Mama Beech

I hate being ill.  OK, I know no one actually likes it, but I hate that while my body sweats or vomits or aches or coughs, my brain speeds through 100 things that need sorting that instant due to my absence, AND the several knock on effects that being away from site causes. This past week I was tired - big deal, who isn't!? As we hurtle towards the end of the school year there is no calm wind down...  just the wind UP to the Summer Holidays! There's the leavers production,  the transition days,  sports day,  school fete,  visits,  the Yr6 water fight,  visitors,  and usual curriculum to squeeze in. July = 3 weeks of school, that's 15 days IN school, throw in an inset and couple of strike days and there's a dozen days left! Now it's July 7th, we're down to nine! In Forest School we are not immune to the pace or changes to the norm. The children who are anxious about moving up or moving on, or are just not coping with disrupted routines, bring ...

That's it! Forest School sessions ended this week. Another academic year is over & out for us.  The children and staff are still in for a few days, but now is our time for planning next year, catching up on admin, a few 'gardening' duties, maintenance, repair, and an opportunity to reflect on what we have achieved and how we plan to build on it. As usual the last week of term was a Celebration Week to round off 6 weeks of sessions. Usually this requires a campfire, 400 marshmallows to toast, gallons of hot chocolate, half the biscuit aisle from the supermarket, and the delicate process of 'make your own' marshmallow sandwich task for all classes! This time, it did not.  With the heat in South East England not only being high (for us!) and hotter predicted, we made the decision not to have campfires based on a number of factors: It is definitely hot enough! We do not to be warmed up any further. I wanted basecamp to be a shaded respite from the heat. Lack of rain...