Forest School

Willow Class Forest School: Autumn 2

November 2018

Making Stickerpillars

The children enjoyed walking through the slippery, squelchy, sticky mud on the way to Forest School. In the woods we talked about the four seasons and looked for different coloured leaves to represent spring, summer, autumn and winter. The children counted 10 leaves of each colour and threaded them on their sticks – making a stickerpillar!

Cherry Class Forest School: Autumn 2

November 2018

L.O. I can make (seasonal) observations and comparisons between summer and autumn.

As a class, the children thought about how the woods looked in the summer time. At school, we drew a picture and labelled the different features. On the way to Forest School, the children then looked for signs of autumn. We took photos of the some of the autumnal features.

    Frost on the ground   

    Rotting fungus

    Beech mast

    Fallen leaves

    Mouldy blackberries

At the Forest School site, the children worked in groups and completed their own picture of autumn in the woods. They then collected a variety of leaves and had to think of different ways to sort them. Some ideas included:

• Different colours
• Light to dark
• Different types of leaf
• Different shapes
• Crumpled / not crumpled
• From trees to woodland floor

The children sorted their own leaves and then sorted the leaves of their group.

Beech Class  Forest School: Autumn 1

October 2018

Link to Topic: Making a Viking Longhouse

In Beech Class, the children have been learning about Vikings. The children were given the challenge of constructing a Viking Longhouse using the natural resources they found at Forest School. It had to be shaped like a longhouse, contain tables and benches and be big enough for the whole class to fit in for snacks! 

Willow Forest School: Autumn 1

October 2018

Journey Sticks

At Forest School, we explored with sticks. First we chose different sticks and put them in size order. After that, we each chose a special stick. We used sticky tape to attach things we found on our journey back to school. It was fantas-stick!

Willow Class Forest School: Autumn 1

September 2018

My First Forest School Visit

Today was the first visit to Forest School for Willow Class. We practised counting and reminding ourselves how to stay safe. Then we set off. On the way we spotted lots of arrows and 3 polo ponies! At the site, the children balanced on the wobbly log bridge, played in the dens and enjoyed snack time.

Autumn Term Forest School

We have had a very busy time this term. At our Forest School site, Willow Class have been enjoying the trees and leaves. They have used the autumn leaves to make hedgehogs.

In the woods, we have also been thinking about the different seasons. We thought about the different seasons and what happened in them. Then we choose different coloured leaves to represent winter, spring, summer and autumn and made a seasonal sticker-pillar!

Sometimes, it is not always possible to go to the woods but we still make sure we have Forest School! Recently, the children made mud faces using natural resources: 2 pine cones for the eyes, 1 pebble for the nose, a stick for the mouth, leaves for the hair and lots of mud to stick it altogether! 

Cherry Class (Y1 and Y2) have been linking their Forest School sessions to the Science Curriculum. As well as having lots of fun in the woods the children have been busy identifying trees by their leaves and even the bark. The children used the leaves to make some amazing animal pictures.

Beech Class (Y3) also enjoy learning outside. When learning about forces in science, the children demonstrated their understanding of push, pull, balanced forces and unbalanced forces. They also investigated the effect speed down the slide when sitting on different materials. The results weren't always  as we had predicted!

More recently, the Y3s have been learning about magnetic forces. After lunch in the woods, the children all made a compass to show which  way was north. They also learnt to look for natural signs to help find north - did you know that moss likes to grown on the north side of a tree?

Summer Term Forest School

The bluebells are truly inspiring at the moment. In fact, they are so inspirational that we built our two forest school sessions around them!

We found other things too!

Willow Class was inspired by the woodland scene and used natural resources to highlight the ground cover and trees. They then looked at the bluebells and chose their colours with care.

The children also had some free time to enjoy the great outdoors!

Teamwork was very important!

Cherry Class has been learning about Australia in Topic this term. We decided to use the natural resources to create a dot picture in an Aboriginal art style!