Purley Church of England Infant School

Woodland Star: Sydney

Read all about our woodland adventures!

What is Forest School?

Forest School originated in Sweden in the 1950’s and was introduced in Britain in the late 1990’s. It is an inspirational process that offers regular opportunities to appreciate and enjoy the outdoors. Learning occurs in a relaxed environment using all of the senses. Choices can be made and risks understood and taken. Forest School happens all year round and so children should wear warm, waterproof clothing. The ethos of Forest School is that learners should be allowed time and space to explore, develop skills and interests and understanding through practical, hands on experience. Forest School promotes good health and fitness and an awareness of good hygiene. It helps children’s social and communication development as they work together problem solving, developing motor-skills and coordination in a fun and relaxed environment. Children also learn a sense of personal responsibility and respect for their environment as well as developing their confidence, self-esteem and independence.

Woodland School - 09.11.18

November 9, 2018

The woods were looking beautiful this morning and we noticed how the leaves are changing colour from green to brown. We discussed why the leaves change colour and die. Arlo said that if the trees have leaves in the winter the snow would be too heavy and snap the branches. Arthur said the wintry winds might damage the trees more if they have lots of leaves. Great reasoning! After warming up with a game of hide and seek we were given a variety of activities to choose from. Most children decided to visit the den making area to work as a team to make a den. The trowels were used to dig and scrape the soil to find roots and rocks. A group played an imaginary game where they could change into different animals and even be invisible. Some children used crayons to make a colourful bark rubbing and others used sticks and string to make objects such as unicorns. We enjoyed our snack and hot chocolate before finishing with a game of find the tree. We could all identify a holly and yew tree before it was time to leave. Mrs Hodsdon

Posted by Claire Ham.

Woodland School - 19.10.18

October 19, 2018

Despite a rather gloomy and wet morning we enjoyed our time in the woods. We thought about harvest time and looked for anything that might help feed the woodland animals. We identified berries, beech nuts and funghi. We also thought about how to make musical instruments from wood and Sydney made a wonderful guitar harp. Many of us enjoyed making shelters, camps and the odd trap using string and sheets. We are improving our tying skills! Finally we had a snack and were grateful for the hot cho...
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Posted by Claire Ham.

Woodland School - 12/10/18

October 19, 2018

We began our session with hide and seek which we played with a difference - if we found the person hiding, we had to join them and hide too until everyone was in the same hiding place! Next, we spent time choosing our own activities. Arthur noticed that there was a lot of funghi in the woods and we noticed they grow on old, dead wood. Jax enjoyed tying twigs together using wool and practising knots. Lilly-May and Ella worked with Miss Clarke to make dolls and unicorns from twigs and wool. Man...

Posted by Claire Ham.

Woodland School - 05/10/18

October 8, 2018

This week in Woodland we began with a game of hide and seek which was great fun - we are finding even better places to hide! Next, we went for a walk to find all the other activities the Woodland Wardens have created. We revisited some of our favourites and found a few more. Our favourite was an area where there were lots of sensory objects such as beautiful pebbles, CD mobiles and a board covered with switches and electrical objects.

The walk was quite tiring and we were happy to return to o...

Posted by Claire Ham.

Woodland School - 28/09/18

October 1, 2018

We began our woodland adventures this week playing hide and seek with a partner. Some of us were really good at seeking and Arthur was the best at hiding from his partner. During independent time, some of us used twigs and wool to make objects such as people. Oscar enjoyed dragging logs and branches, practising being safe. Theo, Ayman, Daniel, Brandon and Arlo loved making up games using the ball run. Ella and Lily-May got better at balancing on the logs.

Sydney, Annabelle, Amelia and Jax play...

Posted by Claire Ham.

Woodland School - 21/09/18

September 24, 2018

Today the children voted to stay at the camp and we began by sitting quietly to listen to the birdsong. Arthur recognised the cooing of a pigeon which some of us thought was an owl so we discussed nocturnal animals.

The children had a very imaginative and creative time: many chose to make dens, use the ball run, balance on the logs or climb trees. Annabelle and Amelia made an excellent map using pine cones, feathers and logs. Ella and Lilly-May used the coloured wool to make a rope and unicor...

Posted by Claire Ham.

Woodland School - 14/09/18

September 18, 2018

Monday morning was such an exciting time because we made a welcome return to the woodland at Basildon Park. We discovered some changes since we were last there so we went on a walk to find out what was new. We discovered a musical instrument made of wood, stepping stones, balancing logs and a huge ruler which we used to measure ourselves. We were disappointed to find the dens had disappeared but fortunately we found some more had been made in a different area. We were able to practice road s...
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Posted by Claire Ham.

Woodland School - 22/06/18

June 22, 2018

The challenge this week for the children was to toss a circle of string onto an area in the woods and to look closely at what they could see within. The children used magnifying glasses to observe in detail, and cameras to record what they saw. Brandon and Oscar noticed shiny snail trails meandering over a log, and Sydney found white fungi growing on a fallen tree. By carefully brushing aside some fallen leaves, Annabelle and Lewis found a worm wriggling on the damp soil. Daniel and his m...

Posted by emma morel.

Woodland School - 15/06/18

June 22, 2018

To link with our topic of traditional tales, this week the children were challenged to make magic wands. They decided that medium sized sticks would work best and measured them against their arms to make sure they were not too long. They practised tying knots in the wool and hunted for interesting natural items such as leaves and feathers to add the magic to the wands. They discussed what kind of spells their wands could be used for and agreed that kind spells only would be allowed, althou...
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Posted by emma morel.

Woodland School - 08/06/18

June 22, 2018

This week the children noticed that over the holidays many of the plants had been growing, such as nettles, brambles and ferns. Daniel told everyone that the ferns had been around when the dinosaurs had been roaming the earth, and Lewis noticed that they looked like the palm leaves laid on the floor for Jesus and the donkey to walk on for Palm Sunday. The children had great fun making mud gooey enough to stick onto trees. They decorated the muddy mounds to look like faces using things they...

Posted by emma morel.

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