It looked like rain at lunchtime, but as we headed out the wind picked up and blew it all away.
This week we learned that dandelions and daisies sometimes flower in January, even though it is the middle of winter!
The Impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge the children have gained from the Forest School experience.
The impact of Forest School 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.
The children showed the impact of learning to use maths across the curriculum. They counted the amount of fallen trees we had seen. ‘They fell down because of the wind’
We climbed over one, saw a distant birch across the old railway line, saw an oak which had been sawn up ‘I think it was sawed by a chainsaw’ and one on a slant, ‘like a triangle shape’ in the middle of a wood. ‘That makes 4 altogether!’
The impact of the observing and experiencing the environment was evident on the children’s risk taking. They showed great personal challenge skills as they navigated styles and chose a safe path through the mud.
The children talked about how the ground felt underfoot…muddy, slippy, squelchy, soft, squidgy…negotiated who liked getting splashed with mud and who didn’t.
The children recognised that there was a new gate on our journey. They wanted to know what it said, so they showed the impact of their phonic knowledge to blend the sounds and read the sign. ‘f oo- that is the sound this week t, that is foot’.
Using sticks the children found emerging bluebell, just peeping out under the leaf litter.
They found catkins and thought they looked like caterpillars. They used their observation skills to find as many as possible on the ground.
The impact of the children’s progress in physical challenge. Being independent on the slack line, by just using the rope and ladder to climb.
This week our topic has led us to learn about fire. We discussed fire safety before we left and the children remembered our games of ‘red dragon, green dragon’ to remind themselves how to stay safe around the fire circle.
The children showed their persevering parrot learning powers as they used the flint and steels to start the fire.
The children talked about what they had noticed, learned and enjoyed this week before heading home up a muddy track up the hill! Thanks to our volunteers for supporting the children and allowing them to directly show the impact of their learning and connection to their local environment at Forest School.
