Falconry fun for Steiner School pupils

Pupils from Calder Valley Steiner School got a bird's eye view of the life of our British birds of prey with a day's course from Falconry for Schools

Four pupils from the Calder Valley Steiner School in Hebden Bridge Yorkshire, enjoyed a day of falconry fun last month with Falconry for Schools.

The students visited Falconry for Schools instructor Sandra Johnson's centre – SMJ Falconry in Oxenhope – on 4 March, where they learned all about the life of our native raptors and got the chance to handle Willow the Kite and Toby the Harris hawk.

School manager Kate Lunn said: "It was a really great experience for the students and they learned a lot of information about the birds and their habits.

"It was a small group, so they got to meet all Sandra's birds and they all got a chance to catch a bird on their arm.

"The school's ethos is very much nurture-led, so animal anatomy, care of animals and nature studies are very important to us."

Roger Johnson added: "Sandra gave the pupils our condensed course with a slide show and presentations about falconry and the birds, then they got to fly them out in the field. They seemed to really enjoy themselves."