On Friday the 16th of June, Paddy Madden came to visit 3rd and 4th classes as part of our Creative Cluster Project on wildflowers. This was part of our involvement in the Creative Clusters Project with Tara Hill NS and Coolgreany NS. 

Paddy Madden is from County Clare and is a Doctor Of Education. He travels all over the country visiting schools and discussing wildflowers.

First, we looked at a flower called deadly nightshade. It’s one of the most dangerous plants in the world. It’s very dangerous because it’s highly poisonous.

This is a deadly nightshade.It has the WEXFORD colours on it. UP WEXFORD! 

Next we looked at the horse tail plant. This plant lived when the dinosaurs were on the planet. We

played a game with the horsetail plant. It is similar to pulling a cracker at Christmas. With a partner we both pulled the horsetail while saying the rhyme“1,2,3 pull on me!”. Whoever pulled the largest part won.

This is a horsetail plant. 

After that we went on a walk to Glasscarrigg road. He gave each of us a clipboard with a blank sheet on it. We did some nature journaling. This means we drew pictures of wildflowers, stuck on parts of the wildflower and wrote the name of the wildflower. 

We looked at a wildflower which is given the nickname‘grannys toenail’.

This is a grannys toe nail / crows foot. 

We also saw a honeysuckle.This is a honeysuckle. 

Finally, we all went back to school and it was clear that everyone enjoyed Paddy Madden’s visit.

My favourite part was learning about all the different wildflowers and listening to his entertaining stories.

By Myles Lawless – Rang 4