It has been wonderful to work with Reception class in the woods.  They have been fortunate to have lots of Forest school sessions with Mrs Taylor and were well versed in the rules of Forest school, and excited about exploring and adventuring.

July 2021

We have further developed our DT and Bushcraft skills over the last fortnight by learning how to use a saw.  The children worked alongside a grown up and a group of friends to saw a piece of wood and decorate it. We learnt about the different parts of the bow saw (blade, bow, handle, teeth) and which parts are safe to touch.  We wore a glove on the hand that was holding the wood, to keep it safe from the saw blade.

The children also put on invisible super specs to see some of the tiny things in the woods that we don’t usually notice- and we spotted hairy plants!!!  Hazel leaves, hogweed stalks, cleavers (sticky weed) and wood avens seeds all have hairs for different reasons.  We also talked about plants that aren’t safe to touch like nettles, arum and giant hogweed.

June 2021

We have worked with some tools to peel sticks, this time we used kitchen peelers and willow sticks, as we get older this will progress to whittling knives and larger pieces of wood.  We were given rules to keep safe; about working away from our body, and wearing a glove to protect our non-dominant hand.  This is all great preparation for when we use trickier tools in the future.

We’ve also started some simple knot work, learning an overhand knot, which will be helpful as we develop independent shoe tying!

There had been plenty of time for imaginative play, sharing resources and asking and answering questions about the outside in the play and learn sessions.

And we have finished our sessions sitting round the camp fire watching how it moves, thinking about how to be safe, and talking about the ‘Great Fire Of London’ work we have covered in our big idea, it has nicely put some of the ideas we talked about into a practical context (using fire breaks/ hooks and putting out fires) .