Forest School and the John Muir Award Long term Child led Site ‘ownership’, ‘nature connectedness’, ‘well being’, ‘respect’ for places and careful and management. The key themes link easily and provide opportunity for Forest School back to curriculum work. Case study – Gamesley Primary School
DISCOVER Where is our woodland? How do we get there? What is the route? Map work Location work Following a map and map making
DISCOVER Safety and boundaries Eye Cameras Meet a tree Make your own national park Poet-tree Owl eyes, deer ears, fox walking, Kim’s game Back at school Download photographs – caption them for sharing in an assembly, blog site, display Write about National Parks and protecting green spaces Use the words from the ‘poet-tree’ activity to write a poem.
DISCOVER AND EXPLORE Natural Music Making – natural band Treasure hunt Sit Spots Silent listening Bat and Moth, Deer Stalk Back at school Download photographs – caption them for sharing in an assembly, blog site, display Record and edit their natural band music Make a treasure hunt and map of the school grounds or another wild space they have visited.
EXPLORE Grass sweep Tree Shake Bug hunts Identification and uses Food chains and webs and how things are connected Den building Green man stories and mud monsters Back at school Download photographs – caption them for sharing in an assembly, blog site, display Graphs and writing up habitat surveys Fact files drawing and painting of the species Nature writing – fact or fiction. Super hero comic strips Researching plants and animals
CONSERVE Back at school Download photographs for sharing. Bird boxes Bird feeders Bat Boxes Fences Brash piles Back at school Download photographs for sharing. Instructional writing and how it will help. Posters about caring for wild spaces. Tree planting? Coppicing? Wildflower bombs? Environmental Impact Assessment? Anti-litter posters?
SHARE Assembly Blog site write ups Mission Explore books for the family school holidays Display in school
Food web Tree ID Sit spot