Group 2
Mega Slide of Doooooom 02/04/25
Do you know I think our spells and charms have worked and spring has sprung! 😊
Before we left for the dene we sampled some wild food, in the form of the flowering current blossom. I found out that the flowers are edible and have tart current (who would have guessed) flavour. I think they might be an acquired taste as there were not many who put their hand up for seconds.
We pushed on to the dene, barley stopping to say hello to the horses. We got there with plenty of time to spare as I needed the children to collect some wild garlic for the after-school club. They did very well and we got plenty of young shoots. We then split into two groups, well we would have done if all the children had not wanted to find the ‘Slope of DOOOOOOOOOm’! When we got there, we put up a rope and had tremendous fun sliding down it. We used a tarp to make it even more slippy. As children had enough they drifted back to the other group who were having fun crafting. It was pleasant to see the contrast in the two groups; one was full of hollers and shouts the other furrowed brows and deep concentration. Eventually all the children were in the crafting group so that seemed like a good time to pack up the rope and get the snacks and drinks ready.
The children were desperate to have a game of camouflage so we found time to enjoy the dene before it was time for our quiet time. Quiet time allows us to reflect on the activities of the morning and perhaps pay a bit more attention to the environment that we are in. I make a point of sitting down and taking in a good lungful of forest air before we have to go back to school.
Swings and Spells 26/03/2025
I didn’t write anything last week despite having a Forest School. It was a short session at the school site and I forgot to take any photos. Sorry for that. This week I made sure the camera was passed over to Mrs. Newton and various children. They took some lovely photographs, I am sure that you can agree.
It was great to see the Flowering Currant out in bloom. (I have just read that it is edible so we might try a bit next week.) They make such pretty blossoms. Other flowers we spotted were the Blackthorn and even some Dandelions. I love the way things start accelerating towards warmer weather at this time of year. To help thinks along we made some lucky charms to keep Jack Frost away: - fingers crossed. We used natural materials we found along the way, woven into some pipe cleaners. I thought they looked very good.
We had to take a few detours before we got to the Forest School site. The children had been wanting to climb some trees. The trees in Forest School are either too small or much too big, there aren’t any really good ones to have a go at. We went to a place where I knew there was a good tree and somewhere that we could make a temporary swing. That was great fun.
As well as crafting some charms we put up a couple of hammocks and the slack line. I think the slack line had about six children on it at one time, it is pretty popular. Other children wanted to visit the beck we were at the other week. Since the water is low at the moment I took a group to explore the water course. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones enjoying the sunny weather and we disturbed a queen bumble bee trying to build her nest into the river bank.
It was lovely having our quite time in the sun and then a dash back to school to get our lunch.
Garlic Pesto 12/03/25
Was that snow! Don’t you just love this time of year; when you don’t know if you are going to be in a T-shirt or full winter survival gear. I dressed for the later but soon had to take glove and hat off.
We had a lovely walk down and found a space hopper! It looked like it was just rubbish so rather than leave it we took it with us. It was great fun running into it and bouncing off. As promised we went off to collect some wild garlic. Instead of taking the river crossing we travelled further up the dene and then made a bridge to cross. Well that was more idea but most of the children liked jumping across. Then some children decided to take themselves off on their own adventure. They found some quick sand and a lovely shallow pool that you could splash in safely. We also found a beautiful fungus called Scarlet Elf Cup (Sarcoscypha austriaca). It is uncommon in Britain so I think we are quite lucky to find it. It is inedible.
It was great fun picking the garlic leaves as they were up a very steep slope. When we got them back to our Forest School centre we tore them up and put them into a motor and smooshed them with the pestle. Some olive oil and a splash of vinegar made our sauce. I remembered I had some squeezy cheese so that went in too. It was very garlicy, I mean super garlic. I always underestimate the strength of wild garlic, I suggest using it with caution!
I thought we would have a lot of spare time and so put up the low rope but we only had a bout 5 minutes of free time between getting our drink and snack and then having quite time.
Is this Spring? 05/03/25
I know it is not ‘official’ spring yet. At this time of year I get a bit giddy with the warming weather and the different signs that the seasons are turning. This week we had several different indicators; the school daffodils are coming out, I have seen several clumps of crocuses and down in the dene the wild garlic has started to burst forth. I take great hope from these signs as I have greatly missed the longer, warmer days.
We said hello to the horses, who were much more interested in their breakfast than saying hello, today. Then as we walked down into the dene I spotted the wild garlic. At this time of year, it has a lovely fresh peppery taste. Finding some that won’t have been contaminated by dogs is an issue. There across the stream was a whole bank of fresh leaves but how to get to them? We got the ropes out and rappelled down the slope. What looked like a simple crossing from the top of the slope turned into quite adventure the further down we got. Never mind, we had two more lengths of rope, down we went again leaving the ropes for us to use on the way back. There was a handy damn that some one had built so we traversed the rocks and were on the other side. It was a proper adventure and we only had one wet foot (mine). Next week I would like to do something with all this garlic but we have to find an easier way to it!
After scrambling back the way we came, everyone decided to have a break so we had a hot drink and snack a bit earlier than usual. I had brought some tools to work sticks so we cleaned the sticks up to turn them into interesting things. Other children decided they would like to use the ropes again so they went off to play on the slope close to our Forest School centre.
We had a wonderful reflection time as the sun came out and warmed us up as we sat quietly listening to some blackbirds calling to each other. A marvellous end to a great Forest School session.
Meeting Oreo 19/02/25
It was great to take a new group out to Forest School. I thought it was meant to be getting warmer today, I was disappointed. We had some spare gloves for those who had forgot theirs. I was surprised to se that it was cold enough to get Ice on the large puddle (Lake Newburn) at the start to the dene.
On the way up to the Forest we stopped to say hello to the cat. It now has a name, Oreo. It is black and white. I wonder where it lives as we have seen it a few times and it usually comes out to say hello to the children.
We stopped by the horses to say hello, they were in a funny mood so did not stay long. We stopped by the bracken field to play a new game that we just made up called nippy horses and the tasty carrots. It is a kind of hide and seek game.
When we got to the Forest School site we played a game that helped us to explore the boundaries of where we can go when in the dene. We split into groups with some children wanting to do some crafting and others wanting to use a rope for adventures on the slope nearby. Those who were crafting made bangles using ivy and pipe cleaners, I thought they looked very good.
We had time for some snacks and a hot drink before we had to stop for some time to reflect upon our Forest School experience and our ending song.
