they finished their sketching and marking, we fed and cuddled the animals some more. The Year 2's couldn't have enough of them, but after all this hard work it was time for us to grab some food.
What made this a truly pleasant trip was the behaviour of the children. They were all -- for the most part -- obedient, no yelling, and attentive to Miss Forte. At her instruction, everyone washed their hands properly and had a good time eating their snacks.
The children earned their play time and so they went out, played in the grass -- there was a small slope in the farm and they discovered what fun it is to roll over the hill. They did their rolly-polly together several times.
That was the first part of the trip.
Learning first-hand about the life of our vegetables
Next door to the farm is a greenery. Here, they produce vegetables which they sell for fresh salad that goes onto our tables. The children have started learning about hydroponics farming and it was great to see the process first hand.
We followed the different stages of the vegetation, from tiny sprouts to the ones with longer roots.
The children familiarised themselves with different herbs through their sense of smell. There were chilli plants, rosemary, Italian basil and many more. How aromatic!
And arguably the best, calmest and most peaceful time during this trip is ice cream time! We enjoyed the refreshment before finally heading back to school. It was a complete day of enjoyment in learning!
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