Mama Beech

It's hard to think of dates the way we usually do. School years are broken in to chunks, separated by holidays, defined by school events, following themes and celebrations. Since the world went on hold time has no real meaning. I know the day and date, I am sometimes in work, I am often online, but all else has stopped too so what defines my week has also ceased! This would be the last day of school with either a final term or a final half term running up to summer full of events. Forest School and Outdoor Learning would be blooming right now... School has never been closed. It is meant to open up more in June and I know lots of people are not happy about that. Whether the schools open their doors and all the children return, or if at 9am on June 1st there is tumbleweed and children stay home, we have to start planning for return and we have to keep offering activities for children to enjoy at home. The planning and preparing will never be pointless because it will be needed ...

To be perfectly truthful, even without being a Forest School purist, you have to admit that doing Forest School at home is ranges from difficult.... to impossible. You cannot assume every child has access to outside space, even concrete, let alone access to space inside to achieve any activity that translates into a Forest School ethos of risk taking, freedom of choice, routine, nature, fresh air, space, cooperation etc But activities that include wildlife and the great outdoors can be adapted. Birds can be fed from a window sill, a garden, or strung on a branch on open land,  Sticks can be found almost anywhere and decorated and hung inside or outside,   Old water trays with holes, dirty, past their best sand trays, or any old large plastic tubs make a great flower or herb bed, even salad or veg can be planted. In the garden, on a balcony, or if a small enough tub can be found - indoor growing is possible!  Not strictly Forest School, but again using soda b...

It's not entirely accurate to say I'm in lockdown, I am a key worker, a member of school staff, and there is a rota, and there are responsibilities, and on occasion I do get to leave the house. I get straight in my car, drive straight to work, and there we try very hard to adhere to the 2 metre rule (adults are better at this than children!) and we nag everyone to wash their hands after every activity inside or out We try to take the children out as much as we can as fresh air is much needed right now. It is a strange time for them and us, and I for one have never spent so much time within 4 walls before and am missing open spaces! I have been into work this week and will go in if needed over the next couple of weeks. The children have worked hard since September to improve their outdoor areas, and I can take a small group out with me to help maintain a lot of what they have achieved so far. I also took the opportunity of being on site to complete the planting of ba...

I think I need to list all that's going on! It's the only way I am going to keep track! Our RHS Garden Gang has made it to the School Garden Level 3 with help from our Eco club that gives up some of their lunch time on a Tuesday and our Monday afternoon Gardening Gang. Between them all the poly tunnel is brimming with seeds beginning to burst into tiny seedlings Our RSPB Big School Birdwatch results are heading into cyberspace. The feeders are clean and full, the bird boxes have twigs and grasses near by to aid nest building, and access to clean water is solved! We have made our very first bat box! We need lots more - and then a very, VERY long ladder... There is an area perfect for a bats that we'd like to enhance The Junior Forester Groups are awaiting the delivery of the Woodland Trust trees next month so they can experience planting trees along with planting seeds and willow whips Our Year 1 Forest Schoolers had their very first Forest School Campfire. They had s...

We are swapping one of our parachute canopies for a wooden structure! A hand-built, round, base with a stunning roof to cover the fire pit, benches to seat an entire class and a table to set down whatever work teachers wish to do in our developing Wildlife Garden! We are ridiculously excited to have an outdoor classroom that the whole school can use and the opportunities for outdoor learning it will extend are endless. In the daily routine of Outdoor Learning and Forest School meanwhile, Year 1 were the first to explore the fallen tree and swarmed all over it! They also liked using pestle and mortars to crush berries from the climbing ivy and smell how sweet they are. The Garden Gang started planting vegetable seeds and some complimentary plants attract pests away from the veg! They helped to create a garden nursery outside the poly tunnel to allow a safe outside area for the seedlings when they need it, by deciding the shape of the area we enclosed wit...

T he easing into the new year is over! Our RHS School Challenge zipped past level 1 and 2 since term started because we have raised beds and a poly tunnel to utilise - the children are excited! We have a knowledgeable volunteer and a dedicated teacher eager to expand it's use and some equipment to repurpose! Meanwhile Storm Brendan hit Kent and brought down an old Elder Tree and took up a lot of time managing the crown which was now a tangle of twigs at face level! Now it's prone the children can still climb all over it, and the tree surgeon will look it over next week to see what is salvagable! Some roots are still earth bound so it may survive, plus a fallen trunk provides a home for huge numbers of minibeasts, and any bough that need removing can be repurposed in Forest School! The vehicle built by Year 5 is now attached to the Bug Tower to create what they call 'The Buggy'! A great storytelling prompt alongside a lot of very real insects! ...

The Year 3 Forest School Group wanted to help with the Wildlife Area, so they thought about how they could encourage birds into the 'garden'. The felt that an abundance of bugs would probably be a big draw, but also wanted to offer an alternative to watching the birds eat all the Minibeasts the Bug House could attract! So - and we are so proud of them for doing this - 2 of the group went home for the weekend and looked at bird boxes they have in their own garden, using these as a template they worked hard with family members to have bird boxes from scrap wood, and they brought them into school to use in the Wildlife area. So we now have two bird boxes, and two bird feeders. We also cut back the overgrown whips on the willow tunnel by our raised beds and planted it to create a square. When it grows it will fill out and the perfect 'hide' for watching the birds - and as we soaked it first - it grew shoots in a week!