My Scilly Trip - Wednesday in the Woods

Today we were up and out and over to the site that's used for Forest School, and a team of us set it up ready for day one...


We had 30 x 3 - 8 year olds exploring the environment, trying the slacklines, and being creative. 


Arts and crafts, including Happa Zome, books and stories and props, trees to climb, dens to build, tools to use, paths to investigate, and ferns to crawl through!

The mixed age group works well, with children gravitating towards activities they have their own interest in instead of following the others. Other children found friends old and new and made groups to work together.

Forest School is Forest School wherever it is set, the opportunity to work alongside peers and try new things is par for the course, and being immersed in nature is pretty easy in this stunning environment!


Children who are visiting the islands, those who live here, those who are new to any kind of Forest School, and those who bring their experience with them, all have the opportunity to enjoy some level of freedom in amongst the trees. 

For many, the ferns are head height, the trees tower above, and the walk from the where the cars park feels like a hike through deep, dark woods. For some this is their only experience of being surrounded by Forest whilst for others this is a well known playground.

Regardless of how familiar the children are with the area they all seem to feel at ease very quickly, and plunge into discovering as nuch as they can.


Children's acceptance of being outdoors is something that needs nurturing - whatever the opportunity or weather!

The weather, however, has behaved! No rain, not cold, and no heatwave like last year, so a campfire was built...


Bananas and chocolate, as well as the prerequisite marshmallows were on the menu!

We are all knackered now, although when we got back into Hugh Town, we changed and went for a sea dip and used up what energy we had left! But after fish and chips seated on the sand we found the get up and go to walk up the Garrison and watch the sun set...

Tomorrow, we have a session with older children, 8 - 14 years old, so some differentiation of activities and a few totally different ones too!

Here's to another brilliantly exhausting day!

Location: United Kingdom

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Indoor Forest School

Image
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
Read more

Stormy weather

Image
At the risk of sounding even older than I actually am "We have way more storms than we uses to"! Which may or may not be statistically true, but definitely a lot more have impacted our Forest School since 2021 than before. (Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning!) Often, these charge in overnight or at weekends leaving me tip-toeing onto site to see what damage has been done. Frequently they gather pace at 4pm leaving the school day clear from session, and sometimes, the gods are smiling and they blow themselves out in the morning before the first class is due on site! They always make their mark though. Torn parachutes, flapping tarps, tree debris everywhere, litter blown in, on one occasion a 6ft trampolines rolling across the school. Field... There's the risk assessment required to ensure the site is fit for use, and damage to manage or remove. We're never totally unscathed! Sitting on a plateau at the edge of the South Downs doesn't help. The wind rush
Read more

Outdoor Learning

Image
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
Read more