In term 4, the children have been working on a project as a whole class. They were shown what the project was and what it was aiming to achieve. We then discussed, as a group, why we thought this project needed to happen and what improvements this would make to the area.
The project was within the ditch that runs along one edge of the area that we use for Forest School, and the aim was to make a few leaky woody dams to help improve the ditch and surrounding area, by encouraging less foot traffic and more natural regeneration. Each class had taken on a different part of the project.
The first part to tackle was the large amount of lumps of wood and branches that have ended up in the ditch over time. The children of Willow class worked so hard to achieve this as there was rather a lot of wood and some of it had become rather buried in the mud.
The next step was to make a few leaky woody dams. Using wooden mallets and a post rammer, the children knocked in four posts, two on either side of the ditch. They then set off into the woods to find many long branches that were then placed within these four posts, stacking up to create a dam, slowing down the flow of water and erosion of the ditch any further. With amazing teamwork, the classes have managed to create two dams so far.
We have also enjoyed wild garlic! The children have all had the opportunity to try some raw as a leaf; many enjoyed this but quite a few said it was a little spicy. The wild garlic was then chopped up by the children and mixed into butter, turning it green. Bread was then toasted on the fire, and once toasted, a layer of the green butter was added to make some garlic toast.
Previously, Lilac class had cleared an area and started to make a fairy garden, and they wanted to continue with this by adding little houses. They used a selection of pallet off-cuts to create these little fairy houses, first nailing on the roof before using paint pens to add decoration to their house. These were then placed in the fairy garden.
