Reindeers Visit Waverley in Time for Christmas!

There was great excitement at Waverley as Santa's reindeer managed to find the time from their endurance training to visit Waverley!

Kindly organised by the WFA, our parents association, the visit enabled all our Nursery and Prep School children to have a close-up educational encounter with two reindeer, called Jet and Flash. 

Everyone, including staff, thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Jet and Flash. Being able to get close enough to stroke and feed them, and also feel their antlers, was a fantastic experience for all our pupils! We also learned many facts about reindeer, such as the furry new growth area of their antlers is called 'velvet' and that reindeer communicate by a clicking noise that a bone and tendon in their feet make when they rub together as the reindeer walk. If reindeer are running away, then the clicking will obviously get faster and this will alert the other reindeer that the danger is very close by.

We also learned that reindeer eat moss and leaves so everyone who wanted to was able to feed the reindeer with a leaf whilst stroking them. Jay and Flash also showed us how they are able to reach leaves that are high up in branches - they can stand on their hind legs so that they are at least 7 ft tall! We found out that antlers renew every year and are very heavy! We also learned that normally in Lapland, reindeer who aren't strong enough, would be culled, but we learned that happily Jet and Flash were saved and offered a new life in Barkham meeting lots of new friends!

Well done, in particular, to Joshua in Year 4 and Ellen in Year 5. Jet and Flash's handlers thought they both asked really excellent questions about the reindeer. Ellen was awarded the 'Best Question of the Day' prize as she wanted to know "Are there different types of reindeer?" (Answer: Yes, there are, Tundra and Woodland.) Ellen was given a prize of Blizzard's antler to display and keep in school. 

After the educational facts and questions, we then got on to the serious side of reindeer... we all wanted to know "When the reindeer have to leave the UK to ensure they arrive with Santa on time?" (Answer: on Christmas Eve afternoon), "How do they get to the North Pole?" (Answer: by helicopter to save their energy!) and do they all fly with Santa (Answer: they take it in turns pulling the sleigh to ensure that all reindeer have regular well-being breaks!).

We would like to say a huge thank you to our WFA (Waverley Friends Association) for arranging such a wonderful experience and to Riverways Farm for sharing Jet and Flash with us for the day. 

Reindeer Visit 2024