Year 5 and 6 First Woodland Forest School Session

 Our Year 5/6 group visited our woodland site for the first time today. We were blessed with a beautifully sunny autumn day. We began by discussing how we can keep each other safe and have fun at Forest School. We set our base camp and using rope tags set out our boundaries. To help familiarise ourselves with the terrain and our recall signs, we kicked off with a few games of seconds away hide and seek. The children's hiding places became more and more ingenious as the hiding time was gradually slashed to just 5 seconds! 

Getting into the swing

On the entrance to the woods, the children had been drawn to an elder tree that was laden with berries. During snack time the children had the chance to sample some elderflower cordial and we chatted about the amazingly versatility of the elder tree. The children were keen to explore and climb the trees within our boundary. We shared our ideas about how to chose a safe tree to climb. Avoid trees with dead branches or fungi growing on them. Check around the base of the tree for hazards. Don't climb higher than you feel comfortable to. Let Miss load test rope swings! Before we knew it, it was time to start making our way back to school. We met at our checkpoint and using our reflection lolly sticks, shared our feelings about our first visit to the woods. It is fair to say a great time was had by all. The children suggested that they would like to do some foraging and den building on our next visit to our woods. 

Is this a good spot to hide?

We guessed it was apple and elderflower

You found me!

Relaxing in my tree

Listening to the forest sounds

Can I climb up here?

Who lives in a house like this?

I'll test it first!