One by one, our little Owl Squad are returning home. They've been a long way! The final leaderboard looks like this: 

The owls flew an amazing more than 14,000 miles altogether, to destinations all over the UK (plus a sneaky trip to Italy for naughty Lorraine!) That would get you all the way to Australia and halfway back if you did it in a single trip! 

They visited two capital cities - Lorraine went to London and Lost John went to Cardiff. 

They saw lots of other big cities, too. Bob went to Manchester. Spike went to Liverpool. Focused Frederick went to Lincoln. Poe went to Glasgow. Doug went to Brighton. Jimmy the Penguin went to Plymouth. 

They visited national parks. Pastel Sandra saw the Yorkshire Dales (and blew her baggage allowance on brochures and had to spend a night in the Post Office Cells until we bailed her out, to the delight of the class!) Dolly saw the National Forest. Natalie went to Snowdonia, and Doug saw the South Downs. Speckle went on a bike ride over the Fens, while Lorraine snuck off on a walk over the Seven Sisters in Eastbourne! 

Our owls went North, South, East and West! Two of our owls left the UK entirely. Bitten by the travel bug, Lorraine flew to Naples for the weekend (naughty Lorraine), while Zen Steve visited Galway in the Republic of Ireland (part of the British Isles, but not in the UK.) Pedro made it to Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland, and Sir Owlington the Grand got to peer through the mist at the coastline of France from his perch on the beach at Folkestone. 

They saw lots of landmarks and important buildings - Big Clive visited the site of the Norman Landings at Pevensey; Pedro went to Runnymede and saw where the Magna Carta was signed; Mango Marge went boating on the canals in Sheffield, Lost John saw the ancient walls of Southampton and then travelled on to Cardiff Castle; Spike did the Beatles tour of Liverpool; Poe admired the traffic cone on the head of the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow town centre; Doug met a piper in St Andrew's on his first mission and then went to Brighton Pier; and Lorraine visited the Shard and got herself onto the pitch at Twickenham!  

They brought back maps and postcards and badges and bus tickets and leaflets. They sent photos and Powerpoints and letters and videos of their adventures. They went on trains and buses and boats and planes. They visited host families who lived on canal boats and in thatched cottages and terraced houses and prefab buildings and town houses and high rise flats and city skyscrapers. They saw mountains and rivers and beaches and combine harvesters and quarries and motorways and stone circles and caves and cathedrals and castles. 

What did all this mean for our Geography topic on the UK? 

These little owls have provided an amazing service. The children in Owl class have been inspired by their exploits, and in following their adventures have gained a wealth of knowledge about the towns, cities and counties that make up the United Kingdom. They have learned to find locations on the map and spent lots of time tracking their favourite owls and reading up on the places they have been. They have seen something of the huge variety of topography in our landscapes, and can talk about what is special about different counties and cities. They have learned how to address an envelope correctly! 

It might not be quite the end of the adventures - once we've collected them all in, we are investigating the possibility of some additional posting - but this is the last Owl Squad post for the time being. 

A MASSIVE thank you to the PTA who funded the stamps, and to all the families and households all over the UK who fostered an owl, and sent photos and powerpoints and postcards and tickets and maps back to Aldermaston with them. You have made this topic so much fun! 

So. 

Mango Marge, Big Clive, Barb, Poe, Natalie, Bob, Doug, Pastel Sandra, Beats, Spike, Zen Steve, Dolly, Poppy, Speckle, Sir Owlington The Grand, Focused Frederick, Lorraine (the liability), Pedro, Jimmy the Penguin and Lost John - squad dismissed. Take a bow. We will miss you!