Forest School: Blog items
Date: 10th Jun 2021 @ 4:08pm
Today the children took part in their first of 2 Forest School sessions. As part of the lesson, the children took part in a range of activities, including:
- Mandala making
- Fire building
- Code breaking
- Smore making
- Nature necklaces
The children had a great time and worked well together as a team. They created some beautiful mandalas using resources found in nature as well as necklaces. We are looking forward to our session next week.
Shell Structures for Design Technology
Date: 19th May 2021 @ 4:36pm
For our Design Technology day we created our own Shell Structures, after looking at the nets of many different existing product packagings.
Our design brief was to create a lunch box suitable for a Year 3 pupil to take out to a picnic that could carry food. Although we had to create our models in card and paper, we discussed how it would be better for them to be made in plastic so they would be more durable but less eco friendly as plastic pollution is a big problem for the planet.
We discussed how the existing products we had looked at were made from recycleable materials and we used recycled card in our final designs. We found the recycle symbols on most of our existing products.
We completed our designs, made our prototypes and refined our ideas before creating our final product in card. We also learned how to strengthen and stiffen materials using laminating, tubes and corrugation. We had to cut and glue carefully once we had put our bold designs onto our structures. It was very fiddly and tricky but we showed resilience.
Fantastic Forest School Fun For Year Five!
Date: 17th May 2021 @ 8:41pm
Year Five have been really enjoying their forest schools sessions! They have completed a collaborative challenge of building a tower using only natural materials, found tadpoles in the pond, built a campfire and sampled popcorn cooked on the fire. The children are currently working towards the completion of a forest schools certificate.
One potato, two potato, three potato, four...
Date: 17th May 2021 @ 4:56pm
This week we have been planting potatoes in our outdoor area. We worked together, sharing the tools and helping each other dig the holes. It was a rainy day and we were very dirty when we had finished! In a few months time, with some sunshine and (more) rain, they should be ready for digging up and eating- we can't wait!
Releasing our butterflies in to the wild!
Date: 9th May 2021 @ 5:20pm
Over the past 3 week Reception have been closely observing our classroom caterpillars. We have be watching how they have grown and changed and talking about the lifecycle of the butterfly. When the caterpillars first arrived they were tiny, so small we had to use our magnifying glasses to look at them. Each day they have grown bigger and bigger because they have been eating the caterpillar food. Last week the caterpillars hung upside down and made a chrysalis around their body. At this point we carefully transferred them into out butterfly net and waited patiently for the butterflies to emerge. Finally on Thursday morning we watched as a butterflies emerged from their chrysalis. It was amazing! Their wings were very wet so we had to wait for them to dry. The we put some orange segments in the net for the butterflies to feed on. On Friday afternoon we talked about the importance of the butterflies being free so we let them go in the garden. They were very friendly and they enjoyed perching on the children's hands before flying off. Have a look at some of the amazing pictures of the children holding them.
Date: 7th May 2021 @ 7:29pm
Today in Science we created a microhabitat in the form of a bug hotel! We have linked our Reading into Writing sessions this week with our previous learning in Science and have been using our senses to complete sentence writing about hot and cold habitats. We have looked at the features of polar habitats, under the sea habitats and desert habitats. We then also looked at where various deserts are located on a World map. Before we went outside to forage for materials to make our bug hotel, we discussed what features bug hotels need to make an appropriate habitat for mini beasts. We said they need to be compact, contain different materials and have different layers. After foraging for materials we used our plastic bottles to create our very own micro bug hotels for our gardens.
Date: 7th May 2021 @ 3:35pm
The children took part in their final forest school session of year 4. They spent time building dens, shaving tree branches, doing finger nitting and looking at the tadpoles in the pond. They really enjoyed this session and said how they were all excited to start forest school again in year 5.
Date: 5th May 2021 @ 1:48pm
We have been having a great time with our growing topic this half term. We have planted cress, sunflower seeds and beans and we are now waiting for our caterpillars to make their cocoons! We have also been making the most of our outdoor area and planted some vegetable seeds. We are hoping that we get a crop of yummy carrots and delicious radishes!
Date: 4th May 2021 @ 3:39pm
The children in Reception have been busy preparing our raised bed in our garden for planting. We pulled out daffodil bulbs and dug over the soil to make sure it is ready for planting. We then planted our peas that we have in growing inside as well some pumpkin seeds, sunflowers and potatoes.
We talked about what we need to do take care of them.
Date: 2nd May 2021 @ 4:18pm
On Thursday Year 4 spent time in forest school enjoying the great outdoors. The children spent time building dens and making smores around the fire.
DT Day- Reception make fruit jelly pots!
Date: 27th Apr 2021 @ 4:59pm
Today in Reception the children have been designing and making their own fruit jelly pots ready for our whole school Olympics opening ceremony buffet. As a class we started off by looking at a range of different fruits. We described what they looked like, how they felt and were even lucky enough to taste them.
Date: 27th Apr 2021 @ 4:21pm
We are continuing our growing theme this week - this time with plants! So far we have planted some cress seeds and sunflower seeds and talked about all the things they need to grow. Fingers crossed we all have green fingers and our seeds will start to grow!
Recording the Results of our Plant Investigation
Date: 26th Apr 2021 @ 4:11pm
This week we looked closely at our plants and discovered what they actually need to grow. We put one in the cupboard so it had no light, one in the fridge so it had a low temperature and one plant didn't give any water to. It was clear to see that the plant that suffered most had had no water. We discovered that it was most important to give plants water because the plants can survive for a while without heat or light.
We also observed how seeds germinated with just water and warm in the cups - the mustard seeds and broad beans started to sprout and grow!
Date: 15th Apr 2021 @ 7:23pm
This week we had our first Forest School session and it was brilliant! The sun was shining and we had all remembered our outdoor clothes. We saw some tadpoles in the ponds, which we also filled up with water. We ate pineapple and we did some natural painting with berries. Some of us dug some holes and some of us started to make sparks to light small fires.
Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum! There's a lot of planting to be done!
Date: 13th Apr 2021 @ 5:12pm
Today in Recepetion a mystery letter delivered to the classroom. The children were so excited to see who it was from. The giant in the sky had sent us some magical beans and set us an important task of growing a beanstalk, just like the one in Jack's garden. As a group we talked about the different things a plant needs to grow big and healthy including; water, sunlight and nutrients from the soil.
Date: 25th Mar 2021 @ 3:38pm
In Science, we planted our own sunflowers. We learnt what plants need to survive: sunlight, water, the correct temperature and time. Every day we have been watering our plants and watching them grown. They have gone from being a seed to a germinated seed, seedling and now it is getting towards a young plant.
We can't wait to see our flowers turn into an adult plant!
Date: 22nd Mar 2021 @ 8:07pm
As a class we have been talking about the different changes we have noticed over the past few weeks. These have included; new plants growing, buds on trees, daffodils in our garden, blossom on trees and new life. This afternoon the children paired up and went outside with their clip boards to complete their spring checklist in the forest school area. The children enjoyed looking around the forest school area to find different signs of spring.
"Look Mrs Clark, a bird has made a nest in the tree. The birds are going to lay their eggs" Elliott
"The blossom is growing on the trees" Ellie-Mae
"The trees have buds on them. The leaves are going to grow" Harley-May
"The temperature is warmer today" Ella-Rose
Making animal habitats at Forest School
Date: 19th Mar 2021 @ 10:10am
This week at Forest School the children enjoyed learning about animals and their habitats. We talked about different habitas and what animals need to survive. The children then worked together to collect sticks, leaves, grass and stones in their buckets and used them to create their own animal homes.
"I'm putting leaves in mine to keep the animals warm" Ellie-Mae
"We are sticking the sticking in the ground to make a wall" Arthur.
Then we explored the Forest School area and looked for different animal footprints in the mud.
Afterwards we were made a fire to boil the water ready for our warm vimto drink. We talked about how to keep ourselves safe whilst making a fire. The we discussed the three different elements we need to make a fire; heat, wood and air.
"Lisa wears a special fire glove so she doesn't burn her hand' Lyra-Rose
"Never go in the middle of the circle beacuse you might get burnt" Oscar.
At the end of the session we enjoyed a lovely drink of warm vimto and sang some songs around the fire.
We did it again! We renewed our Green Flag Status!
Date: 16th Mar 2021 @ 9:36am
Well done to the Eco Warriors who worked hard during these unprecedented times to ensure this happened. Karyn from Eco Schools said “It is a true reflection of the school’s determination to make a real difference”.
Date: 16th Mar 2021 @ 9:34am
As I’m sure you have heard on the news, there has been extensive discussion about the environmental impact the HS2 development will have, including requiring the clearance of established and crucially important woodland habitats along its path. To mitigate the impact of this habitat removal, the HS2 project commissioned a nursery in Wales to grow several thousand oak trees that were supposed to be planted as new woodlands. However, despite growing the trees and them now being ready to go to their new homes, no plans to plant them were ever made, making it a double disaster that woodland has been cleared, but the new trees have never been planted.
After hearing about this through word of mouth, a few amazing guys in Liverpool raised some money to buy 3000 of these little oak trees from the nursery, who had to cover their basic costs, and those guys spread the word to find homes for all of these trees. The Lancashire Wildlife Trust heard about it and asked across their Nature Friendly Schools network. Westminster Primary is our Local Nature Friendly school and they spread the word to other Blackpool primary schools. It is these baby trees that our school received and altogether 33 schools across Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside offered homes for around 800 of these rescued trees.
They are all oak trees. Oak trees can live for several hundred years. So when we plant our little trees we are planting a legacy that will live far into the future, and provide a truly valuable habitat for insects and birds. By giving homes to these little trees we are doing a wonderful thing for nature.
The Eco Warriors helped plant them around the school grounds.
Holly Class Forest School Fun!
Date: 11th Mar 2021 @ 8:47pm
It was a very breezy day but Holly Class wrapped up warm and ventured out to take part in Forest School.
First, we warmed up by playing running games and hide a seek and then we used our beady eyes to look for circles in the environment. We found them everywhere, on a bench, on logs and canes, at the bird stop, in plant pots and even in the pond (which had lots of frog spawn!). We then went exploring, trampiing through the soggy grass, raking the mud to plant grass seeds and building towers and seats to sit on using the logs. Alfie even found a frog! The children worked together, helping each other to lift, build, carry and explore.
By the time it was time to go, we were all very muddy and and very hungry. Before we went to lunch, Mrs McAllister hosed all the children down which was to their absolute delight!
Date: 9th Mar 2021 @ 8:20pm
This week Year Two were finally all back together in the classroom and we were so happy to see each other. To support our Science topic on plants, we had fun planting sunflower seeds. We are going to take care of these in school until the weather gets a little warmer. Then we will be sending them home and seeing who can grow the tallest sunflower. Good luck everyone!
Date: 5th Mar 2021 @ 5:24pm
The Nursery children had a wonderful time at Forest School. They listened to the story Goldilocks and The Three Bears and then made porridge for the bears. They splashed in muddy puddles, built towers by balancing wooden logs, did some super mark making by painting water on to wood, tested out their balance on the obstacle course and had a yummy flapjack for snack! We know they enjoyed themselves beacuse they came back covered in mud!
Date: 4th Mar 2021 @ 3:56pm
This afternoon, Cedar had great fun in our Boundary Forest School area.
First, we went to look in the ponds and couldn't believe how much frogspawn there was! We discussed the lifecycle of frogs and can't wait to watch them grow.
Next, we made jam donuts, yum! We lit the fire and set to work making the batter, before frying our donuts over the fire. They were absolutely delicious! We showed good resilience when using flints to start the fire and good team work when making the donut batter.
