He spoke to Year 1 students at both schools, focusing on owls at Beanfield Primary School to tie in with their topic work and, at Oakley Vale, his visit was the ‘sparkly start’ for a whole new topic on animals so he took along a tarantula, owl, snake, giant snail, frog, bullfrog and lizard.

Teacher Mandy Mutch said: ‘The students were really good, focused and well behaved and it was an opportunity for them to see a range of animals up close. The majority of them were very brave and wanted to touch them. The owl flew  across the classroom, which is obviously a new experience for the students. We are working on non-fiction in literacy so it was a chance for them to gather facts to inform their writing so they have got items to recall and work with.’

At Beanfield Primary School teacher Natalie Kelly said: ‘We kept the visit a surprise from the children and read them different snippets over the week from our owl stories. They went into the hall and Dave had a small owl, Crackerjack, Plop the barn owl, a black kite and Nigel the hawk. It was brilliant. He had the birds flying around and swooping over the children. He was in for an hour and really kept them engaged. They are learning about the animals that are in the UK so we wanted them to get that real life experience. He was talking to them about their diet and different features and that will all be used in our English work. We have been reading “The Owl who is Afraid of the Dark” and “Owl Babies” and we are featuring the owl in our science lessons as well.’

Beanfield student Jasper Ouohue said: ‘Owls sneak up on things that they eat, rather than chase them. The best part was getting to hold an owl. I had a glove on my left hand and the bird flew and landed on me. It was really quiet because it doesn’t make any noise when it flies.’

Classmate Robyn Hargrave said: ‘My favourite bit was holding the owl. It sat quite still. I didn’t know much about owls before so I have learned a lot. My favourite fact was the one that I held had tufty ears and it puts them up when it is sleeping so it is hidden and blends in with the tree.’

To see more pictures click here.