After some decidedly wet weather recently, we were blessed with a dry afternoon. The clay soil on site is struggling to drain so we made a decision to work in a limited area of the site to prevent further soil compaction.
The main focus of today's session was the safe and appropriate use of cutting tools.
We began by setting up our tool area and discussing safe tool use procedures. The children had remembered how to use loppers and secateurs as introduced in previous sessions. Today, the children were introduced to the safe methods for using a bow saw.
The wonderful Christmas tree (which over Christmas had taken pride of place in the school hall adorned by baubles made by every child in school) had been brought outside for us to recycle.
We discussed how we could use the tree in Forest School. The children began by removing the finest needle covered branches with the secateurs so that they could be saved for tinder to light the campfire.
They moved on to removing the larger branches with loppers which they decided would also make good fuel for the fire. One child commented on how nice the wood smelled when it was cut. She encouraged the children to smell the freshly cut wood.
We finally moved on to the trunk of the tree, where the children were able to have their first go at using the bow saw. I was really impressed with how well the children worked together to ensure each others safety when using the tools.
We talked about how we could use our new skills to make things from wood in future sessions. The children said that they would like to make a wooden forest school sign and some mini Forest School chairs.
We still have some pieces of ash trunk that I was able to scavenge before Christmas, so next week , we will look at how we could use this wood to make the things the children discussed.
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