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.
On the way to the woods, Willow Class took some litter pickers and collected as much rubbish from the hedgerows and edges of the public footpaths and bridleways they used.
After sharing some of the topic learning about the ‘Stone Age’, we discussed how in those times people would use natural resources to live. So we tried to think of any links to their topic learning as we walked to the woods. The children were given some small leather pouches (made by the Yr 5/6 children) and cotton bags to collect their Autumn hedgerow finds.
The children picked some blackberries, hawthorn berries, sloes, chestnuts and acorns after identifying them correctly with the adults. They have previously learned they shouldn’t ever eat anything they pick, unless their supporting adults have discussed it with them, because it might make them ill. They managed to collect a huge range of berries, creating a plentiful supply to make and paint with in the woods.
Some children had a go at using a modern version of ‘Flint and Steel’ to light a fire. They talked about how they had to persevere with it and how people in the Stone Age would use fires for warmth, light and cooking with.
Some children spent their time following the step by step written instructions they had done at school about how to make tools. They collected some flint from the Forest Way track and had a go at learning some knots to bind the flint onto sticks.
There were some pots available to plant some of the conkers and acorns and hawthorn berries which the children had collected. They carefully filled pots with some soil from the forest floor and watered them with the handwashing tippy taps. They will come back to them and nurture them throughout the year to monitor their growth.
The stream was a draw as some children set about adapting and rebuilding the bridge over it as a group.
Many thanks to our brilliant volunteers who make our Forest School possible and for their patience and skills in supporting the children with fire lighting, knot tying and paint making.
