Forest School

Termly Newsletter for The Lime Trees, Burton Joyce

Issue

1

Autumn Term 1 2017

GETTING TO KNOW THE ENVIRONMENT

Our first few weeks at The

Grove were spent

familiarising ourselves with

the terrain, plants, trees and

animals living here. The first

time we explored we kept

close to adults, but now we go

off by ourselves.

CONSERVATION AREA

The Grove has a special area

for nature that we help to

look after. We walk carefully

around this area to help keep

the frogs, snakes, mice, bees

and butterflies safe. Not

forgetting The Gruffalo too!

At the beginning of

September, the conservation

area was full of yellow, pink

and purple wild flowers. Now

we are at the end of October,

these have disappeared, and

the tall grasses have shrunk

too. “We know it is Autumn

because the leaves are falling

off the trees onto the

ground”, said LS.

this term

Exploring the environment P.1

Using tools safely P.2

Forest School ethos P.3

Schemas P.4

Keeping ourselves safe at Forest School

Each week we go over our safety rules to keep us safe

whilst we play and learn. The adults are there to help

us, but we remember our rules better than them!

We don’t go past the big tree because adults

can’t see us down there and there is a road

with cars that could hurt us.

We keep our feet still at base to protect the

tiny insects, spiders and worms that may be

living in this area.

We stand or sit still when we are using tools.

We don’t put anything in our mouth as we

don’t want a tummy ache or to be poisoned.

We walk when we are carrying sticks.

We are sensible with our sticks and don’t

use them as weapons. Hitting our friends

could hurt them.

We can pick up sticks no longer than our arm

and no thicker than our wrist.

Exploring in The Grove allows us to use our full

bodies to run, stretch, bend, twist, climb and

crouch. We use all our senses to explore with

curiosity, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn

new skills and information. The smell the

changing air from the floral and grassy smells of

Summer to the crisp and fragrant air of Autumn is

something that we have all noticed over the last

six weeks. Handling twigs, sticks, mud, leaves and

seeds has developed our touch sense and we can

feel and describe smooth, rough, bumpy and slimy

textures as we pick them up. Sometimes if we are

quiet, we can hear the birds in the trees calling to

each other or singing a song. We like to listen to

the robins. As we have moved into Autumn, the

colours of “leaves have changed from green to

brown”, said HB. We all notice that things are

changing, CB said “Some of the trees have lost

their leaves, but some have stayed green.” This

gave us the opportunity to talk about deciduous

and evergreen trees (learning new vocabulary)

Burton Joyce Nursery

TOOL SAFETY

The tools we use at Forest

School are adult size and

for real purpose. We

teach children to use the

tools to produce an end

product using strict

guidelines and supervision

to ensure they are kept

safe.

We use:

Bow saw

Hack saw

Hand drill

Billhook

Hammer

Loppers

Secateurs

Pokey outey tool

Vegetable peeler

Penknife

Trowel

Kelly Kettle

Fire steel

Using the right tool for the right job

We have used a variety of tools this term to

become familiar with their use and how to

use them safely with adults.

“I LIKE USING THE PEELERS, THEY ARE FUN!”

We have used our

vegetable peelers this term

to practice and perfect our

whittling skills. To get the

correct technique we must

remember to sit still,

leaning slightly forwards

and use a controlled

sweeping motion away

from our fingers. We hold

the peelers in a fist, curling

our fingers around the tool

to ensure we can ‘whittle’

wood effectively. CR, CB

and LB have been our super

whittlers this term and can

strip the bark from a piece

of wood in minutes!

Lighting the fire has been a

wonderful way to learn

about keeping safe. We

have a rule that we must

stay 1.5m away from the

fire but we can ‘feed’ it with

our collected twigs when

Helen invites us in to the

circle.

J-RB waited patiently for her

turn and added the twig she

had found all by herself.

This term we have made our

own tools too! MS made

some lovely music by using

a fallen branch as a mallet

to play on our hanging

xylophone. SM whittled a

piece of wood with a

vegetable peeler to make

one of the bars for our

instrument.

Forest School Aims

To provide an

opportunity to

make choices and

take control of their

own learning.

To develop team

working skills.

To develop practical

life skills.

To develop

independent, self-

motivated and

considerate

individuals.

This term the children

have been exploring and

learning how to manage

their own risks with tools,

use them safely with

purpose and take control

of their own learning. We

have seen JW and LW

grow in confidence to

explore The Grove

independently with their

peers and talk about their

experiences at the end of

the session.

Forest School provides

our nursery children with

the opportunity to learn

through hands-on

experiences in a natural

woodland environment.

Through our Forest School

programme, we aim to

increase children’s self-

esteem and confidence to

become inquisitive,

enthusiastic and resilient

learners into their adult

life.

The Grove provides us

with the ideal

environment to foster a

lifelong appreciation for

nature, the outdoors and

the local community. We

help to look after the

conservation area which is

teeming with wildlife

including bees, butterflies

and frogs.

We work outdoors in all

weathers, use the outdoor

environment as the third

educator and instil an

appreciation for nature.

Schemas What is a schema?

A schema is basically an ‘urge’ or pattern of repeated play that all children have. Schemas are the essential building blocks for brain development as they help forge the connections for growth and learning and appear through self-directed play.

We look at schemas in Forest School as this informs our planning, so we can support children to explore their mode of learning at the optimum time.

Schemas come and go but children will keep a dominant schema into their adulthood.

Common Schemas

Positioning: children use this to

fix things into a specific place.

Classic examples are children

lining up cars, standing certain

animals next to each other or

stacking up the cups.

Orientation: this is the urge to

hang upside down and helps

children to learn to see the world

from a different perspective.

Transformation: most children go

through this schema, transforming dry

and wet ingredients together to make

a sticky or slimy mess. Encourage this

schema as this is the basis of scientific

experimentation.

Connection: children are often

busy building with lego, train tracks

or joining things together with

string. This can also mean

destruction too, and not only their

own constructions!

Trajectory: these actions include

any range of movement. Dropping,

throwing, jumping and climbing are

all part of a trajectory schema. It

also includes things that are already

in motion such as running water

from a tap. This schema is multi -

directional and can be horizontal,

vertical and diagonal.

Rotation: toys with wheels,

watching the washing machine

whirl around or spinning around

on the spot are all experiences of a

rotation schema.

Enclosure: children exploring

this schema will often hide in small

spaces such as boxes or

cupboards, contain toys by making

fences or make a den.

Transporting: this is perhaps

the easiest schema to spot as you

will notice children taking things

from one area to another. They

may just carry their chosen objects

or may use wheelbarrows, baskets

or pockets to transport one thing

at a time.

Enveloping: children who like to

hide under blankets, put things in

envelopes or wrap objects in paper

are exploring this schema.

Padleys Lane

Burton Joyce

4NG14 5EB

Tel: 0115 9313 562

nurseries@thelimetrees.co.uk

Forest School Issue 01 October 2017