Forest School: Blog items
Date: 8th Oct 2021 @ 7:57am
This week we took part in the whole school 'No Pen Day!' and boy did we have fun! Our lessons were 100% practical and discussion based. We used physical 2D and 3D shapes to learn about their properties and their names by sorting, describing and playing games. We also found the features of information texts using blue tack and string to label a WAGGOL. In the afternoon we were lucky enough to find out about the importance of recycling using Now Press Play.
Date: 28th Sep 2021 @ 7:50am
Year 1 have had a brilliant start to the new school year. We have enjoyed exploring our new classrooms and completing independent tasks in continuous provision, alongside our daily lessons. We have been accurately counting forwards and backwards in maths, writing labels and sentences about 'The Colour Monster' in Reading into Writing and exploring the human body and our five senses in Science. We have also enjoyed our Forest School sessions and exploring our local area
Date: 23rd Sep 2021 @ 7:02pm
This week in Geography we began to learn about physical and human features. We learnt that human and physical features are things we can see all around us. We discussed how physical features are natural and would be here even if there were no people around. We identified physical features such as seas, grass, mountains and rivers. We also talked about how human features are man made and built by people. It was then time to visit the outdoor areas around school and the Forest School area to identify as many human and physical features as possible. Have a look at what we found!
Date: 17th Sep 2021 @ 7:42pm
This week we enjoyed our first Forest School session on a lovely sunny day! In the Forest School area lots of fruits are growing on the trees and during our session this week we learnt about which are safe to eat and which aren't. We also held lots of different minibeasts we found in the area, making sure to treat them with care and put them back where we had found them! We all enjoyed spending some time in the area and are already looking forward to our next session!
Date: 13th Sep 2021 @ 12:22pm
This half-term in Cedar, we are going to be eco warriors!
We started our topic by investigating Miss T's rubbish into what is recyclable or non-recylable. We discussed each item and how some parts of the items weren't and some were so we would have to separate them.
We learned about how must plasic there is in the oceans and seas and what we can do to help. We then used some of Miss T's rubbish to junk model our own sea creatures.
Date: 9th Sep 2021 @ 9:50pm
The children had such a brilliant time during their Forest School session this week.They found blackberries growing on a bush and apples and plums growing on trees! Of course we had to have a little taste and blackberries were the definite favourite! The children loved exploring outdoors and hunted for bugs, made pies in the mud kitchen and made patterns in the playdough using pinecones and sticks. We can't wait to visit the Forest School again!
Date: 16th Jul 2021 @ 1:27pm
Year Two had a fantastic final session with Forest School this week. We had fun mixing potions and making food in the mud kitchen area. We refreshed our knotting skills from earlier in the year by using rope and tarpaulin to create a teepee. We picked and ate our own wild fruits including raspberries, blackberries and goosebeeries. Then we consolidated our Science knowledge of food chains, prey and predators with an exciting game of 'Hungry Squirrel'.
As a special end of year treat, we sang songs around the campfire as we all took turns to melt marshmellows to make delicious s'mores.
Date: 2nd Jul 2021 @ 7:11pm
During the last two weeks year 1 have enjoyed our final two sessions of Forest School. We were very excited to be able to take part in our last sessions before the summer holidays!
Over the past two weeks we have explored teamwork, resiliance and cooperation through a number of different activities. We also linked our learning to our current topic in DT, structures.
We recapped on the key fundamentals of Forest School, looking after nature, keeping ourselves and others safe and having fun!
During our sessions we matched different colours in nature, made plates of food for fairies, tried fruit growing from the trees, collected 'nectar' for the Queen Bee, toasted marshmallows and ate them!
Date: 10th Jun 2021 @ 4:14pm
Today the children took part in their first of 2 Forest School sessions. As part of the lesson, the children took part in a range of activites, inlcuding:
- Mandala making
- Fire building
- Code breaking
- Smore making
The children had a great time and worked well together as a team. They created some beautiful mandala art work where they used the resources found in the outside area. We are looking forward to our session next week!
Date: 10th Jun 2021 @ 4:08pm
Today the children took part in their first of 2 Forest School sessions. As part of the lesson, the children took part in a range of activities, including:
- Mandala making
- Fire building
- Code breaking
- Smore making
- Nature necklaces
The children had a great time and worked well together as a team. They created some beautiful mandalas using resources found in nature as well as necklaces. We are looking forward to our session next week.
Shell Structures for Design Technology
Date: 19th May 2021 @ 4:36pm
For our Design Technology day we created our own Shell Structures, after looking at the nets of many different existing product packagings.
Our design brief was to create a lunch box suitable for a Year 3 pupil to take out to a picnic that could carry food. Although we had to create our models in card and paper, we discussed how it would be better for them to be made in plastic so they would be more durable but less eco friendly as plastic pollution is a big problem for the planet.
We discussed how the existing products we had looked at were made from recycleable materials and we used recycled card in our final designs. We found the recycle symbols on most of our existing products.
We completed our designs, made our prototypes and refined our ideas before creating our final product in card. We also learned how to strengthen and stiffen materials using laminating, tubes and corrugation. We had to cut and glue carefully once we had put our bold designs onto our structures. It was very fiddly and tricky but we showed resilience.
Fantastic Forest School Fun For Year Five!
Date: 17th May 2021 @ 8:41pm
Year Five have been really enjoying their forest schools sessions! They have completed a collaborative challenge of building a tower using only natural materials, found tadpoles in the pond, built a campfire and sampled popcorn cooked on the fire. The children are currently working towards the completion of a forest schools certificate.
One potato, two potato, three potato, four...
Date: 17th May 2021 @ 4:56pm
This week we have been planting potatoes in our outdoor area. We worked together, sharing the tools and helping each other dig the holes. It was a rainy day and we were very dirty when we had finished! In a few months time, with some sunshine and (more) rain, they should be ready for digging up and eating- we can't wait!
Releasing our butterflies in to the wild!
Date: 9th May 2021 @ 5:20pm
Over the past 3 week Reception have been closely observing our classroom caterpillars. We have be watching how they have grown and changed and talking about the lifecycle of the butterfly. When the caterpillars first arrived they were tiny, so small we had to use our magnifying glasses to look at them. Each day they have grown bigger and bigger because they have been eating the caterpillar food. Last week the caterpillars hung upside down and made a chrysalis around their body. At this point we carefully transferred them into out butterfly net and waited patiently for the butterflies to emerge. Finally on Thursday morning we watched as a butterflies emerged from their chrysalis. It was amazing! Their wings were very wet so we had to wait for them to dry. The we put some orange segments in the net for the butterflies to feed on. On Friday afternoon we talked about the importance of the butterflies being free so we let them go in the garden. They were very friendly and they enjoyed perching on the children's hands before flying off. Have a look at some of the amazing pictures of the children holding them.
Date: 7th May 2021 @ 7:29pm
Today in Science we created a microhabitat in the form of a bug hotel! We have linked our Reading into Writing sessions this week with our previous learning in Science and have been using our senses to complete sentence writing about hot and cold habitats. We have looked at the features of polar habitats, under the sea habitats and desert habitats. We then also looked at where various deserts are located on a World map. Before we went outside to forage for materials to make our bug hotel, we discussed what features bug hotels need to make an appropriate habitat for mini beasts. We said they need to be compact, contain different materials and have different layers. After foraging for materials we used our plastic bottles to create our very own micro bug hotels for our gardens.
Date: 7th May 2021 @ 3:35pm
The children took part in their final forest school session of year 4. They spent time building dens, shaving tree branches, doing finger nitting and looking at the tadpoles in the pond. They really enjoyed this session and said how they were all excited to start forest school again in year 5.
Date: 5th May 2021 @ 1:48pm
We have been having a great time with our growing topic this half term. We have planted cress, sunflower seeds and beans and we are now waiting for our caterpillars to make their cocoons! We have also been making the most of our outdoor area and planted some vegetable seeds. We are hoping that we get a crop of yummy carrots and delicious radishes!
Date: 4th May 2021 @ 3:39pm
The children in Reception have been busy preparing our raised bed in our garden for planting. We pulled out daffodil bulbs and dug over the soil to make sure it is ready for planting. We then planted our peas that we have in growing inside as well some pumpkin seeds, sunflowers and potatoes.
We talked about what we need to do take care of them.
Date: 2nd May 2021 @ 4:18pm
On Thursday Year 4 spent time in forest school enjoying the great outdoors. The children spent time building dens and making smores around the fire.
DT Day- Reception make fruit jelly pots!
Date: 27th Apr 2021 @ 4:59pm
Today in Reception the children have been designing and making their own fruit jelly pots ready for our whole school Olympics opening ceremony buffet. As a class we started off by looking at a range of different fruits. We described what they looked like, how they felt and were even lucky enough to taste them.
Date: 27th Apr 2021 @ 4:21pm
We are continuing our growing theme this week - this time with plants! So far we have planted some cress seeds and sunflower seeds and talked about all the things they need to grow. Fingers crossed we all have green fingers and our seeds will start to grow!
Recording the Results of our Plant Investigation
Date: 26th Apr 2021 @ 4:11pm
This week we looked closely at our plants and discovered what they actually need to grow. We put one in the cupboard so it had no light, one in the fridge so it had a low temperature and one plant didn't give any water to. It was clear to see that the plant that suffered most had had no water. We discovered that it was most important to give plants water because the plants can survive for a while without heat or light.
We also observed how seeds germinated with just water and warm in the cups - the mustard seeds and broad beans started to sprout and grow!
Date: 15th Apr 2021 @ 7:23pm
This week we had our first Forest School session and it was brilliant! The sun was shining and we had all remembered our outdoor clothes. We saw some tadpoles in the ponds, which we also filled up with water. We ate pineapple and we did some natural painting with berries. Some of us dug some holes and some of us started to make sparks to light small fires.
Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum! There's a lot of planting to be done!
Date: 13th Apr 2021 @ 5:12pm
Today in Recepetion a mystery letter delivered to the classroom. The children were so excited to see who it was from. The giant in the sky had sent us some magical beans and set us an important task of growing a beanstalk, just like the one in Jack's garden. As a group we talked about the different things a plant needs to grow big and healthy including; water, sunlight and nutrients from the soil.
