Forest School News

Friday 29 November 2024 Dogwood & Whitebeam - Conker Creations & a Bramble Map Dogwood got creative with conkers this week and Whitebeam made a marvelous with Bramble.
Friday 22 November 2024 Kelly Kettles - Yummy Scrummy Fun Last week, we took on the Year 5 ‘Kelly Kettle Challenge’ - this has become somewhat of a tradition for children in Year 5.The children had spent a fortnight learning the features of the perfect kindling and about various natural tinders that could be found in the British woodland. They were ready!
Friday 15 November 2024 Dogwood & Whitebeam - Crab Apples with a Twist This week we were introduced to the wonders of the unassuming crab apple. We discussed its appearance, its uses, its benefits, its symbolism and the folklore surrounding it. We then got to work preparing my favourite Forest School recipe of the year so that we could taste them!!
Friday 8 November 2024 Autumn Art - Dogwood & Whitebeam Mist hovered over the woods creating an air of mystery as Dogwood and Whitebeam arrived back in the woods for their first time since February. The Autumn colours creating a shot of colour through the grey.
Friday 25 October 2024 Rosehip pancakes, fox masks & boney discoveries! Our final week in the woods and Rosehip and rustled up a treat for the children - her annual Rosehip Syrup - not only sweet, sticky & tongue-twistingly tasty but also packed full of goodness!!! Having made the batter and waited patiently fo them to cook voer the fireThe children sampled the sweet syrup
Friday 25 October 2024 Whilst Year One were away A reminder that Broad Oak Wood is a haven for many wonderful mammals. Watch how they move. How many different animals can you count?
Friday 18 October 2024 Young Ornithologists This week we were extremely lucky to have a visit from an ornithologist. Ray Morris studies birds - his particular field of expertise is turtledoves and as a former teacher he certainly knew how to inspire a new generation of ornithologists (people who study birds).
Friday 11 October 2024 Bread Winners If you've got jam you need something to spread it on so this week the children all had the opportunity to cook over the fire. All the children rolled and wrapped their own challah dough toasting stick and then knelt by the fire to cook their bread. They patiently watched and twisted their hazel sticks and observed the dough gradually expand and change from white to golden brown. "Stick on the brick; Eyes on the prize" Once their pread passed the flick test and was cooked through they carefully twisted it of the stick and filled it with their choice of topping. The verdict? "Scrumptions"' "100 out of 10", "All my fingers and toes delicious". "The bestest thing EVER", "I made this - it was worth the wait" "Oooh I wish I could have another one?" "Can I have the recipe?"....Yes you can I have attached it.
Thursday 3 October 2024 We made Jam! Jam day had finally arrived. The children brought in their frozen, foraged blackeberries and off we went! After checking we had our fire safety features in place the children all gave a little 'sneezy dragon' encouragement to help light the fire and then it was off to the kitchen. The children set about peeling, squeezing, measuring, chopping, pouring, estimating, washing and drying. They worked together really well: listening and sharing jobs so I can happily say it was a case of 'many hands make light work' not 'too many cooks spoil the broth'!!
Friday 27 September 2024 Dorodangos, Downpours & i-Dentfication! This week's weather meant that mud was the order of play!! And both groups were introduced to the Japanese art form of Dorodango.
Friday 20 September 2024 An Elephant in the Woods Meadow Browns & Speckled Woods arrived at the woods for the their first full day with a spring in their step and helping hands ready to carry the resources.
Friday 28 June 2024 Mastering the Marshmallow Melter Challenge Practice, patience and perseverance paid off! This week, Holly & Chestnut Group took on making their own fires for toasting marshmallows.
Monday 24 June 2024 Deerly Beloved.... Look who popped into the woods! By the clock on the trail cam it looks like this deer likes to pop in at around 9pm and 7am whereas the badger came at 1am. As for the fox, he was hoping to catch the squirrel who has just scurried off stage left!
Friday 21 June 2024 Midsummer - Flowers & Fires and crocheted creativity This week, Chestnut Group took an alternative route home from Forest School and Holly Group took an alternative route to Forest School this week which allowed us to see a whole host of wildflowers that have grown up around an area of wasteland. There was teasel, mallow, giant viper's bugloss, sainfoin, mayweed and a mound of ruby red poppies to name just a few! We saw some young great tits pecking at insects on the security fence. On the edge of the field there were scarlet pimpernels underfoot and thistles covered in aphids which were providing a tasty breakfast for some seven-spotted ladybirds. We also saw a huge dragonfly helicopter over our heads. An exciting change of scene!!
Friday 14 June 2024 Elderflower Forage & Feast Today we dived into the wonderful world of elderflower! We looked, we sniffed, we touched and we tasted Rosehip's delicious elderflower cordial and then sampled freshly fried elderflower fritters made over the campfire! Everybody agreed that elderflower is AWESOME!
Friday 7 June 2024 Dragonflies, Daisies & Dog Roses The wait between Year 1 & Year 2s Forest School sessions is the longest in their entire journey through our school. It is fair to say that Holly & Chestnut Group were bubbling with excitement as they boarded the minibus.
Friday 29 March 2024 A Visit from the Broad Oak Rainbow Bird & Thank You Moley The Rainbow Bird comes but once a year to Broad Oak and if you are lucky you may see a flash of its technicolour plumage or come across one of its shiny colourful eggs...Birch Group & Elder Group certainly were lucky enough to do just that!
Friday 22 March 2024 Cooking up a Sting! It was nettle week this week. We learnt about the fabulous powers and uses over the ages of the mighty nettle. Then we set of 'a foraging'!
Friday 15 March 2024 Mud, Mud Glorious Mud Ooze, squelch, gloop - there was some great onomatopoeic language in the woods today and A LOT of mud! Luckily - the children saw this as a VERY good thing!
Friday 8 March 2024 Orange Ovens Brilliant baking and super scooping this week! The children enjoyed the fruit (juice) of their labours having created oven and baked chocolate orange brownies in the embers of the campfire.
Friday 1 March 2024 Highways & Byways & Fiery Fungi The children edged the footpaths today to help ensure that people didn't venture over into the fast growing expanse of bluebells that they want to protect from being squashed. They also made good use of the ID books to research the fabulous fungi that they found. They are loving explroing the woods and having more freedom. During the afternoons we did some fire striking and Birch Group had a look at how King Alfred's Cake get's the nickname Tinder Fungus.
Friday 23 February 2024 Birch & Elder - Year 3 Signs of Spring Birch were able to explore the bigger boundaries of Broad Oak available to them now they have reached the dizzy heights of year two. They also were set the challenge of looking for signs of spring as they needed to work out which areas they should steer clear of in order to let the beautiful bluebells to grow. Due to high winds Elder Group had to stay at school for their session and even though it POURED with rain they did not let the weather dampen their spirits. We visited the Glebe field looking for signs of spring and differentiating between wild and
Friday 9 February 2024 Life's a Stream! Our Final Week with the Dazzling Dogwoods and Wonderful Whitebeams and what a happy week it was! There was pancakes, shows, rain, boat races and a whole lot of laughter and soggy wellies! Take a look at the photos to get a sneak peak...
Thursday 8 February 2024 A Look Back at Dogwood & Whitebeam's Year 4 in Three Parts At long last, I have overcome all technical issues and I can share the trio of videos with you. Thank you Fox, Wren, Rosehip & Nuthatch for your help with the filming.
Friday 2 February 2024 Setting sail and Whisking up a treat! Dogwood Group was halved in size this week as half of the troupe headed up to the O2 to sing with the Young Voices. The remaining group had lots of fun making Campfire Cones, taking their boats for a test run and finding moss, lichen and deer prints! Whitebeam Group were the first group to sample pancakes made by out Woodland Whiskers....to say they were impressed is an understatement!!
Friday 26 January 2024 Boat Builders & Lumberjacks The woods were a hive of industry as children took on a variety of challenges. There were shisks to be sanded, firewood to be split and on top of this Broad Oak had transformed into a boatyard as children took on the challenge to build a boat to set sail down the stream. See the gallery to find out more
Friday 19 January 2024 Coconut Ice, Whisk Benders & Sun Catchers The sub zero temperature on the mercury had covered every surface with a feathery, crystal-white shimmering hoar frost. As we crunched the icy puddles our warm breath made hot puffy clouds in the sky.
Friday 19 January 2024 Very Ice & Taking Whisks The hoar frost created feathery whiskers across every grass blade and fallen leaf. We had great fun stomping through the frozen puddles and listening to the crackle and crunch of the ice. We spotted the distinctive deer prints and watched as meadow pippits
Friday 12 January 2024 First Snowy Diary Entries Following Monday’s snow flurries Broad Oak and the sub zero temperatures Broad Oak had blankets of snow on the fallen logs and an array of mystery footprints for the children to discover and note down in their new nature diaries.
Friday 5 January 2024 Noticing, Wondering, Making Connections As mud oozed up around their boots, Dogwood & Whitebeam Groups headed to Forest School set with a challenge…..to discover a Woodland Welcome that invited them to Broad Oak and made them notice nature. Noticing nature will help us with the entries for our new nature diaries. We looked at nature diaries that had been published over the years and discussed how writing a nature diary can help your brain to learn more AND help you feel happier….what’s not to love?

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