A Creative Build

Last Friday we officially welcomed everyone back to the Primary School year. It was a beautiful moment, and an especially significant one for our new Class Ones, their families and teachers. They were led into the hall by their Class 6 buddies, who made an arch of sunflowers as they left at the end.

The following is a story I shared with everyone.

For weeks over this past summer, I was captivated by an incredible building project. It was some kind of mud brick dwelling. What was unusual about this building is that the owner, architect and the builder were one and the same - a multi-talented individual decked out in Hi-Viz yellow and black.

The skill level of this individual was amazing – creating an intricate shape, adorned with all sorts of organic patterns.

I was intrigued by the unusual structure. And every day saw it growing and growing. One day when the worker was busy building, I went up to take a closer look. And I had to get in close because the amazing thing is that the talented worker was no bigger than my thumb!

It was a female mud dauber wasp. And I could see she had been building something special. It wasn’t a home for her; it was a home for her babies. A nursery, in fact, with many small rooms and in every room, she laid a tiny egg. Architect... builder... and mother! She left some tasty food in each little room and closed the door of the room with mud. Over and over, she did this until the nursery was complete.

One day she left and never came back. Her job was done. That’s how it sometimes is in the world of nature. There followed many days of stillness and no movement...on the outside, at least. Inside, the little eggs were hatching, growing, feeding and changing their shapes.

One day I saw two perfectly made round holes on the side of the nursery. Two rooms of that little nursery were empty. Then on another day 2 more holes below that, and each day some more until there were 19 holes in all. 19 holes; 19 empty rooms. The little babies were leaving their homes as young wasps; ready to go out and eat nectar from the blossoms and pollinate the flowers.

I thought about that worker, that mother. I admired her hard work, her creativity, her care and planning, her fierceness if I came too close! And I admired her sacrifice- for she would never see her children, she would be long gone but they would know her love and what she had created for them. And her children would grow and become independent, taking their first flights in the world.

We are so privileged to be living and working on this beautiful boodja where small wonders like this are happening every single day.

I wish you all a wonderful year at PWS.

Kevin Mazzer
Head of Primary School