Oaks Class started their afternoon with a game of ‘fox and rabbit’. They worked really well as a class, and were good at noticing which members of the class had had a go and were very agile with their running!
Some of the class showed great perseverance when using the fire strikers to light the fire. They practised being patient in taking turns to use the tools and with the strong wind, which threatened to put out the fire as they were lighting it! They then used sticks to toast marshmallows and sandwiched them between biscuits to make smores, which were delicious on a cold, windy day!
The whole class then explored the Forest School area and chose to follow their own interests.
There was lots of drilling into conkers and acorns with palm drills. The children showed a developing independence in using tools to carefully drill holes on them, then threading them onto string and adding details of colour and design with pens.
Some children created with clay. Creating small sculptures and adding details of textures and features using clay tools and autumn finds such as blackberries and hawthorn berries.
There was lots of industrious moving of branches and logs to create a den with a trampoline in the overgrown fallen tree area.
A group of children were really involved in digging in the clay rich soil. They then discovered they could ram the soil into the ‘frog’ of a brick to create their own bricks. “We just need to make 100,000 more, then we can use it to build walls of our den”
The Impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge the children have gained from the Forest School experience.
The impact can be seen through the skills, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.
Oaks ended their session by working in pairs to discuss what they had done, enjoyed and achieved during the afternoon. They each wrote a series of words on reflection stickers after discussing together.
