Sharneyford Forest School
November 2023
The Classes had cold dry weather with a touch of frost for their sessions. The hot chocolate and biscuits was most welcome. The children made willow bird feeders to put fat balls in, we talked about why the birds need the extra food during the winter months. There was also den building, bug hunting (they found some extra long worms! check out the photos!) and Class 1 had a fun time jumping in the puddles on the lane! Have a look at the video below.
October 2023
Class 1 had a lovely dry day for their session, they had lots of activities to choose from including bug hunting, the hammock and making a Halloween tree cookie pumpkin decoration. During free playtime they chose to constuct their own Forest School with a fire circle complete with a pretend fire and a set of rules to keep them safe, and another group of children build a natural den. They had hot chocolate and biscuits to warm up.
July 2023
Class 1 made elder bead bracelets by cutting thin elder branches into bead size sections, they used a thin stick to poke the pith out. Then they threaded the elder beads onto some cord to make a bracelet. Class 1 also planted some flowering plants around our Forest school site which will hopefully come into flower next year.
April 2023
Year 1 and Reception, we had quite good weather, it was a cold but dry day. We looked for signs of spring, such as the birds singing, plants growing - like the sycamore seeds which were starting to germinate.The activities to try were making a log dog, den building and decorating an Easter tree cookie. We also had an Easter egg hunt after which we all ate our Easter eggs.
Class 2 & 3, we also had good weather but still had hot chocolate with marshmallows to warm up. The log dogs were also popular in class 2. Class 3 had a challenge - to design and build something using 1 metre of string. There were some great ideas from a nursery for the tree seedlings, a full theatre set, bows and arrows and a catapult.
January/February 2023
Year 1 and 2 had a cold but dry day for their forest School sessions. They learnt about the folklore behind dreamcatchers. They chose a willow branch and bent it into a circle and decorated it with ribbons and feathers.
Class 2 set off to our site on a wet and windy morning, they braved the weather for a while but eventually had to retreat back to the classroom. Once warm and dry they made willow dreamcatchers and elder bracelets.
Class 3 the weather improved in the afternoon so at least their session was dry. The children were split into groups and they designed and built a circuit training area. there were some great ideas including a mini gym and weightlifting.
Reception had a lovely frosty morning. The children had a rope maze and bug hunting 9which was very popluar!) and some chose to make a willow magic wand.
March 2022
Today felt like Spring had sprung, if only for a short while!
Year 1 went down to Forest School this morning, it was glorious sunshine and lovely and dry underfoot. Their activities included bug hunting, the rope maze and making a willow crown with decorations. The children had hot Vimto and biscuits for their snack followed by the book 'A diary of a spider'. Year 2 went down in the afternoon but the sunshine had vanished. They did the same activiites as year 1.
Class 2 & 3 also had glorious weather for their sessions. Their activities included natural den building, bug hunting, making their own rope maze, making an Easter themed tree cookie, a tissue paper flower (for mother's day), the hammock and willow crowns. They also had hot Vimto and biscuits for their snack.
January 2022
Year 1 and 2 had a cold but dry day for their Forest School sessions. They used recycled bottles to make Bug Hotels; they filled the bottles with leaves, twigs, grass and any other natural materials that they found at our site. There was also lots of bug hunting and the slack line was out (this was great fun with lots of bouncing and wobbling!) See the photos. The children warmed up with hot chocolate and biscuits.
Class 2 and 3 also had a dry day but much colder but the children were very well dressed for the weather. Their activities involved designing and building a raft that would fit in the tub of water and float, if the raft floated then there was a tin with stones to put on the rafts. The stones had been weighed in grams and the weights written on them, the children had to balance the stones on the raft and then calculate how many grams their raft could carry. The slack line was out again and was very popular and there are lots of photos to prove how much fun was had by all. Between all of this they children had hot chocolate and biscuits to warm up.
December 2021
Class 2 & 3 had a cold but dry day for their sessions. The hammock was very popular with both classes, as was natural den building. The children also made Father Christmas tree cookie decorations, whilst others chose to make a giant spider web using the ropes. In the afternoon class 3 had the chance to do some fire lighting using the fire steels and they toasted marshmallows.
Class 1 - Year 1 & 2 had a lovely Autumnal day for their sessions. Their activities included bug hunting, den building finding Autumnal colours around the site and creating a Father Christmas tree cookie decoraction. Unfortunately the reception children didn't get down to the Forest school site due to the weather conditions but that didnt stop them enjoying the snow. They played in the snow on the back yard making lots of snow angels and snowballs. The children came back inside before they got too cold they came inside for hot chocolate and biscuits to warm up, once warm they made their tree cookie decorations.
May 2021
All classes attended Forest School this month some classes had better weather than others. The activities included bug hunting, maze building, clay tree spirits and stone stacking (the record was 10 stones set by a class 2 pupil). The reports and photos are below.
March 2021
This month we managed to get down to Forest School with Class 2 and 3, the weather was wet for class 3 but lovely and dry for class 2. The reports and photos are below.
February 2021
I hope everyone is well and managing to get outside for a break and some exercise. We have had a few days that have given us a little hint of Spring being around the corner, the birds are starting to sing and some will begin to nest soon. The daffodils and crocus are begining to grow and snowdrops are flowering, also the days are starting to slowly get longer.
I have added another file below from loveoutdoorlearning, which is a month of outdoors for March, there are lots of activities to choose from many linked to Spring. If you complete any of the activities you can email me photos and I will add them to our Forest School photo gallery. Enjoy the Spring sunshine! 
l.greenwood@sharneyford.lancs.sch.uk
January 2021
I have added a new file below, it is titled 'A month of outdoors', it is from loveoutdoorlearning. It contains a month's worth of activities, you can either follow the plan or pick and choose which ones you would like to do.
There is also a file titled '10 outdoor lessons' which contains lots of different Forest School activites for you to try at home. I have also left the activity files on from the last lockdown in case you didn't complete them. There is a link to the National trust page it has 50 things to do before you are 11 3/4, things like roll down a big hill, get to know a tree or go on a wintery adventure. There are also some extra links with lots of activities to choose from to keep you busy.
Have fun!
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/50-things-to-do
www.treetoolsforschools.org.uk/finder/?cat=activityfinder
mindstretchers.academy/collections/free-resources
www.owlscotland.org/resources/primary-resources/
November 2020
Classes 2 & 3 visited Forest School for 2 sessions each this month - the write up for their sessions are in the files section and the photos are below.
October 2020
Forest School returned for Class 3, the write up for their session is in the files section and the photos are below.
Wednesday 10th June. I hope you are all well and finding lots of new and exciting things to do. Well done to all those who requested Forest School packs, I am so impressed with the things you have created. I have added some more photos below that you have emailed to me.
Yesterday I had a walk down to our Forest School site to see how much it had changed during lockdown. It was so peaceful with lots of birds flying around and singing their hearts out. Nature has gone wild! the grass is so long, the nettles have popped up everywhere, there are lots of buttercup and other flowers and the trees are in full leaf - you can hardly see the sky. Whilst I was there I made a audio recording of the birds singing (the bird you can hear is a Great Tit, it makes the 'teacher teacher' sound) and also a short video tour of the site for anyone who is missing being at Forest School, I have added these to the page below the photo gallery.
There is one Forest School activity pack left if you wish to claim it please email me. l.greenwood@sharneyford.lancs.sch.uk
Thursday 28th May. Thank you to everyone who has emailed me photos of the things that they have made from the Forest School packs. There are some amazing creations from crowns decorated with flowers and feathers to crazy wands with magical tickling power and also a cool raft that not only floated but managed to carry some items on it without sinking. Well done! 
Later next week there will be another pack available please email me if you would like one to arrange collection or delivery.
l.greenwood@sharneyford.lancs.sch.uk
Tuesday 12th May. There will be a new Forest School activity pack ready by the end of this week, if you would like one please email me and I can arrange collection or delivery for you.
l.greenwood@sharneyford.lancs.sch.uk
Monday 4th May. There are still a few Forest School packs available, please email me if you would like one. l.greenwood@sharneyford.lancs.sch.uk
There are photos below of children who have completed a pack at home, thank you to those who have emailed photos to me. It looks like you had lots of fun doing the different activities.
Thursday 30th April. This week would have been the start of our Forest School sessions for this half-term, so rather than missing out on some of the activities we would usually do, I have put together some activity packs which include all the resources you need to make the items. If parents could email me at l.greenwood@sharneyford.lancs.sch.uk then I can arrange collection or delivery of a pack. Once you have made your creations please email me some photos and I will add them to our Forest School website page. Stay safe Mrs Greenwood x
Monday 6th April, Hi I hope you are finding some of these activities helpful. I have found a Blog by Isabel Lincoln, on it there are lots of Forest School activities for families at home.
https://isabellincoln.wixsite.com/forestschool
I have added some colouring and worksheets with Forest School style activities that you can access from home, they are in the files section below.
There is also this link www.suffolkoutdoorlearning.co.uk once on the webpage click on resources button (top right) then click either educational or arts and crafts to access different activities.
Mrs Greenwood
Well done to Mrs Greenwood who is now qualified as our very own Forest School Leader.
We have been working towards gaining the Green Tree Schools Bronze Award, this is through the Woodland Trust. We have achieved this status by completing different activities including visiting a woodland, turning off lights when they are not needed and recycling ink cartridges. We have now gained the Silver Award, which we are really proud of as a school. We are now working towards achieving the Gold Award.
