2025 A Great Start!
The end of Term 3 means we are halfway through the academic year, so perhaps that's why it feels like September was a long time ago while simultaneously it feels like everything is still new and settling in!
A couple of sessions had to be moved inside because of gale-force winds. When this happens we have a huge bag of nature based activities that the children can access in the classroom. These may be as simple as colouring-in sheets, design a den/bughouse sheets, make a map (2D or 3D), puppets and storytelling, fact and fiction books, British Wildlife toy animals to explore, life cycles, clay models, elder beads, and much more.
We hope that as well as providing a great space for extra Forest School Learning, the children's efforts will contribute towards Chartham Primary School gaining Eco School status.
In all honesty, the Termly alterations to the Forest School Timetable means we never feel properly settled into any schedule and it does take a toll on how we plan and provide sessions. We are currently on fortnightly sessions for the whole school, but with a six week term, interrupted twice by storms, we haven't really got into the swing of things entirely!
It hasn't changed the dedication of staff, the aim to provide the most child-led learning possible, or the engagement of classes when outdoors.
The new year dawned and the very first sessions were mostly a welcome back session. Staff chatted to children about their school holiday, listened to their highs and lows, and encouraged them to explore everything that may have changed. Lots of children hadn't had the opportunity to get out much over the holiday whilst many others had found new spaces and places to chat about. All of them were smiling and investigating energetically for their full sessions.
The first few weeks of the year were wet. Not 'green and pleasant land' kind of rainfall, more flooded rivers and waterlogged land kind of deluge, which hit time after time. Even if there was no rain shower while we were outside, we had to live with and work around puddles and endless mud!
Now mud is the 'glitter' of Forest School! The children love it, it is a useful material to have, but it does get everywhere! The consistently damp weather made our pathways boggy, and the children were eager to help spread bark chippings across the most slippery, slushy, squelchy, and squishy surfaces!
Some days the sun shone brightly and we hunted out all the different kinds of fungi we could find, what bugs weren't hibernating, and listening to the birds.
It wasn't a warm January. Other days mist hung in the air, the water on the ponds froze, and frost dusted the grass with glittering ice.
This obviously presented some amazing science learning opportunities: steam vs water vs ice, frost patterns, close-up observations, expanding vocabulary to describe what was happening and evident.
Reminding the children to bring a coat outside became our biggest bugbear of the Term!
Keeping warm by keeping the whole body moving and using friction to rub numb hands became the term's biggest life lesson. Despite the cold, everyone wanted their Forest School session to last longer, but were happy to head back into the warm after a couple of hours!
This Term is the first of two that Mrs LeFevre has been leading for Year 6. As a Forest School Leader-to-be she will carry out a minimum of 6 sessions with the same children, planning, preparing, providing, and evaluating the sessions she leads as part of her qualification.
This has been a tough term weather-wise and a learning curve where practical meets theoretical!
However, the classes she leads have enjoyed this term very much, and following on from keeping our own circulation going to stay warm, Mrs LeFevre demonstrated how the capillary action of trees keeps them hydrated and the children were in awe of nature once again!
A couple of sessions had to be moved inside because of gale-force winds. When this happens we have a huge bag of nature based activities that the children can access in the classroom. These may be as simple as colouring-in sheets, design a den/bughouse sheets, make a map (2D or 3D), puppets and storytelling, fact and fiction books, British Wildlife toy animals to explore, life cycles, clay models, elder beads, and much more.
These activities need to be selected and adapted for the appropriate age group, however, it's always surprising how many 10-year-old boys want to snuggle up with a cuddly toy badger!
Luckily, no matter what the season, no matter what the weather throws at us, we are always ready to go outdoors, have some fun, learn about the world around us, and connect to Nature!
Across the term, outside, the children got to:
Spend time working with others as well as taking time out to be alone.
They got to explore climbing,
fire lighting,
and using peelers to strip bark.
Considering each class had only 3 sessions in Term 3 - it's been a great start to 2025 despite, or maybe because of the weather!
In between sessions our Forest School Lead and Mr Leeks continue to develop learning opportunities, spaces for nature, and access to activities at their respective sites. Mr Leeks has created an amazing platform on the Under The Trees Site, while Joanna and the Eco Committee are developing a new wildlife friendly space at the Copse.
Each year, we join in with the RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch, and this January all the classes got to be involved. Some making bird seed cakes for our feathered friends, others by watching and counting the types and quantity of birds who visited.
We're proud to say that all our feeding, observing, and recording paid off! We sent our data to the RSPB website and can say that after 2 weeks of prep, we saw:
Blackbird
Blackcap
Blue Tit
Bullfinch
Chaffinch
Collard Dove
Common Gull
Crow
Dunnock
Goldfinch
Great Tit
Magpie
Pheasant
Red Kite
Robin
Rook
Sparrow
Starling
Thrush
Wagtail
Wood Pigeon
in varying numbers, and we were pretty excited to find so many birds in our Forest School environment! 
We hosted Forest School First Aid Training, a bespoke blend of the 16 hrs of Paediatric First aid and Outdoor First Aid suplied by FSLI. We also organised the repeat of this course in June plus the latest Level 3 Forest School Training which will take place onsite in Terms 4, 5, and 6! Please check our website for full details and don't hesitate to contact us or FSLI if you are interested in either the First Aid or the Forest School Leader Training.
Finally the end of Term brought 2 Celebration Weeks:
A fortnight that required -
3 Forest School Leaders
17 Celebration Sessions
30 hrs of Forest School outdoors
ALL pupils
And
50 litres of Hot Chocolate
(+ 10 non-dairy mugfuls!)
480 biscuits
(+ GF version)
430 marshmallows
(plus a bag of vegan mallows)
A bag of kindling
20 logs
(cotton wool & firelighters)
10 Flint & Steels
(For the children to use)
Site fire baskets
Site fire gloves
Site fire blankets
water
Important discussions about:
The Fire Triangle
Stop Drop & Roll
Fire safety
The Respect Position at the fireside,
Safe behavior
Awareness
Risk assessment
Choices
& first aid!
What we'd learned by the end of Term 3 is,
that with or without a fire,
Forest School is always worth celebrating!
Please check out the Forest School Pages on the school website for more info on our Forest School, or search for us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok,
Comments
Post a Comment