Did you know that barn owls have asymmetric ears to help them to hear their prey or that they can open and close their ears using a pink flap of skin or that a group of owls is called a parliament? Well, our class do! We have been finding out fascinating facts about barn owls in class, reading the story The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark and learning to retell a report about barn owls.
To extend learning we were very lucky, yesterday, to have a visit from Mrs Barn Owl and her keeper Ian, from Wild Owl. It was a fantastic experience for us all, especially when Mrs Barn Owl flew across the room. Many of us were sure that we could feel her wings touching us as she flew over our heads!
We all sat really well listening to Ian, answering his questions and asking some of our own. Hugo was brave enough to take the talon test to check whether Mrs Barn Owl’s talons were really as sharp as we thought and he said that they felt spiky. Ian demonstrated how owls have silent flight by flapping a pigeon’s feather, which was very noisy and then an owl’s feather which flapped silently.
The most important lesson that we learnt is that barn owls are not pets but belong in the wild and it is up to us all to ensure that they continue to thrive in UK.  To help owls to survive we can put up owl boxes for them to nest in and leave grass to grow long to provide a habitat for the owl’s favourite dinner; the field vole.
Am astounded at how much information the children have learned about Barn Owls. They have obviously loved learning about the creatures – it’s lovely to see how proud they are giving their ‘Report about Barn Owls’ (which we have enjoyed several times now!)