Forest School
Reception visit Forest School
A beautifully misty and crisp winter’s day today for Reception’s second visit. We had a mindfulness moment listening to the many birds in our forest school trees. Once the mist cleared we spotted so many too! There was even a huge red kite circling above us, wow! We played ‘Little Bird’ games, made stick nests for the toy birds, made wiggly worms with multiple hearts and had fun carrying really big sticks to make a giant nest together. Great cooperation Reception.
We learnt how to take care of ourselves and each other when outside in nature.
Birdwatching - Year 4
It’s the RSPB big Birdwatch !
We learnt to identify the great tit from its song ‘teacher-teacher’ ‘pizza-pizza’ and noticed great tits singing in the trees above us like mini sirens of spring.
We listened to the difference between robins and blue tits and spotted pairs of birds communicating in the winter trees. We thought about the geese flying in formation, changing places to conserve energy, and about how the cuckoo secures it’s chicks future!
Fire lighting - Year 4
What three things do we need to make a fire?
How can we stay safe when fire lighting?
Everyone showed great planning, focus and persistence and developed their resilience learning to use the ferro rods to make sparks and land them on the cotton wool. Great fire respect poses and good spark technique too!
Some of us explored lighting natural materials, investigating flammable properties of leaves, damp sticks and ice. There was lovely dry thistledown and silver birch bark to try too. Take that spark and make it into a flame! Looking forward to building mini fires with these learners next year!
Den Building - Year 4
Developing spacial awareness and collaboration skills building group dens. Great focus and deep engagement on self-chosen activities.
Shelter Building - Year 4
We built on our knowledge of using Y-sticks to make tripods, in order to build shelters using natural materials. We thought about what materials are available in winter when deciduous trees have lost their leaves. We used evergreens like leilandi and old Christmas trees to insulate our shelters from wind and rain. Some children built mini campfires to keep warm too.
Tree Climbing - Year 4
Learning to stay safe when climbing!
Branches bigger than your arm.
Stay close to the trunk.
Check … is this branch alive?
Are the branches grippy or slippy?
Bug Hunting - Year 4
Under the logs Year 4 found larvae and creatures. Using our detective skills we learnt that centipedes have several insta stages during their life. With excitement and perseverance, the children found various stages and presented them to the group during our sharing circle.
Group games - Year 4
Playing ‘Foxes Tails’ to keep ourselves warm on a frosty day. We thought about how our bodies feel after sitting, and how we can raise our core temperature! Running increases our heart rate too.
Campfire food - Year 4
With temperatures below zero, Year 4 thought about how to keep warm outdoors. We learnt to make the Fire Respect position to keep ourselves steady and safe by the fire - one knee up and one knee down. We toasted marshmallows over the fire using the toasting sticks whittled in the previous session - it’s important to have food as our bodies use more energy to keep warm. In the hut we warmed our hands and tummies with warm drinks.
What else can we do to keep warm when out in nature in the winter?
Year 6
Our Beautiful Meadow
Buxton Class
Woburn Class
Buxton Class enjoying Forest School
Look how many on one poppy!
Wow! Our wildflower meadow is definitely the Bee's Knees!
Year 1 and 2 enjoyed learning lots today
24th November
23rd March
20th April
16th May
16th March
24th November
1st December
The year ones have enjoyed making camouflage butterflies, finding clues in the phonics scavenger hunt, planting and making habitats.
Week 4
What a wonderful week. The sun shone and we avoided the mud by working in the garden and the pond area. We planted potatoes, beetroot, parsnips and carrots and searched or pond for creatures. We were amazed to find two species of newt and a rather large frog.
13731214.mp4
Week 3
Planting began this week as the children made pots from newspaper and planted spinach seeds and prepared pots for plants that will germinate in the greenhouse. Children chose different activities this week; willow weaving, pruning, wood chip spreading and stick collecting read for our wood pile. They also worked together find and collect wool worms and tie them to a stick (this was rather tricky!).
Week 2
The wet weather has led to some very muddy sessions but the children worked together to collect and spread wood chippings to soak up some of the mud and water.
The Year 5s have been enjoying their time outside during Forest School; exploring our school grounds, searching for signs of spring and preparing our raised beds ready for a fruitful harvest later in the year. It has been great to see the children coming alive and ‘getting stuck in’ whilst out in the fresh air. Their resilience, confidence and teamwork build week on week and their natural curiosity has lead us to ask some very interesting questions.
Week 1
Work has begun on own willow dome. The children pruned our existing willow arch/tunnel and planted the branches to create a new living shelter. Some of the branches have already taken root and the finished product will be amazing.
Our aim Completed Dome
Year 5s First Forest School, Trimming our Willow Arch and planting a Willow Dome
