Forest School & Outdoor learning

Our 'Forest School' journal - Stalmine Primary

 

Forest School Timetable - (Every Tuesday morning with Mrs Smith)

AUTUMN 1 & 2  2024 -   CLASS 2 & 3 

SPRING 1 & 2   2025 -    CLASS 4  

SUMMER 1 & 2  2025 -   CLASS 2 & 3 

*CLASS 1 (EYFS)  - Ongoing throughout the year on Tuesday afternoon with Ms Pozzi and Mrs Cardwell

 

Forest School Kit

Parents can choose to send their children to school in school uniform or winter PE kit; tracksuit bottoms and a school hoodie. Throughout the winter the children will need a coat, gloves and a hat as the weather will often be cold or wet.. During the Autumn and Winter months, the ground is often waterlogged, so we will be using the outside area close to school so that the children can stay as dry and warm as possible. We will let you know in advance if wellies are needed. At the moment, school shoes or old trainers should be worn. During the Spring and Summer months the extended areas of the school grounds will be used more including the forest school area at the bottom of the field. 

Activities

For the first few weeks the children will be learning lots of outdoor games, how to use tools safely, making crafts from natural materials and how to tie different knots. The Forest School focus also links closely with the seasons and the interests of the children. 

 

Dec 2024

The children have impressed me with their knowledge and their kindness towards themselves, each other and the environment. We started the morning by learning how to find the age of a tree (circumference divided by outward growth in a year) and learning how important the ivy is, that grows on trees, to birds and insects. Lots of children wanted to try finger knitting and making a Nature Eye.

   

   

 

Nov 2024

At Forest School this week we have been learning about tree seed dispersal but before we went to visit the trees in the school grounds we had to guess the tree seed in the feely bag! It’s always lovely to see the children’s faces once they’ve worked out which seed it is! I was very impressed today with how the children used the identification charts to work out the names of the trees and how they thought carefully about how the trees disperse their seeds.

   

  

 

 

Sept 2024

The children in C2 made Bee Bricks from a mixture of sand, mud and straw. Once the bricks have dried, a little, we will put holes in the side so that any solitary female bees can nest and any new bees have a place to hibernate in their cocoons. The children loved making them! Lots of children enjoyed looking for minibeasts.

  

  

 

At Forest School this week we have enjoyed harvesting the apples and making ‘Gruffalo crumble!’ The children learnt to use a fork to steady the apple while they were using a peeler. They enjoyed eating the fruits of their labour too!

    

 

July 2024

Congratulations to all our pupils we have been awarded 'Green Tree Ambassador' status 

The Green Tree Badge has been created by the Royal Forestry Society and Bags of Ethics. Our eldest pupils completed 8 environmental activities through the winter and spring term which helped us gain this recognition alongside all the super work completed by both class2 and class 3. It has helped the children understand the wider environment and our connection with it.

Well done to Mrs Smith and supporting staff to help this happen.

 

Our focus at Forest School this week for Class 3 has been all about trees. The children had to try and find all 10 pictures of tree leaves and name the tree they belong to. This was quite tricky so we used a field study guide to help us name them. The children have also made a fortune teller to share their knowledge with family and friends!

   

 

 

June 2024

Class 3 went back to the end of the Stone Age when people started to farm and we made some damper bread using flour and yoghurt. While the bread was cooking we practised our fire starting skills and we made butter by shaking double cream in a jar. It was great fun and most of the children enjoyed eating the bread and butter at the end!

  

  

 

 

 

May 2024

This week C2 made a Mandala out of natural materials. They also made a Mandala with our bodies. As the children laid down they practised their belly breathing which many of the children found very relaxing. Using only our hands and flour we made a final piece of artwork. It’s been wonderful learning outside with Class 2 this half term .

   

    

 

 

Year 1 created a DandeLION. Year 2 practised tying a knot before playing the knot relay race. Practised their fire lighting skills with the dragon sneezer. They were also able to use knots to make a quoit and then use the quoit to hit a target.

  

 

April 2024

The children had to find pictures of hidden plants and try to learn their names. We enjoyed smelling the wild garlic from the environmental garden. The children enjoyed looking at the different shapes of seeds before we scattered them, some looked like little paintbrushes! We also planted radish, courgette and wild strawberry seeds. The children also enjoyed looking at potato tubers and getting muddy while planting them! Pupils enjoyed trying the nettle tea - it was wonderful seeing the children try it!

   

 

 

Class 2 discussed creatures that will be coming out of hibernation at this time of year. Lots of children enjoyed looking for minibeasts and making bug hotels out of an old plastic bottle filled with sticks and fir cones. A few children enjoyed learning how to make a tepee and playing with it in the small world area, where lots of dinosaurs were having an adventure! Lots of children enjoyed the mud kitchen and they were encouraged to name their creations and try to make them symmetrical.

   

  

 

Nail Art - March 2024

   

  

 

 

Bird Feeders - February 2024

         

Den building - February 2024

          

 

Bird Boxes - Spring 2024

         

 

Bird table and trees Spring 2024

Our focus this week was ‘Trees’. We had fun working out which tree seeds were in the feely bags and looking for photos of leaves and naming the tree they came from.We learnt how to measure the height of a tree by measuring our stride in cm, walking away from the tree, counting our steps, and stop when we can see the top of the tree looking back through our legs! Multiply our stride by the number of steps and divide by 100. Lots of children successfully did this. Some Year 5 children learnt how to hold a nail with a peg before hammering, this helps to keep our fingers safe!!

The bird table is also coming along!

     

      

 

 

Spring 2024 - Using a flint to start a fire pit

This week at Forest School the children have experienced a simple orienteering course. The children have also learnt how to safely use a Dragon Sneezer (flint and magnesium rod) to set some cotton wool alight.

All the children adopted the safe kneeling position and they were all very sensible so we toasted some apple covered in sugar and cinnamon. We enjoyed learning outside in the sunshine!!

 

  

Orienteering warm up games