2023-2024

Summer 2 

17th July 2024

Today Explorers made bottle rockets and used alka-seltzers to launch them. They learned about how pressure builds inside the bottle causing the top to open and this propels the rocket into the air.

3rd July 2024

We looked for ‘treasures’ in our Forest School area and made bracelets using what we found.

26th June 2024

This week we made boats using corks, cocktail sticks and our favourite found leaf as a sail and we raced them to see which leaves made the best sails.

19th June 2024

This week it was sports week and so we all had a go at some Forest School sports. First we threw wellies to see who could throw them the furthest. Next we had a horse race where we made long sticks into our horses and raced them down the track galloping along. Finally Year 6 did a tarpaulin race where they had to drag a member of their team along the race trac, swap people at the other end and race back again. We all enjoyed ourselves a lot and wanted to keep going with the horse racing!

5th June 2024

This week Explorers have been looking at the book the 3 Little Pigs and so in Forest School we made our own mini stick houses to leave as potential habitats for small animals and insects.

Summer 1

22nd May 2024

Today Explorers learned lots of facts about bees and we played some bee themed games in the hall.

15th May 2024

This week Explorers tried to find the trees using the ID jars that Year 6 made last week. The jars were looking a bit murky, so once we found each tree, we replaced what was in them and added some glycerin to preserve the newly added leaves.

8th May 2024

Today Explorers made journey sticks by finding a stick, going on a journey around the grounds and adding found treasures to the stick as they went to remind them of where they had been. Afterwards we shared our journey with each other.

1st May 2024

Today the children went on a ug hunt they found all sorts of interesting species and we had to look some of them up after as we weren’t sure what they were.

24th April 2024

Today a KS2 child read us a story that Mrs Abbott had given to us about hedgehogs. We remembered lots of information that Sue and Sally told us last week and could even remember that a hedgehogs nest is a hibernaculum! We played a game of 'Worm, Worm, Hedgehog!'

17th April 2024

Today we had a visit from Sue and Sally from Hog Manor who came to talk to us about the hedgehogs they rescue. They showed us how to make a hibernaculum from natural materials and showed us a real life hedgehog spine that we felt to see how sharp it was. 

Spring 2

6th March 2024

Today Explorers played the Gruffalo game, they were given a creature (mouse, fox, snake, owl) and when their creature was said in the story they had to run around the circle back to their spot. We had some very tired mice who will definitely sleep tonight!

28th February 2024

This week we learnt about how important bees are to the environment and made our own little bees using Alder seeds, yellow thread and tissue paper for the wings.

Spring 1

7th February 2024

Today the weather was finally good enough to carry out the Big Schools Birdwatch. We found a quiet spot around our site and counted all the birds we saw. We even saw a lapwing which is on the conservation list as a threatened species.

24th January 2024

We had intended to carry out the Big Schools Birdwatch today, however 39mph winds meant that it wasn’t really Birding weather. We decided to utilise the time by refilling our bird feeders and we played a new game called ‘Roosting Starlings’.

17th January 2024

Today we made bird feeders spreading fat onto empty toilet roll tubes and rolling them in bird seed. We are trying to encourage the birds to come ready for our RSPB big bird count next week.

10th January 2024

Today Hetty Hedgehog came to us telling us that her home had been destroyed in the recent storms and asked that the children make her a new one. We had a think about the sort of things she might need in a home. The children told Mrs Powell that Hetty should be hibernating and that she is nocturnal and should not be out during the day. They said that she would need a safe and secure home that was insulated, waterproof and windproof.

We also looked at a skull of a rabbit from a skeleton that year 6 found on the field. The children were fascinated to see what it looked like. 

Autumn 2

1st November 2023
 

Explorers dressed dolly pegs using found natural materials creating clothes. They made lots of different characters.

Autumn 1

18th October 2023

We read the story Leaf Man and went off to see if we could find our own Leaf Man. Some children made a self portrait using things they found around our school site.

11th October 2023

It was a wet drizzly day today. We stayed in the hall and made conker comets using our found conkers and crepe paper streamers. Then we raced them to see who could get them to go the farthest.

4th October 2023

We read the story “123 Where are you?…123 Here I am!” and practiced hiding quietly so that we would know what to do when observing wildlife, while playing a hide and seek game.

27th September 2023

We made flipper flappers today that spin in the wind. The children loved making them spin as they ran around the field.

13th September 2023

For our first Forest School session we all got to know the new reception children a little better and the Year 1 children helped them to learn the Forest School rules and introduced them to their favourite Forest School game 'Squirrels Scamper'. We also sang a new Forest School song.