Good info and lovely description of Forest School ethos and practice here, for anyone still unsure of what it’s all about…
http://www.muddyfaces.co.uk/forest_schools.php?osCsid=nir0446hh5v1mc9fccl25q7jl4
Coming soon….Special Needs Forest School programme February 25, 2013
I’m excited to be developing a new Special Needs Forest School programme. Although Forest School is generally an inclusive, multi-sensory and highly individualised way of learning, this programme will concentrate on developing personal, social and emotional skills, such as concentration, listening and speaking, self-awareness, self-regulation, team-work, turn-taking and sharing, with the aim of improving the social skills and quality of play for children on the Autistic Spectrum.
Games and activities that incorporate the natural environment create a sensory-rich experience for the learners. For example, blindfold games where children have to rely on their listening skills or sense of touch and smell; kinaesthetic activities, like den-building where children get to work hands-on with natural materials and tools and problem solve at the same time; group games and exercises where children learn to think as part of a team and respect group boundaries.
As much as possible, all activity will be child led, allowing the learning to take on special meaning for the children and for themes to develop over the weeks. This helps to build self-esteem and motivation as the children learn at their own pace and in a way that suits them.
Finally, through reflection time and using activities such as natural art to express feelings, we will learn how to name and be aware of our feelings, the feelings of others and appreciate the different things we each bring to the group.
Keep an eye on this page and https://sticksandstonesfs.wordpress.com/programmes-and-events/ for updates!
Spring Term taster sessions and programmes
It may not feel much like Spring but we seem to be half way through the Spring term already!
This half of term I am offering reduced rate Taster Sessions and Programmes to schools across London – see the Forest School Programmes page for details
In the meantime, wrap up warm and hope for a March like last year!
“Experience of … February 13, 2013
“Experience of the outdoors and wild adventure space has the potential to confer a multitude of benefits on young people’s physical development, emotional and mental health and well-being, and social and educational development, which may have long-lasting effects into adulthood.”
Natural England, May 2010, Wild Adventure Space: its role in teenagers’ lives, Report NECR025
Spring Term taster sessions and programmes February 12, 2013
It may not feel much like Spring but we’re already half way throught the Spring Term, can you believe?!
During the next half of term I will be offering reduced rate Taster Sessions and Programmes to schools across London – see the Forest School Programmes page for details
In the meantime, wrap up warm and hope for a March like last year!
Glorious Autumn! October 19, 2012
After a bit of an extended “summer” break and a slow easing back into the autumn term, here I am…
And what a glorious Autumn it promises to be! Ok it’s a bit dull and miserable at the moment, but have you noticed the colours starting to come out? Remember all that sun we (finally) had in September? That’s going to guarantee us some spectacular colours this year. Last year, everything went a very dull, uniform brown, because it’s the late summer sunshine that produces the right chemical reaction in the leaves to give us that lovely array of reds, golds and ambers. Perfect for making leaf firework pictures (on black paper or card) in time for bonfire night!
Queen’s Wood Family Art Fun Day June 25, 2012
Lovely day up in the woods on Sunday June 17th, and so lucky with the weather. We had a small spattering of rain fairly early on, but that just meant loads of people came under cover to shelter and took part in making hapa-zomes.
Hapa-zomes are pictures made of the imprint of a leaf or flower, on cloth or paper. It’s a fairly simple technique, using a mallet to bash your design of leaves and flowers onto some calico cloth, through a layer of card, onto a hard surface, also lined with card. It’s a matter of trial and error as to how long and how hard you have to do it and will depend, to a degree, on the time of year and the freshness of the leaves.
Over all, everyone seemed to find it a very rewarding (not to mention noisy!) activity, with some beautiful results (and plenty of latent aggression relieved too!)
It’s all about Elder! May 17, 2012
Time to start collecting plastic screw top bottles! Why? It’s nearly Elderflower season – Elderflower Champagne (and cordial)! After my first experience a few years ago, when I collected and began to brew my Elderflowers but never quite got round to collecting and sterilising bottles in time, and ended up throwing all the lovely stuff away, I swore never to let that happen again! Last year, therefore, I made about 10 bottles of the lovely bubbly stuff and fully intend to do so again this year.
Look for the flowering trees anytime from now until mid-June. The flowers are best picked on at the end of a sunny day (:/ yeah yeah I know…!) as this maximises the natural yeasts.
This is the very simple recipe I followed last year, courtesy of http://www.pastymuncher.co.uk
Go pick half a dozen full elderflower heads ideally on a sunny day when they are most fragrant.
- Half fill a clean bucket with 2 gallons of cold water (thats 10 Litres) – (I used a large stock pot or two)
- dissolve 2lbs (1kg) of white sugar into the water
- shake any debris and insects clear from the elderflower heads and immerse in the water
- Cut two lemons in half squeeze juice into water and throw in the squeezed halfs
- add a splosh (4 tablespoons) of white wine vinegar
- stir gently and cover with a clean tea towel
- leave for 24 hours stirring occasionally
After 24 hours, sterilise plastic carbonated drinks bottles – 10 x 1 litre lemonade/pop bottles are ideal – and strain jugfuls of the liquor through a sieve or muslin cloth into the bottles and screw the plastic tops on firmly.
Leave for a week and the naturally occurring yeast on the elderflower heads begins to ferment with the sugar creating a very weak alcohol content but lots of carbon dioxide – hence the plastic bottles, as opposed to glass, which have a tendency to explode. You will need to release the pressure in the bottles from time to time, sometimes daily, sometimes weekly – just keep an eye.
Thanks, pastymuncher!
Makes a delicious and refreshing fizz, very light in alcohol and, apparently, a good mixer! Or delicious alone. Enjoy!
May’s Woodland Wander – trees! May 15, 2012
This is truly my favourite time of year in the woods -nothing quite beats that lush Spring green for
me! So, with the weather as promised – a beautiful day at last! – what a great opportunity to finally get out in the woods and play! And catch the last of the bluebells. A small group of us met and wandered off to play games of “123 where are you?” under the fresh green canopy.
Next, we
wandered a bit further to play a game of “meet a tree” – one of my favourite games where, in pairs, one partner is blindfolded and guided by the other to a tree, where they feel the bark, shapes and textures of the trunk, then have to find it again when led back to the starting point and un-blindfolded!
Leading on from this game, we began a discussion about trees – are they all the same? what’s different about them? Then using leaf i-dials (thank you Woodland Trust’s www.naturedetectives.org.uk/) we tried to identify the trees in Queen’s Wood. Queen’s Wood is mainly Hornbeam, Oak and Beech, with Cherries, Birch, Hazel, Ash, Rowan, Sycamore, Horse Chestnut, Field Maple, and many more, and an understorey of Holly, Hawthorn and Elder. We found a few of these and made leaf prints on cloth and bark rubbings with twig frames.
By the way, sorry about the quality of the photos – my phone camera isn’t very good!
Tomorrow’s Woodland Wander is on! May 12, 2012
At last! Some sun! Weather looks great for tomorrow’s Woodland Wander – http://uk.weather.com/weather/tomorrow-London-UKXX0085
Fill in a contact form on the family and events page to book, or call me on 07983442410.
Hope to see you!
Ros
sticks&stones forest school 