Forest School How taking our children to Forest School is such an integral part of the Year 4 Curriculum

Our Curriculum for Spring Term Our theme is ‘Survival’; In Literacy we study the book ‘I am David’ (Anne Holm) In maths our Forest School experiences become real life maths learning – eg – data handling; time/distance graphs- gathering the data from our walks to and from forest school and exploring at what points we slowed down and using conjecture to suggest the reasons for the patterns we see emerging in these graphs etc, points of the compass on our route into the site

Science – ‘Survival’; Changing State - Keeping warm – we investigate insulation - keeping ourselves warm, keeping hot drinks warm – we use thermometers on each visit to measure temperature changes in different parts of the woods and at different times (this also becomes our maths) We investigate changing state – eg – hanging ice sculptures and timing them as they melt We use keys to identify animals footprints, leaves, bark etc

All the ‘games’ we play have very clear learning within them – eg – when we make our 3D maps in the woods, we are using the concrete skills that children will then later use in the classroom to create 2D representations and read and write co-ordinates We use all their experiences within the context of our Shared Writing and Special Writing, meaning that the processes of writing draw upon the experiences and therefore our writing over Spring Term is improved Some children choose to get muddy (some don’t want to), but we do ask for children to be dressed in all items from the clothing list so that when we’re there, is they do choose to play on the mud slide, they won’t get cold.

Science in forest school – Spring term 2016 Melting ice sculptures Recognizing birds by their song Taking temperatures in a range of different places in the environment and noting the change; hypothesising about the reasons for the range of temperatures… Identification of small animals by their prints What is mud? Exploring the consistency of different soil (making mud sculptures)

Some Example of Science and environmental education: Identification of trees by their bark, leaves and using an identification key whittling Reading a compass Making 3D maps of our site Learning to make fires safely and what makes fire: fuel, heat and oxygen Building shelters and camouflage

SMSC and Literacy – I am David and shared story Social learning – working, taking challenges and playing co-operatively Taking pride in our achievements Acting and drama Playing and having fun together…

What we pay for; A qualified accredited Forest School leader Pre- forest school site checks and assessments On-going site checks and assessments Planning of sessions around our school curriculum plans Equipment; border tapes, ropes, whittling knives, spades, keys, compasses, thermometers, paint brushes etc etc (these all get consumed at quite a rate!) Sessions for over 90 children which are run following all the official Forest School guidelines Other consumables – flasks, seating foams, hot chocolate etc Compared to the cost of going to a centre eg – High Elms – a greatly reduced cost per session