What is Forest School?
The Forest School Association define it as: ‘a child-centred inspirational learning process, that offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions. It is a long-term program that supports play, exploration and supported risk taking. It develops confidence and self-esteem through learner inspired, hands-on experiences in a natural setting.
What happens during a Forest School Session?
Here at Senacre Wood Primary School, Mrs Reeves leads weekly sessions with one class per term, with each session lasting 2.5 hours. In that time, there are activities available for the children to attempt, if they so wish, or they are free to explore their own particular interests that day. Such interests might involve working as a team, creating a game, building shelters, climbing trees, swinging on the rope swings, using tools, cooking on the fire, playing in the mud kitchen or imaginative role play – or several of those! There is great opportunity for discussion and new learning in every session.
At the beginning of each session, everyone gathers at the entrance to the forest area and we recap the rules of the woods. Mrs Reeves then shares the activities that she has brought along and invites the children to share what they would like to do. The rest of the time is free for the children to fill as they wish - and there is rarely a dull moment. At the end, everyone gathers once more to reflect on what they have enjoyed the most and what they might like to explore the following week. Finally, we all take a moment of mindfulness to listen to what is around us and make us calm to return to school.
Forest School takes place every Tuesday and each class (from Years 1-6) have a term each. A letter, outlining what your child needs and which session they are in, will be sent out the term prior to them starting.
Term 1 - Year 3
Term 2 - Year 6
Term 3 - Year 5
Term 4 - Year 4
Term 5 - Year 2
Term 6 - Year 1
Session 1: 10th September
Forest School had a bit of a makeover over the summer with a big tidy up and some lovely new equipment added - a huge thank you to the PTA for supplying it.
Year 3 enjoyed a tour of the new areas and a reminder of the Forest School rules before heading off to freely explore the site.
The new mud kitchen was especially popular and a vast array of delicious treats were served via the café - from cakes to cappuccinos!
Children listened carefully and respected the rules for the new slack line, enjoying taking turns to see how fast they could cross it.
There have been some lovely examples of turn-taking and helping each other out - I’m excited to see what the children explore over the coming weeks.
This week, the children made good use of all the space available and explored everything the wood has to offer.
Some children worked together to build a base and then used it to play some team games. Others got stuck in with the mud and the mud kitchen - we enjoyed some delicious creations from the café!
Mrs Reeves hung up the new hammock today and the children were very respectful of the ‘no shoes’ rule. It is a space to use for quiet reflection and lots of the group enjoyed taking time out from running around to enjoy the gentle swinging.
Week 3 was a whole-class session so the woods were a hive of activity!
Last week the children requested s’mores, so that was our main focus today. Each child had a turn at roasting their marshmallows on the fire, remembering that we should be on one knee to ensure we are all safe (the respect position). We talked about how the glowing embers are the best part of the fire to cook on and how we need to always watch the marshmallows to make sure they don’t catch light or melt into the flames. Finally we squashed them between two chocolate biscuits and devoured them - yum!
After all the recent rain, there was plenty of mud available to explore and enjoy. The mud kitchen was very popular, as was jumping in muddy puddles!
Mrs Reeves moved the support line of the slack line to a higher level to give the children an extra challenge (it’s much more wobbly!).
We have had a fantastic day with lots of learning and discovering. There has been teamwork, role play, exploratory play, mud, mushrooms and even a dead owl.
Mrs Reeves made a spider web from sticks and wool, and lots of the children were keen to make their own to take home. They had to find 3 sticks that were similar and then wrap the wool round to make the web.
The muddy puddle provided a huge amount of fun today as children explored its texture and found how far they could splash it when jumping in. Some children even rolled a tyre into it and made a ‘hot tub’! Mrs Reeves didn’t fancy a dip.
The mud kitchen was busy as usual and we had an array of delicious treats on offer - anyone fancy chestnut soup?
Perhaps our biggest learning opportunity today was the sad discovery of a deceased tawny owl on the school field. Lots of the children wanted to see it and asked some fantastic questions about what type of owl it was, how it might have died, how it got to the school field and if it was an adult or juvenile. We talked about the noise tawny owls make (twit-twoo), how well camouflaged they are and how unusual it is to find one - dead or alive. We looked at its beautiful feathers and its talons and respected it as we would any living thing.
Outdoor Adventurous Activities, or OAA, is a unit of learning within the PE curriculum where children should be taught to 'take part in outdoor and adventurous activity challenges both individually and within a team' (National Curriculum, 2013).
Because Forest School facilitates learning through experiences, risk taking and trial and improvement - both individually and collaboratively, Forest School from Term 2 will incorporate the OAA unit of work within each session.
OAA
Today marked our first OAA session within Forest School and the children really enjoyed the challenge of working as a team within the woodland setting.
The focus today was trust and communication and the children worked hard to collaborate with each other. One activity involved being blindfolded in the woods and guiding teammates to a cone on the floor. The children worked together to find effective ways to guide their friends and had to watch for obstacles on the way.
Forest School
I love how the power of free play in nature encourages children to engage in imaginative play - today a large group of children took to the mud kitchen to create an array of delicacies. Whilst there, play developed into 'Mums and Dads' and before long, whole families were joining in a delightful role play. Role play is a valuable way for children to learn how to communicate effectively - even in Year 6.
Mrs Reeves brought some card and tin foil to the woods today, with an invitation to create leaf prints. Some children created beautiful displays with an array of leaves. Others created their own fun - leaf kebabs anyone?
OAA
Today's OAA activities involved some amazing teamwork. Children took part in a range of games where they had to work collaboratively to achieve an end goal - there was a seated boat race, a pass-the-parcel relay with an interesting mix of items and even a human coat stand.
Teams realised that they needed to listen to each other, share ideas, nominate a leader to guide the rest of the team and ensure everyone had a part to play.
Forest School
It was a whole class session today so the woods were busier than usual. This didn't hinder the level of engagement and activity though, and it is always refreshing to see how different groups of children interact and use the space.
Larger groups of children naturally led to larger games - and a great game of Hide and Seek took place for a chunk of the afternoon. Tweaks to the rules are always added in, for a extra layer of fun.
It was Remembrance Day today and it was an honour to lead the class in a two minute silence at 11 o'clock. The children were incredibly respectful and sensible.
OAA
Tactical planning and problem solving were the focus for today - and I think this was the hardest challenge yet. We talked about how problem solving is an essential part of everyday life and we often have to use a range of skills to solve issues (being creative, working as a team, making decisions and thinking critically).
We played a range of games that involved having to solve problems but the most difficult (and a bit frustrating, some might say!) was 'Hot Coals'. Children had to use gold clubs to collectively lift a hot coal (a small ball) from one hoop to the next. Groups started off thinking it would be easy - but were quickly proven wrong. The skill of perseverance became the overall focus and I was impressed at how the children cheered each other on within their teams to succeed in their mission.
Forest School
Mrs Reeves brought the hammock, whittlers, a saw, hammers/nails and some wool to the woods today. Without instruction, children are often their most creative and there was a lot of open-ended tool use today. Children wanted to use the saw to see how it worked and felt; some wanted to explore connecting pieces of wood with nails; some used the whittlers to smooth an interesting stick they had found. Each of these is a learning experience that can be built on another time, perhaps expanding to bigger ideas or perhaps to fine-tune what they started.
The hammock was very popular. Some children had never been in one before and were concerned about whether it would hold them up. They wanted to know how it connected to the trees. Some children wanted to swing high (it is tempting!) but were respectful when we talked about the hammocks being a calm place of reflection and not a swing.
OAA
Back next week.
Forest School
Storm Bert visited over the weekend, leaving an interesting trail of debris in his wake. The woods held up well, and there were no large tree casualties. It did, however, provide a good topic of conversation about the importance of checking the site for fallen limbs/branches and any potential dangers. There were lots of additional fallen sticks and leaves which, coupled with the large amount or rain, made the ground more hazardous (slippery).
Last week, it was a unanimous request for hot chocolate on the campfire. So the children helped me to set the fire and light it. We talked about what a fire needs (heat, fuel, oxygen) and when to put the kettle on. The Year 6 children are experts with the strikers now and can spark the flint & steel first time.
With Mrs Reeves supervising the fire, today was largely a free-play session. Children enjoyed the swings, creating 'bases' with their friends and gathering round for a yummy hot chocolate.