Forest School at Ascot Heath
Our Forest School leader is Ms Ringrose
Our Vision
Our vision is to have a school where the benefits of regular time outdoors are valued and appreciated, and outdoor learning, play and connection with nature are recognised as fundamental parts of education, at every stage, for every child and young person.
For each subject we have created a progression of skills and knowledge document. You can view the Forest School documents by clicking on the title below:
SPRING TERM 2024
It has been another busy term at Forest school. The spring term started off with some very chilly weather, which meant that we could have a go at making ice decorations as well as have great fun excavating slabs of ice that we found in buckets and other containers around school.
After the frost and ice came the rain, and there has been plenty of that for the rest of the term! Amazingly though, I cannot remember any child complaining about the weather, they should all be very proud of themselves for their enthusiasm and resilience at just getting stuck in to the sessions! They have all embraced the wet and the mud and have retreated under our tarpaulin shelters when they needed a break!
We have played games to keep ourselves warm, taken part in team building activities and been on a winter scavenger hunt around the school. In January, we took part in the RSPB Big Schools’ Birdwatch and made bird feeders, nature binoculars to use for bird spotting, nest building to find out if an egg could withstand the ‘nest test’ and tried to identify feathers belonging to a variety of birds.
February brought Valentine’s day, Pancake day and Chinese New Year and so we tossed ‘muddy’ pancakes in the mud kitchen, made ‘love potions’ and heart shaped willow wands to make people fall in love with nature and did some Chinese zodiac yoga.
In Science week, after some torrential rain, we used mud to make volcanoes which we then exploded with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda and we also looked at whether different natural objects would float or sink when put in water.
In the past couple of sessions, we have celebrated Easter with an egg hunt, a mud kitchen 'bake off' and also managed to toast some hot cross buns on the fire in between the rain showers.
Wishing you all a lovely Easter break and I look forward to seeing you all next term along with some long awaited sunshine! Happy Easter!
AUTUMN TERM 2023
We have had lots of fun at Forest School this term. In our first few sessions, children were introduced to the important 'No Pick, No Lick' rule as well as other ways to look after themselves and each other when out in the woods.
We have talked about the changes that we have noticed as summer turned to autumn and we have enjoyed looking for and learning facts about mini beasts living in the wild garden.
At the beginning of term, we planted some bulbs ready for spring – daffodils and tulips as well as onions, radishes and garlic, some of which are already starting to grow. Children have helped rake leaves to make piles for animals to hibernate in and some even made an exciting discovery of a fox’s skull and bones while digging in the digging area.
With the arrival of Halloween, we looked at all the different types of pumpkins and squash that you can find with unusual names such as Baby Bear, Cinderella, Casper White and Jack Be Little!
With all the wet weather we have had, we have noticed a variety of fungi growing in the woodland and have identified various species including oyster mushrooms, fly agaric and bearded lichen.
The children have learnt to use different tools safely – rakes for clearing the paths, mallets for banging nails and golf tees into pumpkins as well as vegetable peelers for whittling wood.
We have tried out different crafts using natural materials, including nature crowns for our toys, nature bracelets, whilst others have enjoyed getting very muddy concocting seasonal recipes in the mud kitchen!
The children have also learnt how to be safe around a fire and have had hot chocolate and warm Christmas punch.
With Christmas just around the corner, we spent the last couple of sessions making reindeer food, jingle bell sticks and Santa sticks, yule logs and other Christmas activities.
We look forward to more outdoor adventures in the new year. Have a lovely Christmas everyone and happy new year!
