Monthly Update - June 2026
The school from the centre of Slough couldn’t come on a river visit earlier in the term. It was Ramadan and so fasting from dawn to dusk for the majority of the children in this largely Muslim school was the norm. They arrived on the last two days of term, with GCSE’s in just a few weeks’ time. If they do this visit well, they can get full marks when they answer this question in their geography exam. It was cold but with girls and boys working in separate groups they did concentrate, had fun, some got wet, they caught some aquatic life and did their measurements on three sites. After lunch, in the sun, the boys requested permission to have some bouts of wrestling. Their South African teacher explained that their traditional up bringing meant no alcohol, smoking, drugs or girls at this stage in their lives. Ambitious for the future, they were keen to work hard, pass exams and get good jobs. And, I am sure, they will. One thing that was obvious was that they were focused.
A few weeks later I noticed a couple of geese purposely walking down Rushall Drive from the pond with five chicks. The gate was shut so they ducked underneath it, turned right on Back Lane, then first left down the narrow path to the river Pang. I was busy thinking about the local election results BUT they had obviously missed them. So, mum and dad just got on with what they had to do.
With Bluebells over and the next wave of wild flowers; yellow archangel, foxgloves, wood spurge, woodruff and stitchwort, I was amazed to find a carpet of young oak trees at the base of one particular tree. Everywhere else there might be the odd cherry, ash or thorn growing. But last year there was a mass of acorns everywhere AND under this one tree, for some reason, they had got into the soil resulting in a carpet of young trees.
We hope that the young people from Slough will do well in their geography exam and have good memories of their time here. Even more important is that their futures should positively affect the lives of others and be productive, like that oak tree in the woods. And the same for the geese, although the next time I saw them they did not seem over occupied with the future as they basked in the sun with their chicks on the lawn by the river on Frogmore Farm.