Forest School

The children working in the pond area made their way all the way around the pond looking to see if there was any Frog Spawn, sadly they didn’t spot any. They were informed that there could be some in the pond within the vegetable patch, they set off to investigate.

They found that there were three large clumps of Frog Spawn, taking a closer look they also spotted two large Frogs hiding under the surface of the water. Using watering cans they collected water from a nearby water butt to top up the water level of the pond and added a log to give the Frogs a little something to help them leave the pond.

Willow class were joined by a selection of bird teddies at Forest School. The class created their own nests in the trees using natural materials that they had gathered, starting with sticks and then lining their nests with some softer moss.

The children of Beech Class helped to give our Forest School site a bit of a spring tidy today. The first thing they did was to remove all the old burnt wood and ashes that were left behind in the fire circle. They used spades to dig out the ashes and bag them up ready for use in another project.

They then moved on to creating a dead hedge in the pond area. They first helped to gather all the materials needed for this task, including hazel poles for stakes and any tree branches and other natural materials they could find. Using a pruning saw the children took it in turns to cut the hazel poles in half, while one was cutting the others helped to hold the pole still. They were then able to use wooded mallets to drive the stakes into the ground.

With the stakes in place the children started to lay the gathered branches inside the stakes, piling it higher and pushing it down before adding more.

Other children chose to explore the whole school grounds on a hunt for some very early signs of spring. They used a sheet to help them, marking off what they spotted as they went. We were joined at Forest School by a selection of bird teddies, the children had a go at building their own bird nests for these birds to sit in and filled them with stones they had decorated to be eggs.

Oak Class made some binoculars while at Forest School today, they did this be using masking tape to attach two cardboard tubes together. They then added a piece of string to wear them and used pens to add their own decorations. Using their new binoculars the children set off with a bird ID sheet on the hunt for what birds they may find on the school grounds. They worked their way around the field, scanning the tree tops and the hedges.

They spotted many birds flying high above them as well as lots of footballs in the hedge(!).

One child added a football section to her ID sheet so she could keep track of how many she spotted.

Some children chose to make an apple bird feeder. They did this by pushing as many sunflower seeds into a section of apple as they could, they then selected a branch to hang it from ready for some of the birds that they had been spotting to enjoy. They also enjoyed creating in the mud kitchen, taking it in turns to push their friends in the hammocks, practice the balancing skills on the slack line and tree climbing.

Four members of the class chose to help to get the fire going so that some water could be boiled ready to make a warm drink. This however turned out to be rather tricky, the children were very good at lighting their piece of cotton wool but the wood was a little damp so it kept going out. This did not put them off, they persevered until they had a successful fire and managed to boil some water. Hot chocolates were then made and enjoyed by the whole class.

There were plenty of muddy creations being made within the mud kitchen. The children gathered up pans and trays of wet sloppy mud they then used grass and other natural materials as decoration before offering the finished meal to their teacher!

Using salt dough some of the class made some animal tracks to take home. They did this by pressing a stone with an animal track onto the salt dough leaving an impression behind.

The class made the most of the two hammocks that were hung up at Forest School today, one was up as a hammock and the other as a swing. Using the one as a swing the class managed to sit themselves into it and wrap it around their legs, this then allowed them to hang upside down like a bat.

A few members of the class helped to lay and light the fire. First they laid the fire, making sure to place the larger sticks at the bottom and working their way to smaller sticks at the top. Then using a flint and steel they practiced their striking skills to light a piece of cotton wool. Many found this a little tricky but persevered until they had achieved a flame.

Some children chose to climb trees with a rope and create their own swings. The children continued this creative thinking and made themselves a see-saw using a pallet piece and a branch, it was rather effective.

Using salt dough the class were able to make some animal tracks. They did this by pushing a stone with a track on into the salt dough leaving an impression of the track behind. Some chose to turn the stone over and make an impression of the animal to go with their footprint.

Beech Class started the Forest School session today by taking a look at a selection of bones belonging to British wildlife. The bones were then passed round giving the children a chance to take a closer look at each one, how they felt and what the teeth looked like.

A fire was lit to boil water ready for something to keep us warm on this soggy January morning. A few of the children chose to get the cups prepared for a warm hot chocolate, and once the water was ready it was added to the cups and stirred well.

Using empty toilet rolls the children made some bird feeders. They did this by covering the roll in lard and then rolling it in the bird seed, and string was then added so it could be hung up.

There were also two hammocks set up in the trees, one as a hammock and the other as a swing. The children took it in turns to swing each other and laid on their tummies, pretending they were flying.

Oak Class set off on a soggy morning for a muddy adventure at Forest school. They squelched their way through the very sticky mud, trying their best not to get stuck and lose a wellie! There were a few stuck wellies but working together we managed to get them free and make our way over the bridge and into the woods.

As it was before Christmas the children had the opportunity to make themselves a Christmas wreath to take home. They started by exploring the woodland to see what natural vegetation they could find to decorate their wreath, they then used secateurs to cut and gather enough holly and ivy for the whole class. With a little adult help they made themselves a loop from willow which they then added the added the vegetation too. They then practiced their threading skills by threading beads onto a piece of string that they added to their wreath.

The children found a large den in the woods that had been created other people. They enjoyed making their way into the den through the one entrance as it involved climbing up into the gap between two large trees making it a great secret base.

We finished Forest School today by making our way back through the mud however this time no wellies were lost. The children made their way through the long grass at the end to help clean as much of the mud off their boots as they could.

 

Sycamore Class set off for a Forest School adventure in the woods, making their way through lots of squelchy muddy puddles. As we arrived at our normal crossing point we were greeted by a flooded ditch meaning that we needed to walk the long way round through the woods. Some of the children pointed out all the beautiful autumn colours of the leaves that covered the woodland floor.

A group of children chose to create a den. First they put up a tarpaulin on the inside to stop the holly from prickling them, they then worked to clear the floor of leaves and built a secret hidden storage area.

Using the tins that they had brought in from home, some of the children made a mini bug hotel. They first used a set of pliers to crimp down the sharp edge of the tin, making it safe. They then packed it with layers of sticks, leaves and moss to make sure there were no gaps, so that it didn’t fall out. They used pens to add some drawing of the bugs to the sides of the tin that they thought may live in their bug hotel.

Some of the class chose to whittle a stick using a knife. They started with a safety talk on knife use before setting off to find the perfect stick for whittling. Once they had their stick they were able to get started, some chose to remove only the bark from their stick whereas others chose to add a point to the end of their stick.

Willow Class had a great Forest School session this week. They made bug hotels, walked on the slack line and even climbed a tree!

 

Beech Class set off on a chilly morning for a Forest School adventure in the woods. Once in the woods we started with a game of touch eagle eye to help get the children warm. Every time the eagle closed their eyes for the count to 10 the children would have to run in and touch the eagles hand and get back to their hiding spot fast enough to not get caught.

Once warmed up, some children chose to collect as many different fallen leaves as they could find. They then used an ID sheet of leaf shapes to work out what trees they belonged to. They found hazel, sweet chestnut and holly leaves.

Using tins, some of the Class had a go at making a mini bug hotel. They gathered up natural materials like twigs, leaves and moss from the woodland floor and placed them in the tin making sure to pack it in tightly so that it wouldn’t fall out.

There were some very good dens created by the children, some using tarpaulin and others were more natural dens. The group that made their den using a tarpaulin worked well together to hang their tarpaulin over the top of a fallen tree and then used ropes to fix it into place. The more natural dens were created under thicker bushes with pathways cleared of fallen leaves leading up to them.

While at Forest School, Beech Class were lucky enough to experience some snow. The Class ran round with their mouths open and their tongues out trying their best to catch themselves a snowflake!

 

Oak Class got themselves ready and set off for their first ever Forest School adventure in the woods. Along the way they stopped for a moment under a large oak tree and some deer were spotted in the distance. With all the noise and excitement we may have scared them off.

A little further on our journey we came across some mud: “it’s all squelchy” was a comment made by many of the class. Once in the woods we talked as a group about what season we are in and what changes we can see that go with Autumn: “all the leaves are falling”. In small groups the children set off to see if they could find many different leaves to match the leaf outlines on their ID sheet to work out what trees their leaves belonged to.

Some children pushed leaves on the woodland floor into a large pile, then taking it in turns to jump into the pile making sure to shout “cannonball” as they jumped. They were very careful to check the pile before every jump. At one point they found a sweet chestnut shell in their pile of leaves.

Using tins, the children made some mini bug hotels to take home for the insects they have in their gardens. They gathered sticks, leaves, moss and some lichen to fill in the gaps. One child had a rather long stick poking out of the tin, and when asked why they said “to help the bugs crawl in”.

There was plenty of free play and exploring happening in the wood, including making hammocks using tarpaulin to swing in and watching the trees above to making a den to hide in with their class mates. Some children also gave their tree climbing skills a go! Great woodland adventure Oak!

Oak Class set off onto the playground with a tub of conkers to have a go at conker rolling, to see who can roll their conker the furthest. This was a little trickier that you might think as many of them found that their conkers bounced and change direction so not going as far as they would have liked.

Some of the class chose to create things using clay. They used their conker as a shell to make a snail and then made the body of the snail from clay. They used paint pens to add decoration to their conker snail shells. Hunting on the ground they found two sticks that they could push into the clay as the eyes. One of the snails that was made had orange stripes added to the body and the child said “I’m making a fire snail”.

Using leaves and some charcoal the class tried doing some leaf rubbing. They did this by placing the leaf under the paper before rubbing the charcoal over the top. They found that this worked best if the leaf was under side up leaving a better impression.

Many of the children were keen to hunt for bugs again. They worked their way around Forest School turning over the logs and having a look underneath: “look a centipede”. They found many worms, slugs, a few centipedes and a beetle. Using magnifying pots the children were able to catch what they had found and take a closer look.

Sitting around the fire circle, Sycamore Class recapped on how to be safe when having a fire. A group of children chose to help set up and light the fire. They did this using a flint to create the spark and used it to light a piece of cotton wool. Once the fire was roaring, a pan of apples and blackberries that had been prepared by another group of children was placed on the fire to cook until soft and they made jam. The children then took it in turns to toast some bread over the fire and they then all had the opportunity to try some. This was a success with many having, more than one piece!

The slack line was put up with no top line to hold onto and instead they were given two long sticks to help them walk along. Sycamore were challenged to see if they could walk alone at first with the sticks but then to try with one stick and eventually no sticks, if they wanted to. It was great to see the perseverance from the children to make it all the way along with no sticks.

There was some very creative den building using tarpaulins and ropes. It was nice to see the teamwork involved as they worked out where in the tree the ropes needed to be tied. They also worked together to tie ropes into the trees and attach logs to the bottom, making a swing.

Forest school was finished with a game of spirit of the forest. The children chose to be a Fox, Deer or a Rabbit. Then when their animal was called by the spirit they had to make it across to the other side of the forest. If they were caught they became a tree with long branches to catch their class mates as they tried to make their way through the forest.

Oak Class were very excited for their first session of Forest School as they headed out onto the school grounds and found somewhere to sit around the fire circle. The children learnt the rules for keeping safe around the fire.

A group of children went foraging for blackberries, and once they had collected enough they added a little water and using a large stick they crushed up the blackberries to make paint. Some children added charcoal to their paint to make a different colour to paint with. They then used sticks and leaves to create some beautiful pictures.

As the children explored the Forest School area they came across something: “I found a toad”. Looking at it closer, what they had actually found was a rather large frog. The children watched the frog move and hop across the ground, and as they watched we talked about the markings on the frog and the differences between a frog and a toad. Oak also did lots of bug hunting, carefully placing their findings in magnifying pots so they could take a closer look.

There were all sorts of creations in the mud kitchen. A few of the children made some small mud cakes that were decorated with flowers and leaves. They walked around offering people a cake.

We finished our session with a game of ‘keeper of the keys’. The children took it in turns to be the keeper in the middle, then running as fast as they could to catch their class mate that had just ‘stolen’ the keys. They got so engrossed that a few children did more than one lap of the circle. Great first session Oak Class!

Beech Class started their session at Forest School today by sitting around the fire circle: we recapped on the ways to be safe while having a fire. Some children chose to stay and practice their fire lighting skills. They did this by striking a flint and steel to create a spark that would then light a piece of cotton wool, this was rather tricky but a few of the children managed to get a flame. Unfortunately our fire didn’t take and as a class we talked about why the fire was unsuccessful “the wood is wet” and the wood needed to be dry to be able to burn.

There was lots of bug hunting happening and the children found all sorts of creatures hiding under the logs. One Woodlouse that was found was given the name Fred and they even found a few newts. Using bug catchers to collect them. They were then able to look at an ID sheet to help them to identify what they had found “I have a Devils Coachman”.

Some children chose to practice their tool skills. They started by using some secateurs to cut some Hazel, then using a peeler they stripped off all the bark. They then used wool to decorate their sticks by wrapping it round one end before tying it off, some children choosing to try learning a new know called the whipping knot.

We finished our session today with a game or spirit of the forest. The children had to make it from one side of the forest to the other without being caught by the spirit, if they were caught they then became a tree and part of the forest.

Beech enjoyed Forest School this week! We made the fire which meant… MARSHMALLOWS! We recapped how to stay safe around a fire and when we were near the fire making our smores. We enjoyed making dens, swinging on the rope swing and playing in the mud kitchen. We also used our knife skills and made some keepsakes to take home.

Beech Class enjoyed a range of activities in Forest School the past 2 weeks. Last week, we went to the local forest and did bug hunting, tree climbing and den building. This week we did more pond dipping and found salamanders and dragonfly larvae, as well as building our own wormeries! The children built them a habitat and found some worms to keep in there for the next couple weeks whilst we thought about interesting questions we would like to know about worms. Ask your children what they have learnt about them… I bet they will surprise you with some facts!

In Forest School we were looking for the colours in nature and finding what wonderful colours our Earth gives us. We also went pond dipping to explore what lives in the water whilst exploring their habitats linking this to our science topic. Some of us helped to sort the veg patch and planted some vegetables including potatoes.

Oak Class had a brilliant last session of Forest School last week. They managed to get in some pond dipping, got very muddy and they made some lovely crowns!

This week, we explored the story of ‘The Gruffalo’, hunting for characters, making roasted fox, owl ice-cream and scrambled snakes in the mud kitchen. We also built dens for the characters to hide in!

Oak Class embraced the wet weather and enjoyed the puddles and streams of Hoad’s Wood, taking turns to jump into the ‘pools’ we dug. If we weren’t swimming in puddles, we were climbing trees and building dens.

This week Sycamore and Oak Class had a fun filled Forest School together. They made dens, made yummy pizzas and played lots in the mud!

We would like to say a HUGE thank you to Mrs Hinder for supporting Forest School sessions over the years. She has been a massive help and will be sorely missed, but we wish her all the best with her new job!

Oak Class started their Forest School session today by having a look at a variety of bones belonging to animals from the British countryside. As a group we looked at each one and the children tried to guess what animal they thought it was. With a few clues they managed to work it out. The children then had the chance to hold and take a closer look at the bones, what the teeth looked like and how they felt. There were loads of great questions being asked by the Class as the bones made there way around the circle.

A fire was lit ready to boil some water so that they could enjoy a hot chocolate on this chilly January morning. A few children helped to put the chocolate powder and milk into the cups and gave it a good stir once the hot water was added. These were shared out and enjoyed by all.

There were two hammocks up today at Forest School: one as a hammock and the other as a swing. The children took it in turns to swing each other as high as they could. A few children discovered that you could lie on your tummy, stretching their arms out like they were flying.

Some children chose to make a bird feeder using an empty toilet roll. They did this by covering the roll in lard and then rolling it in bird seed, they then went and found somewhere to hang it ready for the birds to enjoy.

This week Sycamore Class had Forest School at the woods. They were looking at animal habitats and how the different areas of the woodland would be homes for different animals e.g. rabbit burrows and the wood peckers in the trees. They also had some free time exploring the woods and den building.

This week, Sycamore went to the woods and made dens (they also pretended to go into air raid shelters), climbed trees, pretended they were in the trenches and made their own garden areas.

Over the last couple of weeks Willow Class have been very busy. One of the highlights has been Forest School. In their first week they got absolutely soaked when the rain came out of nowhere. Everyone had to take cover in one of the dens they had been building. Yesterday they went over to the woods and did some watercolour painting inspired by their surroundings.

Last week we made dens and created work from nature!

Then there was a massive downpour, so we did team building in the hall.

We printed leaves onto cotton by hammering the leaf to copy the print over.

This week we went down the woodland with water colours to paint and free exploration.

In the past two sessions of Forest School, Oak and Beech Class have been joining in together as part of their transition. They took part in lots of team building games, including: a water race (filling jugs up and making sure they did not spill the water); making dens for animals and working in teams to find where they were hiding; working together in the mud kitchen (the Year 1s did a great job of helping Reception!); and various other activities that enabled them to spend time together.

A massive thank you to Miss Waterman and all her lovely volunteers for this year’s amazing Forest School sessions!

Willow Class had their last week of Forest School. They had a brilliant time at the woodland taking part in free exploration, making camps and climbing trees. They also looked at different species: counting them; identifying them; and comparing them in the woods to the field.

Thank you, as always, to Miss Waterman and the team of volunteers for a lovely term of Forest School sessions.

This week Willow Class made yummy pizzas and cooked them on the fire in Forest School. They also made some lovely weavings by using two sticks and wool and weaved things like flowers and leaves into it. They also had a chance to use the slack line by using a friend to help them balance and work as a team.

Last week Willow Class made some amazing Greek theatre masks using clay. They also sowed some more carrots, helped add some woodchip to a pathway, did some much needed weeding and explored different colours using mud, fruit, food colouring etc.

Willow Class have Forest School this term and had their first session this week. They cleared the pond from duck weed and found water spiders, tadpoles, snails and dragonfly larvae. They also made swings and a camp called ‘ugg house’ and worked so well in teams! They then planted snap peas in the garden area. They finished the session with toasting marshmallows and making smores.

This week Oak and Beech Class had a Forest School session together. They did lots of exploring, they planted radishes, re-potted some strawberry plants (which are available to buy for 50p), made rabbits from sticks, did some bug hunting and pond dipping.

Over the past two weeks Beech Class have enjoyed Forest School sessions. In the first session they explored the mud kitchen and water station, went bug hunting, toasted some marshmallows and did some den building.

In the second session they were looking at the life cycle of a frog. They looked at habitats and actual frog spawn! They also made a frog and blew it across the table with a straw to see how far it went. During this sessions they had the opportunity to make bird feeders out of lard and bird seed, and plant some beetroot, carrots and radish in pots.

Willow Class have had an amazing term of Forest School sessions. Last week they went on a field trip and studied the local area: creating maps and walking through jubilee field to study what is in our local area. This week they played games in the hall, made Christmas trees with pine ones, toasted marshmallows on tea lights and had hot chocolate and biscuits.

As always thank you to our Forest School volunteers and Miss Waterman for some brilliant sessions this term.

Last week, Willow Class took part in more first aid learning and completed their robots. They also did some art: printing (repeat patterns) and wrapping coloured string around sticks. They had an opportunity to do free exploration outside and got very messy with mud sliding and climbing trees!

Willow Class built robots, using wood and various tools, e.g. drills, screws, hammers, etc. They also decorate jam jars with tissue paper and weaved decorations using wool and sticks. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go outside as the Forest School area was flooded.

Lastly, a big thank you to Katie Samson for teaching first aid to the children (CPR, recovery position, bandages, etc.). Willow Class will get another chance to learn first aid skills next week.

Willow Class started their term sessions of Forest School lessons last week. They looked at different patterns found in nature e.g. leaves, petals, etc. They then recreated the patterns on the hall floor. They finished their session exploring the forest school area: playing in the mud kitchen and den building.

This week Sycamore Class had a craft afternoon in the hall for Forest School. They made a wide range of things, including lanterns by covering jam jars with colourful paper tissue. They also rolled out clay and made it into a bowl shape to then print with leaves. They did some weaving with yarn and sticks. They made ‘autumn scenes’ with acorns (as the mouse) and sticks and acorn caps (for the mushrooms). Lastly, they drilled holes in conkers and used string to play the game ‘conkers’.

Please note that there will not be a Forest School session in the last week of term (20th October) and so children should come into school wearing school uniform. We would like to say a massive thank you to Miss Waterman for arranging all of this term’s activities and also to the parents who regularly volunteer to help.

Last week Sycamore Class did some sorting of the flower beds and replanted some potted plants. They also did some whittling, used the saws and knives, lit a fire using fire flints, cooked smores and had free exploration.

This week, Sycamore went to the woodlands and made art of natural materials (like David Goldsworthy). They made dogs out of logs, bridges and dens. They used all sorts of materials like branches and wet leaves!

Sycamore Class fit in a lot at Forest School! Including: pond dipping, building dens, playing in the mud kitchen, bug hunting and whittling. They also cooked potatoes (from the school garden!) and tried pumpkin for the very first time and it was a hit!

This term it’s Sycamore’s turn to have Forest School sessions. This week they got the opportunity to: work with the tools; do some digging and weeding in the vegetable garden; use the saws on branches to get wood for the fire; build dens; pond dip; cut the hedge around the pond area using secateurs; and make mud pies and cakes. The afternoon was so nice and calm with everyone working really well together as a team.

Last week Oak and Beech had a fantastic Forest School lesson at the woodland. They did exploratory play, made stick towers, climbed trees, made dens, did a scavenger hunt, and looked for different textures and nature around us.

A massive thank you to Miss Waterman and all the Forest School volunteers for delivering such lovely lessons this academic year!

Oak and Beech continued to have Forest School together this week. The session was focussed on the senses. The main activity was being blindfolded and having to follow the rope: describing what they hear and feel. They also did a scavenger hunt, bug hunting, den building and pond dipping.

Oak and Beech Class are having Forest School sessions together this term. This week they spent half the time outside and half the time inside (too avoid overheating!). Whilst outside they took part in lots of activities including hammering their initials into wood, using the new electrical screw drivers, pond dipping and bug hunting!

Last week, Willow Class had their last Forest School session for the term. They did various activities in the lovely sunshine, including: pond dipping (they found newts, beetles and Arthur’s shoe!), planting the beans that they started to grow at home, leaf printing, whittling and den building. Thank you again to Miss Waterman and all the parent helpers for a lovely term of Forest School sessions!

Willow Class took a lovely walk to the woods this week. They went through the woods following the footpath and even went as far as the cricket field! They made journey sticks, so they collected all kinds of things from the floor (including dead leaves/wild flowers) to mark the sticks with and tell the story of their walk. Once they got to the cricket field some children played rounders, some made paper fortune tellers and gave themselves different actions based on nature e.g. hop like a rabbit, whilst other children just took in all the beautiful scenery and nature.

What an action-packed Forest School Willow Class had this week! Some children helped Lucas’ mum to plant the potatoes and do some weeding in the beds. There were also some children playing in the mud kitchen, some practicing their sawing and hammering skills, some making spears and Luna even took part in treasure hunting!

The main event has to be the re-enactment of the Romans vs. Celts! Holly was even role playing as Boudicca.

Willow Class started their Forest School sessions for Term 5 last week and they had a brilliant time in the sunshine! They explored the Forest School area: using swings; building dens; building a fire and making smores; using the mud kitchen; playing with the water wall; creating mosaic patterns by using leaves and petals; and making diamond patterns using colourful string and twigs. What a jam-packed Forest School session of free play and exploration —thank you to Miss Waterman and all the parent volunteers!

This week’s Forest School was a relaxing session in the sun! Oak and Sycamore Class took part in lots of lovely activities, including water colour paintings of spring flowers and making the green man using clay. They also used tin cans to make flower pots for Mother’s Day. They did lots of free exploration/play and some den building too.

Sycamore Class did survival/assault courses where they had to climb over pallets, use balancing rope and crawl through tyres. They had to use effective teamwork skills and also leadership skills when assisting Oak Class children through the course. Oak Class made butterflies using sticks and leaves and had free exploration in the mud kitchen and water station.

Oak and Sycamore are having a combined Forest School this term. What a lovely day for a forest school session this week! This week they started the session with some races for team building. They then collected all the branches that had fallen from the previous storm—we now have a rather large fire log store!

Sycamore’s task was to create stretchers for an ‘injured’ patient using branches and rope or tarpaulin. They also worked so well with their buddies and encouraging them to use the mud kitchen. Oak’s task was to find leaves on the ground and use them to make leave prints of the Hungry Caterpillar. They ended the session toasting marshmallows and eating smores.

This week, Sycamore Class were super busy! They toasted bread on the fire and made toffee apples (they peeled the apples, cooked them and caramelised sugar to dip the apples into). They also tried to make forks using stick but this proved to be trickier than imagined! They continued with their hard work on clearing weeds in the pond and it is now looking amazing, so thank you to Sycamore, the parent helpers and Miss Waterman for a fantastic job! Lastly, they also spent the session climbing trees, using the zip line and playing tug of war.

Last week, we started clearing the pond, as the plants are too much for the area. The children pulled the weeds to the side of the pond so the creatures can crawl back to the water. We found spiders and a frog.

We also looked around to see what habitats we could find in the school field and what was the difference between the wood and the field. We found evidence of birds, fox tracks, rabbit poo and mole hills. Then to finish the session off, we had cups of tea, marshmallows and smores and free exploration.

Sycamore Class went to the woods this week in Forest School. They went exploring in groups, looking for evidence of different animals and their habitats. They found a badger set, a foxes den, rabbit barrows and a squirrel dray. They found the footprints of deer and foxes. They also saw lots of birds in the trees, including woodpecker holes in the trees. They tried using other senses too, so they did some listening and heard different birds. Amongst the birds they heard and saw were buzzards, crows, pigeons and robins. They finished the session with free exploration and play.

Sycamore Class had their first Forest School session of the term. They did several activities including: fire lighting, making pizzas with pitta bread and cooking on the fire, whittling with knives and gloves (to take off the bark), rope swings, den making and climbing trees.

Beech Class have been reading Hike by Pete Oswald and so they decided to take a hike to the woodland in Forest School. Once there, they collected foliage off the forest floor, including different shaped/coloured leaves. They walked across bridges, ducked under fallen trees and had free exploration of the woodland. They then hiked back to school and wrote all about what they’d seen and done on their hike.

 

This week Beech Class got Christmas-creative in Forest School! They had a whole carousel of crafting activities to take part in: printing leaves in a snowy scene, making reindeers/Christmas trees using sticks, making Christmas trees with pine cones (using yarn and 3D enamel paint for the tinsel!), filling their jam jars with greenery and painting discs to make snowmen! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

This week Beech Class did some fire lighting (using cotton wool and flints), making dens, investigating different habitats for woodlice (cold/warm, wet/dry), making poppies using sticks and wool, leaf printing in autumn colours and roasting marshmallows on the fire.

Beech Class are having Forest School sessions this term and this week they did some den making (tepees), used rope swings to stand or sit on and pushed each other on them, played in the mud kitchen and also had some free exploration and play. The main focus of the session was to look at mini beast habitats and they went bug hunting! They did some excellent drawings for their Science lessons to go alongside this. They looked for bugs under the fire pit, in the garden and under the wood chip area but they discovered the most successful place for bugs to live in were the bug houses and under rotting pieces of wood.

For Willow’s last week of Forest School, they were given the challenge of making a den/shelter in order to help ‘survive’ in the woods. They had to really think about the location of their dens in case they were too close to the water for flooding but then they needed to be close to a stream to have water for survival. They did a fantastic job and really thought about what materials to use and what kind of structure to make.

A big thank you to all our parent volunteers and Miss Waterman for a fantastic term of Forest School!

“I enjoyed putting the logs together for our shelter and working as a team” Josie

“Me and Maizie worked hard on our shelters—we put leaves and twigs on the holes.” Poppy

“In my group’s shelter, we used massive logs and laid them on a huge fallen tree to start our shelter.” Owen & Dexter

“Me and my team made a little fire and chairs for our shelter.” Luna

This week in Forest School Willow Class made autumn landscapes, using leaf printing. They made Christmas crafts (decorated jam jars), played with the hammocks and rope swings and drank some yummy hot chocolate with marshmallows. A big thank you to our lovely volunteers!

This week’s Forest School consisted of free exploration where: we built dens, using willow to weave in and out on the sides; Sophie created a dream catcher using feathers and lots of other natural resources; we played on the rope swings; and we finished making our weapons and tools from last week.

This week, Willow Class made weapons that they designed in class that Stone Age people would have used. They made bows, arrows and axes. They also went den building, used ropes for rope swings and played in the mud kitchen.

Willow Class walked around the wood to see what Stone Age people might have foraged and they took part in free exploration.

 

This week, Willow Class had a fun-filled, explorative Forest School session! The whole session was free play and they also dug some carrots up from the garden, washed them and had a taste! A big thank you to all our parent volunteers and Mrs Waterman for another fantastic Forest School session!

Beech Class had a thoroughly enjoyable Forest School session this week. They did so many free play activities, there are just too many photos to fit on just one page so we chose a few of our favourites, including the Olympic games!

This week, Oak and Beech Class created Olympic Stadiums in Forest School! They also did some pond dipping (Sophie found a massive slug!), beautiful art work using natural media, and some more hammering of nails into woodwork.

A big thanks to the PFCS for the donation of the enamel mugs! The children enjoyed some yummy hot chocolate in the new mugs!

This week in Forest School, the children went pond dipping and found newts and dragonfly larvae. They also found a frog and some worms! The children started to make the scarecrows for the Chiddingly Scarecrow Trail, created some woodwork pieces (hammered nails into wood and used thread to make their initials), and created a home for bugs. They also had the slack line out, did some den building, and some gardening (planted some vegetables and sampled some snap peas)! A big thank you to Miss Waterman and all our volunteers.

Oak and Beech had a fun-filled Forest School session this week in the beautiful sunshine! They did lots of activities, including playing ‘spirits of the forest’. This is a game where Mrs Vile and Miss Boswell were the spirits and they were trying to change the ‘animals’ into trees!

Oak and Beech had a wonderful time in Forest School this week. They spent time in the garden planting sweetcorn and repotting pumpkins, went pond dipping, played with the mud kitchen (and got VERY muddy!), balanced on the slack line, made head pieces with leaves and bracken, and even found a frog! Thank you to Miss Waterman and all our volunteers for an excellent session.

Forest School this week was so much fun! The children did some more pond dipping and found lots more newts! Our tadpoles are really thriving in our little pond too! You can see Olivia, Skyler and Archie having a look in the photo below!

Willow Class did some seed sowing, they planted radishes and beetroot. They also de-headed some daffodils and planted some poppys!

The children did some mud painting and added food colouring to the mud to see the different colours the mud turned. They made their own paintbrushes using sticks and grass! The paintings looked amazing!

Willow Class made candle holders using string and glass jars. They also did some woodwork using nails and string!

The Class also did all the usual fun Forest School activities like den building, free exploring and bug hunting! Great Forest School again!

This week Willow had a turn at Forest School and what a fantastic afternoon it was! Despite the rain in the morning, the weather stayed dry in the afternoon and the children were able to do lots of different activities.

The children did some pond dipping and found crested newts, dragonfly larvae, diving beetles and all manner of creepy crawlies! Take a look at our pictures of Jacinda and Olivia pond dipping.

Pixie and Grace had fun making mud cakes and drinks from the mud kitchen!

The children enjoyed woodwork and made their names using saws and hammers. Owen did a great piece of woodwork and you can see it in the picture below!

Maizie and Molly did some bug hunting and found some more creepy crawlies!

Sophia, Amelie, Luna and Pixie did some gardening with one of our volunteers. They built some wigwams for the beans to grow up!

Alongside all this, the children also built dens and did a variety of games at the beginning of the after-noon. A great time was had by all. As ever, a huge thank you to all the lovely volunteers who help out at Forest School.

This week Sycamore concentrated on map reading. They were all given a map to follow and each time they reached a certain point, they were given a task each time. The tasks involved things like code breaking, matching different trees and footprints to animals.

The fastest team were Isobel, Lacey and Casey!

In second place with the number of correct questions answered were Katie, Sienna and Chloe with 47 points!

In first place were Hope and Olivia with 48 points!

Well done to you all!

The session was finished off with hot chocolate and marshmallows with biscuits!

Sycamore had a great time at Forest School this week.

They built dens with sheets and played with the new mud kitchen!

The children also did a spot of gardening and some woodwork as well!

All in all, a great afternoon spent!

A huge thank you to the volunteers who help during Forest School.

In Forest School this week the children did all things Easter! The children did an Easter egg hunt and then an egg and spoon race. They each had a little chocolate egg each. Such a great afternoon!

In Forest School this week the children experimented with water bottles! They cut them in half and put a dish cloth material over the end which was cut. Then they dipped it in water and washing up liquid to make bubbles! They had lots of fun chasing the bubbles! The children had toasted marshmallows and toast with lots of different toppings! Chloe Hewitt in Beech said ‘Best Forest School ever with marshmal-lows and toast!’ The children where also really helpful with moving some tadpoles from a small tank into a bigger tank. They found rocks and logs and scooped water out from the small pond for the bigger tank. They then spent lots of time observing the tadpoles and seeing it they had legs which would mean they had turned into froglets! They also spent some time digging for treasure! A great Forest School after-noon all round!

Forest School was so much fun this week! Oak and Beech Class did some pond dipping to try and find newts. They found lots of frog spawn! They also did some bug hunting, which mostly found worms. Some of the children are really brave at handling worms! The children also did some den building and built a huge spider web which they had fun crawling over and underneath! The children did some bark rubbings and also drew on the bark using chalk. They dud in the mud and also climbed trees! A fire was built and the children were able to enjoy some smores to finish off the session!

Oak and Beech were very excited about their Forest School session this week. The started off their session becoming the wind and leaves whilst moving around the field… it was a very windy afternoon! Then they took part in a Forest School style relay race! When they went into the hall they had a look at some frog and toad spawn and made life cycles, used clay and branches to make sculptures and even minibeasts!

This was the last forest school of the term before Christmas. Willow enjoyed the treasure hunt around the fields! They had to search for clues which then led them to other clues and a prize of Haribo sweets at the end!

They also enjoyed creating and making Christmas crafts using twigs, cardboard and string. They made bunches using Christmas tree, Holly and Ivy, wrapped with a ribbon. They looked great!

The children then finished of the garden area as a big group and it looks really good!

A big thank you to Archie P, Jacinda, Skyler, Arthur and Kalian for giving up their lunchtime to make a start on the garden area. They really helped to speed the process along and did a brilliant job! Thank you!

Today in forest school we did arts and crafts in the hall as it was dreadful weather!

We got a black piece of card, covered that with glue and created a pattern with string then we put tin foil over it. Then we put our fingers around it to cause a dent showing the pattern. We then used sharpies to colours them in!

We did a picture of trees where we used masking tape then we used water colours to create the background. After that, we pulled off the masking tape to reveal the trees! We painted on leaves with poster paint using green, yellow, red and brown.

Lastly, we could make snowflakes by folding paper and cutting into it.

Written by Owen and Archie P

 

This week in Forest School Willow started to get the paths ready for the huge pile of woodchip which was very kindly donated to us by Josh Penrose. The children spent time scraping out the path so it was free of weeds. Archie S did a grand job of revamping the little garden – well done Archie! The children had hot chocolates and toffee apples which they thoroughly enjoyed!

Willow Class also used tools during Forest School to make jigsaws. They cut pieces of wood, drew pictures on them and then cut different shapes out to create a jigsaw!

This week Willow absolutely loved Forest School! The children went down to the woods and did some free explor-ing.
They also spent some time making dens and playing ‘dogs out of logs’, where they used logs as dogs and took them for walks! The children also did some climbing and playing in the wood.

They were set a challenge to build a bridges with the volunteers and staff in groups. They had to be able to bal-ance a bottle or a log on the bridge, be able to move underneath it and also had to be able to sit on the bridge. All the groups succeeded and had a brilliant time!

This week Willow thoroughly enjoyed Forest School! We were on the school site today enjoying a huge variety of activities! From gardening and crafts to building dens and toasting marsh mellows on the fire!

The children explored the wide variety of leaves that can be found on the school playing field. They collected as many different leaves as they could from different varieties of trees – they found loads! This highlighted how many different types of trees they can find in your local area (linking brilliantly to our topic!). Later they used leaves to create some beautiful, colourful art pieces! Some children helped to lovingly plant bulbs in the nature garden, ready for spring! Children also had the opportunity to go on a bug hunt – even a newt was found! They made impressive, well thought through dens and toasted marsh mellows on the fire!

This week the children were really lucky and treated to a treasure hunt! Clues had to be followed which ultimately led to a prize for each child! The children made pizzas and roasted smores over the fire. They also had some free play and exploring time, which involved making dens and climbing trees.

We have had a really successful first term of Forest School and we think the children have thoroughly enjoyed themselves!

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our volunteers who have helped with Forest School and Miss Waterman for running them!

The weather was much better this week which we were really pleased about! In this weeks forest school we focused on wellbeing. This meant a lot of our activities were linked to being calm and reflecting. We finished our clay leaf prints which we painted with sponges and acrylic paint. We made dream catchers using hazel twigs, feather and leaves. They look amazing! We did some gardening and free exploring. We also did spent some time quietly to reflect and think about wellbeing day.

In Thursdays session we did lots of craft making; leaf printing in clay, turned them into a bowl shape for putting keys, money or any small bits and bobs.

We also did some art using string and white paint and this gave everyone different pictures.

The children made clay garden cane tops and made various animals; snakes, snails, dogs, tortoise’s and bugs.

The children also had free exploring play in the top field and played team games.

This week we were lucky with the weather and Sycamore had a great day exploring. Some made dens using ropes, tarps and long branches. Then some boys decided to make a rope swing and a zip line which they had great time on. We had the slack line up for children, they had to work as a team to get across it. They also did leaf printing and willow weaving making hearts.

Last of all the children made toffee apples cooked over the fire, then dipped in sugar and then heated to make the sugar turn to brown. Then they had to wait for the toffee to harden and to cool. The children loved it and of course we had smores too!

A big thank you to the volunteers who helped this week at Forest School.

Sycamore enjoyed their first Forest School of the year yesterday and were improving the grounds of the school: digging, cutting, planting and weeding. They were rewarded with marshmallows round the fire. Thank you to Miss Waterman and her team of amazing helpers for this opportunity!

 

This week in Forest School, the woodland was very wet and windy so unfortunately Sycamore Class could not venture over there. Instead, Miss Waterman planned lots of brilliant craft activities and they also had an opportunity to take part in team building games! The team building game they played meant they had to be blindfolded and were only able to get instructions from the person who wasn’t blindfolded through hand signals! It meant that they had to trust each other and work as a team to move around!

This term, Sycamore Class will be doing Forest School and it was their first session on Wednesday. They have been learning about survival all week and so their Forest School session tied in with this.

The children took part in lots of fun activities, including an assault course where they got extremely wet and muddy, building dens and making smores on the fire.

Beech Class painted their clay dinosaurs this week, before going out to the fire to toast marshmallows and drink tea and hot chocolate with cream!

The class have previously been doing experiments with growing seeds in the classroom, so in Forest School they planted their seeds into pots to take home.

Later, they had free exploration, built dens, made some bark rubbings and did free drawings of trees.

What Beech Class Thought of Forest School

“Forest School was fun, exciting and amazing. It made Wednesdays way better.” Luna

“I liked that we got to choose different activities and ones that we’ve never done before!” Amelie

“I liked making the dens, making the sticks for marshmallows and cooking them on the fire!” Ethan

“I enjoyed everything but I didn’t like when my camp came down!” Poppy

“The whittling the sticks and roasting marshmallows was good.” Lucas

“Painting the dinosaurs was cool!” Rebecca

“I liked playing in the fort.” Elijah T

This week in Forest School, Beech Class made pancakes on the fire! They also made dinosaurs out of clay, did some free play and den building, made swamp lands for the dinosaurs and did a bit of investigating amongst the fallen leaves and twigs (they tried to figure out what trees we have near our field). A big thank you to Miss Waterman for providing such lovely activities again!