Year 1/2 - Miss Bennett

Day 1 - Tuesday 23rd February

With all Year1/2 pupils suitably dressed for a day of learning outdoors, all were eagerly anticipating what was install for them. For starters, Mr Thorpe instructed all children to find a space of their own on the outside field and allow themselves the silence to listen into their surroundings. In a peaceful time of reflection, the pupils were able to indulge their senses, taking in the sounds, sights and smells of their Forest Schools environment. Many a game was played and the children enjoyed all that they were able to take part in. ‘1, 2, 3 Where Are You?’ allowed the pupils to demonstrate their expert hiding skills, with many disguising themselves behind trees, piles of leaves and plenty of other imaginative places. Once pupils had been found, they were able to join in by seeking out the children responding with ‘1, 2, 3 I’m Here!’

A game all the children were enthused about was the ‘Limbo’, they had multiple turns ducking and crawling under the limbo pole. With many making for convincing action men and women, complete with muddy hands and feet. Another game that was a firm favourite amongst the children was ‘Rescue the Pig’ involving one child protecting a toy pig, while 5 other pupils attempted to catch it from the keeper. Many children were successful and showed great dodging and diving skills.

Then came a most welcome cup of hot chocolate and a biscuit for both staff and children. After a brief break, a story was shared about a dragon who was out to hunt small creatures from St Joseph’s playing field and the children must make safe and secure dens to protect their animal using materials found in the environment around them. All dens were expertly made and even decorated with a clay dragon face to keep away the pending dragon and ensure the woodland animals would be safe in their new habitat.

The pupils sawed and decorated their own wood cookies to take home as a momentum of their Forest School experience. A fire was prepared by Mr Thorpe and the children sat with great care and attention as the fire was lit to allow them to toast marshmallows. All pupils enjoyed reflecting on their day around the fire while gorging on their marshmallows, discussing with excitement what would be next in Forest Schools. Year 1/2 Forest School Reflection

Forest Schools

• Tuesday 15th March

Ready for their 2nd Forest School session, Year1/2 pupils got stuck in straight away with a brief game of ‘Eagle Eyes Closing.’ The children used their hiding skills to sneak up on Mr Thorpe and Miss Young, moving closer after each count to 15. Their favourite game, ‘Rescue the Pig’, was played again and their ducking and diving skills were still on top form.

Year 1/2 took the opportunity to decorate treasure pots and collect special items from the forest as a keepsake. The remainder of the session was structured around toy making, using only materials found in their forest environment. The pupils sawed their own spinning tops and decorated them with bright colours, before drilling a hole to fit a small stick they’d found in the forest to help their spinning top whiz around.

All the children became proud owners of a ‘Log Dog’, which they carefully selected and named, before using their new knot tying skills to create a lead to keep their log dogs under control. Some pupils added eyes, a mouth and nose to their dogs before creating a suitable shelter to keep their log dogs safe and warm when out in the forest. 

The afternoon consisted of a minibeast hunt, with many children using their best finding skills to track down as many minibeasts as possible. They concluded that the majority of minibeasts could be found under damp leaves and the most common minibeasts found were worms. Of course, no Forest School session would be complete without some compulsory marshmallow toasting which leaves the children excited for what’s to come in their final Forest School lesson.

Day 3 Forest School

What a fantastic final day the children have had. In the morning the children put up their own shelters, using the knots they had learnt in the previous session. All of the shelters had clay faces to protect them from dragons that might come during the lunch hour!

In the afternoon the children made a stew. They cut the vegatbles themselves and then cooked the stew on an open fire. 

Here are some of comments from the children about their Forest School experience.

"Exciting"

"It was legendary"

"Everything was amazing"

One child said "Wowzers!