Year 2 have weathered the elements this last few weeks in Forest school.

Our first week was mild and dry and we noticed the change in the seasons- looking at leaves, canopy gazing and squirrel spotting and learning the art of using a ferrous rod and steel to make sparks for fire.  We had a long chat about fire safety and how we keep ourselves safe when fire lighting outside, from what we wear to what emergency equipment to bring, and of course permission from the landowner.

There has been lots of fungal fruiting bodies in the woods and the children found jelly ear fungus and have watched it grow and decay.

With the rain came the perfect motivation to improve our den building skills and build resilience in the cold wintery weather, we started to notice that water runs off a sloping surface bettter, and look at ways to secure the edges of our tarpaulins and shelters. Linked to our Big Idea ‘We Are Explorers’ we used a real life emergency bothy to find shelter in the middle of the field.

The children have learned how to handle hacksaws safely, chopping up dry firewood for our much needed fire, which we’ve enjoyed warming up around with a hot chocolate, a biscuit and a moment of reflection at the end of each session…