Forest Schools
Forest Schools at Aston
What is it all about?
“Forest School is an inspirational process that offers ALL learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees.” (Forest School Association, 2015)
Forest Schools are an idea and way of learning outdoors that have developed over many years and are now becoming very popular in the UK. It offers children a chance to learn about, experience and gain respect for the natural environment, whilst developing a range of skills in all areas of learning, in particular those associated with personal, social and emotional development.
Where can I find out more?
If you would like to learn more about the history of Forest School or how we aim to progress it in the future, or have any other questions about the information here, please speak to Mr Bamford, who is our school’s Forest School leader.
Alternatively, there are some links below to useful websites that give further information about Forest School in the UK.
Forest Schools on Friday
At Forest Schools we learn to appreciate and make use of our natural surroundings. We learn to communicate and build relationships with the grown ups who look after us, as well as children from our own class and other year groups. We regularly carry out tasks that help to nurture, maintain and improve our environment. This gives us a great sense of achievement and satisfaction (as well as house points!)
In the autumn, we love to play conkers! We also love to create habitats and homes for our local wildlife. We use knives, the bow saw and billhook safely to create tools (such as mallets). We use knives to whittle wood for 'marshmallow sticks'.
In the winter we love it when the pond freezes over so we can make holes in the ice. We investigate (carefully and quietly) the hedgehog houses to see our lovely hedgehog residents hibernating. We learn how to stay warm by wearing appropriate PPE and enjoy hot chocolate by the fire. We are learning to heat up our water using the Kelly kettle. We love to use the knives, bow saw and billhook to make Christmas reindeer!
In spring, we love to use the nets to go pond dipping, searching for tadpoles, newts and dragonfly larvae. Our wildlife pond is teeming with life and we can observe our finds in the trays at the cable drum table. We also enjoy spotting bees and butterflies who come to enjoy our plants and wildflowers.
In the summer, playing games like hide-and-seek is so much fun. Once all the plants and trees are fully grown, there are so many places to hide and explore. We also enjoy making dens and mud kitchens. Summer is also a great time to practise our fire lighting and campfire cooking skills. We love to cook (and eat) pancakes, hot dogs, chocolate chip bread and of course s'mores.
Reception
Reception class love to explore our Forest School area and enjoy reading stories around the fire circle. We like to find natural materials to make art with and take back to our classroom to play with. We enjoy exploring the different colours and textures of the natural world around us. We like to spot the different plants and animals that live in our environment.
Year 1
Year 1 have enjoyed planting bedding flowers and perennials in our raised beds around the fish pond. We look forward to seeing the bees and butterflies enjoying our blooming flowers!
- We have loved exploring our Forest School area, keeping an eye out for stinging nettles and brambles.
- We’ve had fun making and playing on the rope swings.
- We have loved playing games in our Forest School area like hide-and-seek.
- We have listened carefully to the rules about how we behave around our campfire and have demonstrated sensible behaviour when sitting and moving around the fire.
Year 2
Year 2 have enjoyed planting bulbs, bedding flowers and perennials in our raised beds. We look forward to seeing the bulbs blooming in spring!
- We have learned all about the Forest School elves and about how the naughty dragon destroyed their homes… Don’t worry – we’ve made some new, even better, homes for them!
- We’ve had fun making and playing on the rope swings.
- We have learned about fire safety, how to prepare and look after a fire, and how to cook marshmallows!
Year 3
Year 3 have enjoyed exploring the Forest School area where we have been observing the changing seasons.
- We have challenged ourselves by climbing trees.
- We have learned how to use the flint and steel to light a fire.
- We have learned about fire safety and have enjoyed cooking marshmallows!
Year 4
Year 4 have been busy exploring the Forest School area and finding out what's new!
- We have learned how to use knives safely to whittle green wood.
- We have perfected our skills with the flint and steels to make 'fairy fires'.
- We have learned how to prepare and light a fire, and have demonstrated sound knowledge of fire safety.
- We loved making, cooking and eating pancakes!
Year 5
Year 5 have been busy exploring the Forest School area and discovering how winter is turning into spring...
- We have been having a go at identifying plants that have been shooting.
- We have had a go at climbing trees, learning how to regulate our own safety.
- We have been practising our knife skills safely to whittle green wood for marshmallow sticks.
- We have perfected our skills with the flint and steels to make our own 'fairy fires'.
- We have learned how to prepare and light a fire, and have demonstrated sound knowledge of fire safety.
- We loved making, cooking and eating chocolate chip bread!
Year 6
Year 6 have been busy exploring the Forest School area and carrying out tasks to help us maintain and improve our environment.
- We have been having a go at identifying plants and animals in our wildlife pond.
- We have enjoyed climbing trees, regulating our own safety.
- We have been practising our knife skills safely to whittle green wood for marshmallow sticks and have used the bowsaw, knife and billhook to make wooden mallets from logs.
- We have perfected our skills with the flint and steels to make our own 'fairy fires'.
- We have learned how to prepare, light and manage a fire, and have demonstrated sound knowledge of fire safety.
- We loved designing, preparing and cooking a three course meal in our house teams!