Forest School: Blog items
Year 2 Forest School Fun Part 2
Date: 4th May 2023 @ 7:58am
Last week in Forest School, we learnt all about the Elder tree. We begun the lesson by creating a shelter using a parachute to protect us from the wind and after we came out we went on a hunt to find the only Elder tree in our Forest School area. We then used parts of Elder to use a hack saw to make a small piece and pushed the middle out so we could thread some string through to create necklaces or bracelets. We had so much fun and enjoyed getting creative with the Elder. Those that decided they didn't want to make something had plenty of fun den building and planting some seeds.
Year 2's Summer Forest School Fun
Date: 20th Apr 2023 @ 2:57pm
Today, Year Two enjoyed the first of their final three forest school sessions whilst they are in Year 2. Today we began the session by checking on the progress of the tadpoles and thought about where in their life cycle they are at. Then, Jenna and Michelle had set up lots of different dandelion activities for us to do. We could choose from making dandelion patterns on a piece of fabric by bashing rocks onto the dandelions and leaves to leave marks on the fabric, we could make dandelion pom-poms using wool as well as washing dandelions ready for us to make dandelion tea. At the end of the session, we tried the dandelion tea we had made, some of us enjoyed it whilst others thought it tasted disgusting. We are looking forward to continuing our forest school fun next week.
Reception Willow Class Forest School
Date: 23rd Mar 2023 @ 8:21pm
This week Willow Class have been busy outside enjoying Forest School!
Although the weather was rainy and it was extremely muddy, the children had a fabulous time. The children spent some of the session talking about spring and spotting some of the sign of spring outside. These included finding new plants growinf like daffodils, finds blossom on the tress and finding some birds nests in the trees. The children were even lucky enough to find some frog spawn in the ponds. We talked about how the frog spawn would change into tadpoles in the coming weeks.
"In spring blossom grows on trees" Lana-Rose
"Baby lambs are born in spring" Logan
"The days get longer and warmer" Alfie
"Leaf buds grown on trees" Noor-Fatima
"Daffodils grow outside" Albie
Reception- Forest School Holly Class
Date: 17th Mar 2023 @ 10:57am
This week Holly Class have been busy outside enjoying Forest School!
Although the weather was rainy and the ground was extremely muddy, the children had a great time doing Forest Yoga, playing number games and looking at new life in the pond- frog spawn!
Take a look at what we did!
"The frog spawn will turn into a tadpole, then a frog" Dillan.
"The frog spawn looks like little balls" Neveah.
"I found 3 pebbles- I'll put them on number three!" Sheraa.
Date: 2nd Mar 2023 @ 9:26am
What a great Forest School session! We learned how to tie knots then we had a competition to get from one side of the site to the other tying ropes together. Then, we learned about the pond and the frog spawn living there. During the session we were able to look at and hold a frog. We had to wet our hands first so that our hands felt smoother for the frog.
Year 3- Our Final Forest School Fun!
Date: 19th Jan 2023 @ 3:01pm
For our final forest school session, we had lots of fun outside in the mud. We learnt how to tie knots in order to build dens. We then made a fire and toasted marshmallows. They were yummy!
We also used our fire to warm up water and make hot vimto to warm us up. We can't wait for our next forest school fun in Summer!
Date: 12th Jan 2023 @ 3:30pm
In forest school this week the children learnt all about habitats and made their own dens for creatures. They also enjoyed building a fire and exploring the outdoors.
Date: 5th Jan 2023 @ 3:37pm
Today was our first Forest School Session! Although it was very rainy and muddy, we had lots of fun thinking about the new Year. We played Robins and Frost Sprites, a game of hide and seek, to think about how the frost comes in winter and we made wands/staffs to warn off the cold of winter and keep the light shining in our hearts throughout this period of time. The children had great fun despite their muddy clothes!
Nursery Brave the Cold for Forest School
Date: 15th Dec 2022 @ 11:06am
Nursery enjoyed a fun if not very chilly Forest School session! They played games to keep themselves warm and had a great time exploring all the frost and ice outside. They also enjoyed a cup of warm apple juice to warm themselves up.
Date: 14th Dec 2022 @ 12:10pm
Over the last few weeks the children have been learning about why Christians celebrate Christmas. We have been using figures at the storytelling table to retell the the Christmas story. The children have been working hard to perfect their performance of the Wriggly Nativity. They sang the songs beautifully and acted out what happend with confidence. Well done Reception, we are very proud of you!
Date: 2nd Dec 2022 @ 3:37pm
This week in Forest School we made gingerbread men on the fire, worked safely using sharp tools to make different objects, learned to tie different knots and built a fire. As a year group, we continued to dig out the pond so that it will be ready for Spring next year!
Date: 24th Nov 2022 @ 4:06pm
We started our first of three Forest School sessions today. As the cold has drawn in, more and more grass and mose has got in and around the pond area. The children did an amazing job clearing it out. They also made crowns and head gear with bendy branches, leaves and wool. It was very muddy today and the children simply enjoying some messy play too!
Date: 3rd Nov 2022 @ 6:44pm
Today we enjoyed our first forest school session in Year 1! This week our learning was based around birds. We made birds nests, pretended to be birds to play a game collecting seeds and looked at pictures of birds eggs. Throughout the session, we also made two different types of bird feaders, created mud masterpieces in the mud kitchen and enjoyed having some time outdoors in the sunshine!
Nursery Have Fun at Forest School
Date: 2nd Nov 2022 @ 11:29am
Nursery had a wonderful time during their Forest School session. They were not put off by the rain and explored the mud kitchen, played some games, hunted for autumn leaves and listened to a story. The children enjoyed their time exploring outdoors and we can't wait for our next session.
Year 2's Final Forest School Fun
Date: 17th Oct 2022 @ 2:50pm
This week Forest School enjoyed their final forest school session with Jenna and Michelle. This week, we thought about ways to survive if we got stranded in the cold on a mountain and used the parachute as our shelter thinking about the warmth it provided. We also thought about the 3 things we need for a fire- air, fuel and heat and some of us used the tools to practise lighting a fire so we could toast marshmellows. We have had a wonderful three weeks in forest school and look forward to our final three sessions in the summer.
Date: 15th Oct 2022 @ 6:58pm
This half term Year 1 have been learning all about our local area. As part of this learning we went on a local area walk around Grange Park. Prior to leaving school, we explored photos of past and present Grange Park and discussed what we thought we might see. Whilst on our walk, we observed different types of houses, spotted physical and human features and talked about the current changes taking place. We we're also lucky enough to visit @thegrange, where we we're shown around the gardens, read a book in the library and told all about what @thegrange has to offer.
Year 2 Forest School Fun Part 2
Date: 6th Oct 2022 @ 4:02pm
Today, year two continued their forest school fun with their second session of the term. Today we began the lesson, by learning how to tie a simple knot and practised the skill a few times on some rope. We then used our new skills and knowledge to create a friendship bracelet, we all chose a colour to represent ourselves, one to represent our class and a final colour to represent nature. After that, we were tasked with a mission of making a party for all the ugly bugs to attend and got very creative- some even had slides and beds! We are looking forward to our final session next week.
Year 2's First Forest School Fun!
Date: 29th Sep 2022 @ 3:39pm
Today, Year Two enjoyed their first Forest School session with Jenna and Michelle who had planned some fun activities for us. We began the session by completing some tasks for the Gruffalo finding things that lived in trees, near flowers and under logs linking our learning from yesterday to the fun. Then Michelle kindly read us the story of the Gruffalo and we were experts and could join in with parts of the story! Lastly, we were tasked with the mission of creating a nest for a bird of our choosing, thinking carefully about where we were going to place the nest and the materials we used. We had lots of fun linking our Science learning of living things and their habitats to our forest school fun and cannot wait for our next two sessions.
Year 2 Exploring Microhabitats
Date: 29th Sep 2022 @ 7:58am
Today we explored different types of microhabitat. Once we had learnt what a microhabitat was, we went into the forest school area to search for microhabitats and hunted for minibeasts. We explored a range of microhabitats including under logs, in the soil, leaf piles, rocks and grass. When we found minibeasts we got very excited! Once we returned inside, we discussed how different minibeasts prefer different habitats and came up with adjectives to describe the habitats.
YEAR 5 (A Very Wet) Forest Schools Session
Date: 26th Sep 2022 @ 12:34pm
On Thursday, pupils in Hawthorn and Rowan had to show resilience and toughness as our Forest School sessions were interrupted by heavy rain. Pupils built dens (which were tested by the weather), made tie-dyed strips of material, and had a snack of apple and soft cheese. We were proud that the children persevered in the challenging conditions and still had an enjoyable time.
Year 5 Exploring Strong sketches
Date: 21st Sep 2022 @ 8:54pm
We explored using heavier, darker pencils and charcoal to sketch onto recylced maps this week, to continue our journey. Our aim was to make our sketches stand out against the print of the maps. We sketched mountains and animals with focus and some people really used the features of the maps to enhance their sketches.
Year 5 Safe Skills in Forest School
Date: 15th Sep 2022 @ 4:04pm
Today was about gaining some skills in being safe around equipment, in particular, knives, axes and mallets. We cut some sticks down, used the knives and peelers to whittle them to a flat surface and decorated them as tree markers. We also made a small safe fire and cooked the harvest of pears, which were delicious. We also built dens, created our own games, found another frog and worked well as a team on our knots!
Nursery Take Care of the Outdoors
Date: 13th Sep 2022 @ 8:35pm
We are lucky to have a wonderful outdoor area in nursery and everyone takes pride in keeping the area neat and tidy. The children love caring for the plants and creatures that are living in the garden and work together to keep it looking fabulous. This week the children have been busy picking up the litter that gets blown in. Using the litter pickers is a great way of developing fine motor skills! They have also been sharing the hose pipe and watering cans to keep the plants healthy and building realtionships with each other at the same time. Speaking of relationships, we found a new friend in our garden - a giant slug! We were all fasinated by the little fella and wanted to make sure he didn't go hungry. What else would you feed a slug but the carrots growing in the garden!
Year 5 A Fresh look at Forest School
Date: 8th Sep 2022 @ 12:31pm
What a great time of Year to be outdoors! We managed to avoid the showers and had a lovely morning exploring the Forest School environment. We went on a mini beast hunt with the magnifying glasses and observed the habitats. We found lots of insects, arachnids and bugs lurking under the rocks and logs. A Frog leapt in! We all looked at it's camoflage, while learning the differences between frogs and toads. There was lots of seasonal fruit including mini apples, pears and plums, but they weren't yet ripe enough to pick. We also explored and enjoyed spending time with our friends outdoors and catching up casually after the holidays.
Karson planted some trees using the fallen fruit's seed.
Harley enjoyed working with his team to build dens and shelters.
Molliemae worked with her friends to make a chill out zone in their den, with books and colouring.
Darin made a cake masterpiece recipe including flowers, mud and fruits. He used his imagination to create a bakery business too!
Year 2's Final Forest School Fun
Date: 22nd Jul 2022 @ 3:37pm
Yesterday saw our final forest school session of Year 2 before we begin completing our passport in Year 3. This week, we thought about our senses and took a moment to lie on the floor and think about the things we could see, hear, taste, smell and feel- some of us were lucky enough to be joined by a miniature spider. We then looked at different cloud formations and tried to see if we could see any different ones in the sky as well as playing a game of forest school bingo. To end the session, we toasted crumpets on the fire.
