Forest School Jo

This week we brought Forest School indoor at school for the children who still attend. It's always a challenge to keep children engaged when the age range runs from 5 - 11, but some things are too much fun not to engage in!  I have said before - I have a large IKEA bag full of activities for children to do inside. It is rarely needed, but if there is high wind or thunderstorms and I need to take the outdoor learning inside, I am prepared! So we started the day allowing the children to look through all the different things available, Insect life cycles, picturebooks with props, Bug Top Trumps, wildlife encyclopedias, photo books, playmobil wildlife, bird toys that tweet.... etc In the morning we read them all Bog Baby A great book about removing a creature from it's habitat. It caused great discussion about why this might not work, and children's own wanderings through bluebell woods and near rivers and ponds with family. It also sparked a discussion about NOT goin...

As inevitable as the current restrictions of movement are it was still difficult to prepare for it or to judge when it would come. I am on a rota to go into work and help with the reduced number of pupils we have now. But I found myself going in when not on rota because there was stuff that needed doing. Was it essential...? Probably not. But I could do all of it in isolation without spending time with the children or other staff and at that point a lockdown had not been called I started the week by attacking the poly tunnel!  Our wonderful volunteer who runs a Garden Club with Year 2 had already ensured that all their hard work was in the Poly Tunnel's Nursery Garden, so I just needed to attend to all the gardening the small groups had been achieving A path needed finishing, we still have some Woodland Trust trees to plant and we have seedlings bursting out that will not survive in seed trays with little opportunity to water them. The children have worked hard and have such...

Well even though we all knew it was coming, the insanity of this week was still a series of varied surprises to wade through! With the impending closure of schools the race was on to get as many of our Woodland Trust trees into the ground! And the children rose to the occasion! Years 3, 4 and 5/6 helped to get 50 trees into a hedge formation to add a hedge to the Millennium Garden and to start the demarcation of what will hopefully be a story trail by the end of next year. The sun shone and the drizzle soaked and the wet grass made socks soggy but 5 classes managed to have fun, follow instructions and add to our school environment Two of the groups who work with me to earn their Royal Forestry Society Junior Forester Certificate not only helped to plant a further 40 trees - but were able to take over and explain to their classes exactly what was required to ensure the trees would grow well. Year 4s and Year 5/6 experts in the making! Years 1, 3 and ...