Forest School

Week Commencing: 18.03.24

This week in Forest School, Year Five worked in teams to create new structures such as teepees and dens. After all of their hard work, they enjoyed a hot chocolate as a treat! The children demonstrated our school values of collaboration, thankfulness and resilience.

Week Commencing: 11.03.24

This week in Forest School, we attempted to build a fire to cook on but the weather wasn't on our side.  Nevertheless, the children still enjoyed a tasty treat of a hot dog with onions and ketchup. The children demonstrated our school values of thankfulness, collaboration, and respect wonderfully. We are looking forward to hopefully cooking some food on a fire during next week's session. 

Week Commencing: 04.03.24

The sun was shining during this week's Forest School session. Year Five had fun mastering how to use a pruning saw to cut tree cookies. They attached their tree cookies onto yarn to make charm bracelets and necklaces. As Easter is approaching, many of them enjoyed using a range of natural materials to make crosses. As always, it was lovely to see Year Five supporting and helping each other without being prompted. They demonstrated our school values of creativity, collaboration and kindness. Well done, Year Five!

Week Commencing: 19.02.24

It was a very muddy Forest School session for Year 5 this week! To keep us sheltered from the cold and rain, the children worked in teams to use tarpaulins and paracord to build shelters. They demonstrated our school values of collaboration and creativity wonderfully.

Week Commencing: 05.02.24

In their last session, Year 4 enjoyed mastering how to use a pruning saw and a palm drill to make a personalised tree cookie necklace. They were able to practice tying different knots when attaching the wool to their tree cookie. Earlier in the week, a few of the trees on our Forest School site were chopped down and have been recycled into tree stumps that we can use for seating and logs that can be used for fire and building activities. The children enjoyed transporting the tree stumps to different areas of Forest School, generating new ideas for what they could be used for.

Week Commencing: 29.01.24

In Forest School this week, Year 4 expressed an interest in using some hand tools. A fallen tree on the playground was a perfect opportunity for them to practise using a bow saw to cut wood. The children shared many fond memories of the tree and sharing stories underneath it. They demonstrated great enthusiasm for finding new uses for the wood cut. It was fantastic to see the children supporting and praising each other for their efforts as many of the children commented that sawing wood is a lot harder than it looks! Well done, Year 4!

Week Commencing: 15.01.24

This week in Forest School, Year 4 enjoyed learning about the safe lighting of a campfire. We talked about the variety of personal safety equipment needed to stay safe around fire and worked to light one together. As they sat around the fire, pupils had a go at using a variety of tools to whittle sticks, ensuring they had a glove on their helper hand. The children learnt  it was better to try and choose a smooth piece of wood to whittle without too many knots! Many of the children reflected on their experience of using the tools and suggested that it's important to be patient and slice off a tiny bit at a time. Well done, Year 4! It was fantastic to see our school values of resilience and kindness demonstrated throughout the session. 

Week Commencing: 08.01.24

In Forest School this week, Y4 enjoyed sharing their New Year resolutions around the fire pit. Some of the children had fun writing their resolutions on fallen leaves and tying them to their favourite trees. Working in teams, the children enjoyed using the tarpaulins, paracord and ropes to build a group shelter. It was lovely to see the children's creativity, problem solving skills and independence develop during the session. Y4 demonstrated our school value of resilience brilliantly throughout the session. When their shelter was too low or too small, they didn't give up! They worked together to transport branches to increase the central height of the shelter. Some groups further demonstrated determination to succeed by searching for a new location to build their shelter.