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Rain is sometimes THE best thing!




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Indoor Forest School

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On rare occasions, we need to cover a Forest School session INSIDE. It may be because the weather prevents a session, it may be a staffing issue, it may be an introduction for children who will find the outdoors challenging, but whatever causes it, there are times when setting up activities in a classroom is suddenly needed. I've said before that I have a large IKEA blue bag that I keep certain activities in, these are not necessarily ones I can/will use in Forest School, like jigsaw puzzles, colouring, cutting out, etc. It's fairly quick to add some of the nature table items, bug ID, and bird guides, etc. into the bag to make what is basically 'nature learning' feel a little like Indoor Forest School! One week in December started with me under the duvet with a fever and headache, and a PCR test pending. School canceled Forest School because waiting each day to decide what the following day's timetable would be was too hectic. So once back in on the Wednesday indoor...
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Outdoor Learning

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In my own head, I separate Outdoor Learning and Forest School.  They are interconnected but to me, FS offers activities and supports what the children choose to do, whereas OL has learning intentions and aimed-for outcomes. Year 3 are currently looking at the Stone Age as a theme, and I was asked if I would provide activities to support this. In doing so I would have to remove the children's usual choice, their opportunity to follow their own interests & learning outside, and the ability to respond to what they discover and expand on it. This isn't a 'bad' or 'wrong' thing, but it isn't Forest School. Hence approaching it with a different ethos. In giving 21st Century children a tiny taste of life over two million years ago the week began with a definite learning intention. I went with 6 activities that every child could try on rotation. They would end up with perhaps 10 minutes at each exercise in life long ago, after a chat at basecamp that explained w...
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Term 1 2024

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Our Forest School life has been busy - ridiculously BUSY! Keeping the weekly Blog going became impossible, so now we are at the end of Term 1, we're going to recap everything that's happened since the summer holidsys ended, and how we continue to juggle school, community, and training, whist being as child focused and child led as possible!  After a Summer 'resting' our grounds had grown 4m brambles, 2 metre stinging nettles, and tunnels in the bushes grew and merged closed! When September dawned we had a huge amount of site maintenance to do before we could even consider any site development! Once 60% of it was complete it was safe enough to hold sessions there and Chartham Pupils started their trek outdoors. This year we're trialling a different timetable for providing them session. In Term 1, years 1, 3, & 5 have had Forest School. We are a two-form entry school so both classes in the year group are out at the same time, but on different sites with different ...
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