Mama Beech

There is an unwritten yet universal law that states if it's Forest School Celebration Week, and four days of campfires to burn, the hottest day of the year so far will dawn! The children obviously don't mind, but as the Forest School Leader cannot move too far from the fire, adults have the fun of Eau De Bonfire on all clothing and hair as well as the sensation that human melting is actually possible! Planning this week is fairly easy - prepping it takes a little effort. As we are currently still doing shorter sessions for 14 classes ensuring I am prepared for a 4-day campfire plus treats tends to involve a full car boot and a bit of heavy lifting! Although we DO have trees, and a small amount of woodland we don't have anywhere near the natural resources on-site to fuel a fire from 9 till 3 from Monday to Thursday! So we bring in kindling and firewood. Then there are the treats. The consensus amongst the children is 'Marshmallows please!", so we need 14 bags of tho...

When I ordered the orchard trees from The Tree Council I did ponder my sanity! At that point there were over 400 trees on order from The Woodland Trust that we planned to plant as hedging. The idea was to create a kind of maze that would extend the copse that shelters Forest School Basecamp, a few apple and pear trees dotted at the edges could enhance it and we have the space... Time is always an issue. The pupils were a big part of planting the hedgerows that will be the maze walls, and whilst the experience is fantastic it doesn't actually speed up the process! Add to that the constant threat of bubbles or staff or the entire school having to isolate and there was a definite time pressure. But finally we reached the last week of this Term, Term 2, Winter Term, the end of 2020 at school.  Last week was full of celebrations of Forest School and some prep work for getting the saplings into the ground. This week was the graft! The 'Baby Hedge Trees' were just that, twig like...

Dear Santa, for Christmas please may I have a mini JCB digger because my back, hands, and for some reason my elbows, hurt from digging holes to plant Fruit Trees in!  And if Santa can throw in some new trowels and garden forks it would be much appreciated as our rocky ground has literally broken 5 tools this month! Our site is more flint than soil it seems, so even with the help of the children it's a nigh on impossible task!  Having spent most of this term planting 400 Woodland Trust Trees you'd imagine we were at least used to forging these holes in our challenging site! However the fruit trees are a lot bigger 'baby trees' and need substantial space to bed in. As it is we're running out of Term and they need to be settled into their spaces before school closes till January. In between digging for England there was the small matter of Forest School Celebration Week. We always end the term with a week of campfires and treats. This Term it celebrates the previous ex...

This week Christmas has arrived at basecamp! The 400 trees are in the frosty ground, the top of the lopped holly bush is our festive decoration, Reception Classes had a story around the campfire, and next week's celebration for the end of term is almost ready to roll! Last week I pointed out the pitfalls of Forest School 'Lite' , short sessions of outside learning in that it foregoes some of the routine and reduces the activities available. It was, and still is, a great way to get classes outside, and children react well to it, but this week threw up the other difficulty - over use!  The soil is eroding around basecamp as foot fall has gone from 2 or 3 classes a week to 16, the mud can be fun, but also needs managing. This has a knock on effect for the school cleaners when classes traipse endless mud back into the building! This was not helped by me allowing Year 6 to mud slide along the ground! They did get very muddy and very wet and very cold. We have in the past, and on...

We were a bit sad to miss actual Forest School Day on the 9th of October but Friday is the only day Forest School doesn't run sessions! So last week we continued with our ongoing provision through rain and shine and set aside this week as a celebration of the end of term. Autumn is really bursting forth, the colours are glowing, there's a nip in the air, and the mornings are oh so late starting! In fact, down a dark, dark lane there's a dark, dark Village... In the dark, dark Village there's a dark, dark Street... In the dark, dark Street there's a dark, dark School... In the dark, dark School there's a dark dark Forest School... In the dark dark Forest School there's a dark, dark Basecamp... And that dark, dark Basecamp is waiting... Today is the end of Term 1 in Kent, the end of half term for many, and the constant turn seasons brings Forest School into full Autumn. For seven weeks all of KS1 and KS2 have been coming outside once a week for a reduced Fores...

It's amazing that we are already a third of the way through the school year!  Our RSPB Wild Challenge team have earned a Bronze Award! Our Woodland Trust Champions have also earned a Bronze Award! Our Junior Foresters are half way to their certificate and our Tree Champions are starting on their RFS Certificate. And a new Garden Group are hoping to earn a few levels in the RHS School Gardening Awards! And that is on top of Forest School and all the outdoor learning the classes have planned in for this term! We have achieved a lot - but there's lots more to do! 2020 will see the RSPB Big Schools Birdwatch, and the delivery of new trees from the Woodland Trust to plant. Two groups need to complete their Junior Forester Certificate, we hope to get Silver and then Gold with the RSPB Wild Challenge, AND we'd love to end the year looking forward to some Platinum Challenges with the Woodland Trust in September!  We have also only just started on ou...