Nature Notes

It's been an interesting week! Trying to catch up on a year's worth of admin, making resources, checking over the site, listing what needs to be done, cataloging what is usable and what needs replacing... As always THE most valuable thing any of us possess is TIME!

The classes are enjoying their extended sessions. It isn't as rushed and the children are able to take time to explore many more aspects of Forest School as well as enjoy some time with staff to talk, ask questions, and learn a little more. Those children who need to run themselves ragged now get to do so and still have time to settle afterward into a game or activity. The dig pit has actually been empty a couple of times after children created big holes and then went off to do something else. We've had discussions about COP26, about joining a scout group, about what they did in half term. There have been some wishes and suggestions put forward, there have been discoveries and some alliances outdoors between pupils who usually do not mix. but have found a shared interest outdoors. 

We've just started creating class nature journals for the children to contribute to. I'm not sure how well this will work as I also don't want children to sit down drawing/writing for ages either! Currently, it's an activity they can dip in and out of. I use photos to show what they have done as well as anything they want to write or draw.

The flexibility of this is that they can choose whatever they want to put in. A suggestion. A declaration. A drawing. Some writing... This has inspired some children to deliberately look for something they want to use to contribute,


This led to a lot of discoveries by surprised children!


It may have been a bug hunt and asking for a photo of what they found. In one case it was a search for a leaf that had good veins for leaf rubbing. 




For a few, it meant working together to create a picture. The children are always interested in making books and if they can create one across the entire year then hopefully it can move on to their next class with them for a reminder of what they have experienced at Forest School.

This is time-consuming to set up. All in all, there will be 14 scrapbooks, but if I take a little time out of the day to collect their work and print the photos gluing them in should only take a few minutes. Hopefully, 30 minutes a day will produce an ongoing record of their learning and activities, a mini display that includes their own feedback and ideas, and over the years a record of the progress they have made. It should also be full of happy memories.

Nature Journals really vary in how they are made and how you contribute to them. These are just an extension of the solo volume I keep each year to show progress and as a record of what changes I have made to the site. I'm hoping to replace these with this more child-friendly version that the children have a greater voice in.

In a perfect world these would be individual journals... but I'm not juggling over 400 personal creations! Luckily the new timetable means it will only be seven classes a week doing Forest School this term, and only a maximum of 2 long sessions a day. 

I can just about manage that!


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