Forest School

Subject Leader- Mrs Murrell

Mrs Murrell has completed her Level 3 Forest School Training which has allowed us to begin weekly sessions with the children. Our woodland area on the school grounds has provided the perfect environment to carry out the activities- thankyou very much to everyone who kindly donated pallets, pots and pans and kitchen utensils to help it get up and running!

We invited another fully-qualified and extremely experienced Forest School enthusiast to visit on Friday 29th September. This is what she said...

"Your Forest school is a beautiful area, which with dedication, has clearly been enhanced. The Year Six pupils came to their session and immediately went to their starting point, silent and ready to get started. They were then quickly set off to work on focused or more open ended tasks. Pupils worked expertly and independently with knives, cutters and other sharp implements. It was clear that the rules and high expectations had been clearly established in other sessions because now they were embedded.
I asked a group , who were independently and creatively working with clay, if they liked Forest school. They all immediately replied ‘yes’. So I asked why they liked it: adding to each other’s comments they quickly replied ‘It’s calm, peaceful and inspiring.’ They felt it helped them stay focused in class earlier in the week.
Thank you to Mrs Murrell and Liz (Mrs Duncan-Jameson).

I loved being with you all." Mrs J Fitzpatrick, Forest School Practitioner & vice Chair of Governors at St Mary's, Lea Town.

This year, each class has had the opportunity to take part in Forest School sessions. They have had lots of fun whilst learning some new skills and gaining lots of confidence in the outdoors.

Beesley Class enjoyed celebrating 'World Bee Day' by using junk materials to create their own 3D bees, they also practised their fine motor skills by using playdough and clay to create wooodland creatures. We spotted the first signs of Spring in the woods and used buttercups and daisies to create beautiful flower crowns. 

Benedict Class had fun with sticks! We used different coloured wool to make magic wands and potato peelers to 'whittle' our sticks. The children cooked up some fantastic feasts in the mud kitchen and decorated clay hearts with flower petals on Mother's Day. We finished our sessions with hot chocolate and biscuits whilst listening out for all the different envionmental sounds in our woodland setting.

Marsden and Mary Class uplevelled their whittling skills by using sheath knives. We learnt all about tool safety, how to store the knives and hold them in order to minimise risk and they displayed a high level of maturity. The children enjoyed climbing trees, using the mud kitchen and making their own paint brushes out of sticks, leaves and long grass. Throughout each session, the children learnt about fire safety, how to make a spark with a flint and steel and how to prepare wood for the fire. In the last session the children were able to use these skills to toast marshmallows which we all enjoyed!

Rigby and Southworth Class used the hammers to do 'Hapa Zome' which is a technique of bashing different flowers and leaves between two pieces of cotton to create a pattern. We tested a variety of plants to find the best colours and the pictures made were very eye catching. Some children then went on to make a picture frame for their Art work using sticks and various knot techniques including a clove hitch and square lashing. The children demonstrated their ability to work as a team through various games during their sessions and were of course rewarded for their hardwork with some toasted marshmallows.

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