On 22nd September, Year 13 Biology A-level students had the privilege of going to Juniper Hall for an action packed weekend.

Our first activity after settling into our rooms was to catch Ramshorn snails in the local pond. As a team, we used a net to catch them, mark them with nail polish and then released them back into their home. The nail polish used was a stunning fuscia colour with sparkles glimmering everywhere, this made the recollecting off the snails on the final day even more exciting. Back in the classroom we grabbed our quadrats and as the rain began to pour, we showed incredible resilience and counted the plants species in different areas of the stunning property. We even learnt that holly bushes are spikey, so deer don’t eat them. After an amazing fajita dinner, we set up mammal traps and headed to bed.

Day 2 began with a surprise. A tiny wood mouse had made its way into one of the traps!! We took a couple pictures and allowed him to hop away. Climbing Boxhill was our next challenge and as we trekked up the huge hill, the thought of conducting our practicals was our only solace. We set up our line transects, placed our quadrats and began counting all the Salad Burnett plants. We found over 100!! For lunch we trekked even higher up the hill and reached a gorgeous caffe with even more stunning views. We gobbled down ice creams and pizzas and excitedly went back to our work. Welcoming us back was a delicious pizza dinner and straight after the most important football match of our lives. Ms Bridges’ skills were unmatched, and her team won by 5 points. After dinner we learnt about statistical tests and then we settled around a bonfire to eat s’mores in nature. We talked and laughed with both teachers and the idea of even more biology the next morning filled us with joy. We all quickly fell into a peaceful sleep, satisfied of the day we had.

Woodlice. that was the first word we heard when we woke up. We hurried to gather our equipment and collected all the woodlice we could see. We even played a choice-based game (practical) with them, and found they preferred dark and humid environments. After putting them back, we headed to recount the snails and sadly packed our luggage. The weekend had slipped away from us before we could notice, but we are thrilled at the memories we made.

Beatrice B, Year 13