2024

Week 1

We had such a fun time during our first Forest Schools session. We had to do some parts inside this week due to the ice but we still had a great day.

We have been learning about the 4 seasons and we focused on identifying signs of Winter – there was lots of snow and ice so we were able to identify these straight away. We have also looked at the artist Andy Goldsworthy. We have created our own natural sculptures inspired by his work. We really enjoyed creating our own Jackson Pollock inspired drip/splatter paintings – it was great fun!We also practised our DT skills of grating and cutting to bake an orange and lemon cake.  At the end of the day we had a taste of our cake and it was yummy!

Week 2

This week at forest schools we have been learning about the 4 seasons and the changes across the seasons. We talked about what the weather and day length is like and what clothes we may wear in the different seasons. We even talked about which season was our favourite. Miss Travis likes Spring because flowers such as daffodils begin to grow. In Art we have been learning to print using natural materials such as leaves and using a range of vegetables. We really enjoyed this! In DT this week we also got to use the bow saw to cut disc of wood. Mrs Platts helped us to use the bow saw safely. We have also looked at the artist David Hockney and his Winter tree drawings. We used charcoal to create an observational drawing of an Oak tree in Winter.

In the afternoon we planted some Hawthorne trees on the school field along with Eco club.

Week 3

This week at forest schools we have been looking at the weather and we have drawn our own symbols for the different weather types. In art we have been thinking about texture and have create some rubbings using leaves from the garden. In DT we have been learning how to use tools to whittle sticks and we used these to create a wind wand. We used our discs of wood from a few weeks ago and decorated them with animals, mini-beasts or plants we would find in the garden. In art we have created also created observational drawings of Daffodils using oil pastels.

In the afternoon we went on the field and used our wind wands to find out which direction the wind was blowing. We used a compass to help us. Mrs Platts has also taught us how to play the wood cutter game!

Week 4

This week at forest schools we have been observing the weather and making weather vanes. We have also been learning about evergreen and deciduous trees. We have named and identified the trees in our school environment. We have lots of trees such as Silver Birch, Weeping Willow, Lime, Maple, Larch, Ash, Oak, Holly and Hawthorne. Mrs Platts has taught us some facts about each of the trees and how we can identify them. We have also looked at the artist Andy Goldsworthy again and created a clay bridge sculpture inspired by his work. We also looked at a new artist this week called Antony Gormley and created our own clay faces using natural materials, these are all stuck on the trees in the garden. In the garden this week we found some… Snowdrops! We have created observational drawings of the snow drops using pastels.

In the afternoon we helped to tidy the garden, fed the birds and made a bird’s nest.

Week 5

This week at forest schools we have recapped out knowledge of trees in the garden and identified which are evergreen and which are deciduous. We have thought carefully about how these trees are different and how deciduous trees change through the seasons. A few weeks ago Mrs Platts showed us how to whittle sticks and this week we create a journey wand to remember our time at forest schools. As part of our DT learning this week we have been beginning to explore weaving techniques and learning to weave with natural materials. Barry also showed us how to make a den. We had to think carefully about the equipment we would use to build the den and work collaboratively as a team.

In the afternoon we helped to tidy the garden by cleaning the paths and picking up leaves using the wheelbarrows. Mrs Platts talked to us about fire safety and lighting a fire. We then toasted marshmallows, yum! What a great way to finish our forest schools learning.