2024-2025

Spring 2

2nd May 2025

Today when we went to Forest School we found that the dragons had laid eggs all around the field. We had fun finding lots of them collecting them up so we could take care of the eggs.

25th March 2025

This week Inventors had another go at shelter building. They were really starting to think about the structures they were making and how they could make them warm and waterproof.

18th March 2025

We had another go today at lighting fires as some of us did not manage to get the cotton wool alight last week. People who were able to light the fire previously went off to 'forage' for what they thought were edible plants. They did not eat them though they took pictures using the iPads so that we could check in a field guide if they were what we thought they were. 

12th March 2025

This week we continued with our forest survival scenario by using the fire striker to practice making sparks to light a fire. 

4th March 2025

This week we continued looking at our forest survival scenario and inventors decided that the first thing they would need to ensure they had together to survive the night in the forest was a shelter. One group wanted to try and get a signal together that might let a helicopter looking for them where they were so set about making S.O.S (or S.J.T in our case) on the field. They were thinking about what they might need to make this stable and waterproof. They were only able to use things they found or we had agreed would be in a hiking backpack.

25th February 2025

This week Inventors were introduced to the next theme we will be looking at which is survival. They imagined themselves packing a bag for a hike, what would go in the bag and where they were going to go. Then we were lost and it was getting dark. What were we going to do? They came up with great ideas for what humans would need to survive and we will visit some of these in the coming weeks.

Spring 1

11th February 2025

After

it raining all day again today we decided to do an indoor task this week and were able to tick off number 41 from the National Trust's 50 things to do before you are 11 3/4 - Help a plant grow. We decorated a small paper cup to look like a head and then planted cress inside. We will be able to grow them once they have grown.

For ideas of other things you could tick off at home go to 50 things to do before you're 11¾ | Kids | National Trust.

4th February 2025

this week inventors finished their bird houses and started to tissue to their lanterns from the previous week.

28th January 2025

This week we have celebrated Chinese Culture Day and in Forest School we learned about the Lantern Festival that is held on the 15th Day of the year. We started to make our own lanterns using willow as our frame. Next week we hope to cover the frame with tissue paper and add some designs. We showed brilliant team work!

21st January 2025

This week some of Inventors had a practice at birdwatching while the others completed their bird houses. The bird watchers picked a spot and tried to stay there for the whole time looking for birds that landed on the site. They were not given tick sheets as they had to rely on their identification knowledge from previous weeks and write down what they saw. They did very well remembering UK winter birds.

13th January 2025
 

This week learnt about migration and how birds in the UK during winter may be different from birds in the UK during other months. We learnt that birds migrate to places where the climate is appropriate for them. We had a look at what birds we could recognise and then continued making our bird houses from wood donated by Stockport Timber.

8th January 2025
 

This week everyone picked a very special stick to represent them in an activity for our worship next week. While we were out we had snow so we enjoyed playing in the snow before it melted.

Autumn 1

10.12.2024

The second half of Inventors started their bird houses while the other half of Inventors made their angel decorations from recycled cardboard, wool and a paper doily.

3.12.24

Half of Inventors continued with their bird houses this week while the other half made angels decorations. They worked out how to attach the clamps while they hammered the sides and bottom together. 

26.11.2024

Inventors made a start on their bird houses with timber kindly donated from Stockport Timber and Year 5 wanted to share their game ‘wizards and seekers’ with the Year 4 children.

19.11.2024

Inventors had a go at doing their own willow weaving. We attempted to make some fish. The children thought that it was quite tricky, but they did very well for their first attempt at it.

5.11.2024

This week we learned about Remembrance and Inventors made God’s eye poppy crosses using sticks and wool, building on their spider webs from the previous session.

Autumn 1

22.10.2024

This week Inventors made spiderwebs using sticks and wool. It was much trickier than they expected it to be.

15.10.2024 - No. 1 Get to know a tree.

This week we picked our favourite tree and did leaf and bark rubbings. We also tried to identify the species of our tree.

8.10.2024 

Today we played a few new Forest School games. We really enjoyed Pass the Pinecone and Heads or Tails

24.9.2024 - No. 22 Find some Funky Fungi

Our KS2 children discussed what signs of Autumn we could see around our site and looked around for amazing fungi. We found Blackening Waxcaps, Shaggy Inkcaps, Yellow Brain and several fairy rings. Some of the children even spotted a King Alfred's Cake which Mrs Powell was very impressed to have. We saved it for when we have a fire in the future as it makes great tinder for lighting the fire.

18.9.2024 - No.18 Create some wild art

This week we had a go at creating our own wild art and some of us made dragonflies for a display using stick and sycamore helicopters.

10.9.2024 - No.12 Have fun with sticks

This week we split into teams to have a competition to make the tallest tower using only sticks and string. There was some fantastic ideas from the children and each tower was made in a different way.

2023-2024

Summer 2

17th July 2024

Today Tom and Dave came to visit us and teach us some basic first aid. They set up a space craft crash scenario and the children had to rescue casualties from difficult places, apply bandages to each other, create a stretcher to carry them to safety and then give CPR. They had an amazing time and hopefully will be prepared should they ever find themselves in a real life scenario that requires first aid.

26th June 2024

This week year 5 and 6 were out visiting another school and Year 4 were keen to complete the ‘dead hedge’ we started for our Junior Forester Award. They have done a great job and it is starting to take shape.

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!

12th June 2024

KS2 have been continuing with their Young Foresters Award this week by making a ‘dead hedge’ around an area of our site that they identified as suitable for setting aside for wildlife. They had lots of fun setting the foundations and then filling in the space with twigs and branches.

5th June 2024

Continuing with our Young Foresters Award we looked around our site to find a good spot that we could leave wild and add a dead hedge in front of to protect it. We identified 2 areas that would be good for this and made plans for any materials and branches that may need moving as part of this and where it will go. We thought that our area inside the willow fencing might make a good mindfulness area and started to plan the things we might put in there to help make it a calm and relaxing space as it is quite empty at the moment. 

Summer 1

22nd May 2024

Today we made seed bombs with seeds for flowers that will encourage. bees into a garden. these are to give to local residents as a random act of kindness and to help people understand how important bees are to the environment.

15th May 2024

This week Inventors found the tree they made a story about last week and made a fact file on it, finding out what tree it was and indicating any wildlife and mini beasts they found.

8th May 2024

Today as part of our Junior Forester Award, Inventors had to team up and locate a tree using a small cutting. They were not told what the tree was called and had to come up with their own name for the tree and a folk tale to tell about it. We then learned the real name of the tree. 

1st May 2024

Today Inventors started the first session of the Royal Forestry Society’s Junior Forester Award. They will learn all the skills they need to be a Junior Forester over the coming weeks and today they started by identifying the risks in our outdoor area and what we could do to minimise them in a balanced way. The children were quite aware of the risks and gave sensible suggestions of ways to ensure the risk was as low as possible.

17th April 2024

Today Inventors had a go at planning and making games using natural materials. We had some familiar games such as a version of noughts and crosses and some interesting inventions with well thought through rules. Some were board games and some were playground games. The children enjoyed sharing what they had come up with.

Spring 2

20th March 2024

We have found quite a few rabbit skulls round our grounds recently. The children were very knowledgeable about Myxomatosis and that this was the cause of the rabbit skeletons we had seen. We talked about how they get like this very quickly due to other animals, birds and insects eating the carcass. We looked at the anatomy of the rabbits and labelled the parts on our diagrams.

6th March 2024

Today we got to use our new benches that have been installed after our fundraising at Christmas. We learned about the Green Man who was originally a pagan symbol but was taken into Christianity to represent nature and tried to create our own version with clay on the trees around our site.

28th February 2024

Today we did some team building work with a technique called Nordic ‘slinging’ (or braiding). The children added weights to the end of lengths of yarn and swung them towards each other in a rhythmic pattern to make a beautiful patterned cord. Unfortunately due to IT maintenance we were unable to take any photographs.

Spring 1

7th February 2024

Today we finally managed to carry out the Big Schools Birdwatch! We spotted some common birds such as pigeons, sparrows, robins and various finches. We saw a wedge of geese go over and we also spotted a bird of prey on the telephone wire which makes a regular appearance while we are at Forest School and we think it is a Kestrel. As we were watching out we also saw lapwings which are on the red 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 doing a survey of our grounds using the ‘Homes for Nature Scorecard’ from the RSPB to make sure we had the best things available and what we could add to improve. We found we had most of the things on the list and scored very highly thanks to the work of Miss Stanley and Mrs Abbott. We need to add a beetle bucket to score 100%.

17th January 2024

Today we made bird feeders melting fat on the fire and pouring it into moulds and adding 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

Today Inventors could choose between making an autumn wreath, a bauble or use a wooden spoon to make a character all with found autumnal materials or an autumn scavenger hunt where they had to go around our site and find signs of autumn. They made some really lovely items and had a great time doing it and some children found lots of things on the scavenger list to indicate that autumn has definitely arrived.

Autumn 1

18th October 2023

We made some 5 pointed stars by tying 5 sticks together. The children added their own flare with coloured wool. Some children had a go at making trees in the same way.

11th October 2023

It was a wet drizzly day today. We stayed in the outdoor classroom and had a go at painting conkers, making acorn buddies and conker comets. We then got to race them on the MUGA.

4th October 2023

Inventors made a low ridge line shelter today. We had one piece of paracord, 4 tent pegs and a tarpaulin per group and used all the knots we had learned so far to put it together.

27th September 2023

Inventors had requested that we get out the storm shelter this week as we discussed what it was in the previous session. We talked about what to do in a situation where someone has hypothermia and how the storm shelter would help, then we had a go at using the storm shelter for ourselves. The children said it got warm in the shelter very quickly and how good it would be if someone was extremely cold.

20th September 2023

It was a very windy day today and so  we decided not to risk falling branches and did some research inside for how we can improve our Forest School site. Some of us researched different trees we have in our Forest School area and made a fact file about them and some of us looked at different structures we could build to assist our learning such as a workshop for making things.

13th September 2023

For our first Forest School session we discussed all the things that we would like to do in the coming year and how we could improve our site as a class. We played one of our favourite games 'Wizards, Giants and Dwarves'

2022 - 2023

2021 - 2022