LOtC

What is our vision for Forest School at St Mary of the Angels?

• To nurture our children’s love of, and appreciation for, God’s creation
• To develop children’s understanding of stewardship
• To provide opportunities for children to develop and have fun in a safe and stimulating environment
• To facilitate children’s understanding of risk taking, choice making and ownership of their own learning

Learning Outside the Classroom

Learning outside the classroom is an integral part of life at St Mary's.  We place high value on enabling children to get outside and experience their learning in a natural environment.  Last year, Forest School was very popular with the children and this year we aim to build on the children's skills and develop their confidence in recognising the abilities they have.

Forest School is an inspirational learning journey, which offers ALL learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in our woodland and natural outdoor environment.  In addition, we plan to expand our Forest School provision beyond our school site to local beauty spots - such as Rivacre Valley - and places of historical importance.  In doing so, we instantly add flesh to the bones of the creative curriculum which underpins everything we strive for here at St Mary's.

What to wear during winter sessions:

• Base layer – long sleeve t shirt (or old pyjama top).  You may want to double up in winter months.
• Mid layer – an old, warm jumper that you don’t mind getting wet or muddy
• Outer layer – a waterproof coat with a hood.
• Legs - tights, long johns, leggings, old pyjama bottoms and tracksuit trousers over the top.  Waterproof trousers if possible
• Footwear – old trainers, walking boots or wellies are perfect
• Extras - a warm, woolly hat, gloves, and scarf.

What to wear during summer sessions:

• Base layer – preferably a long-sleeved t-shirt although a short-sleeved t-shirt may suffice if the weather is hot
• Outer layer – a thin, waterproof jacket or coat
• Legs – long tracksuit bottoms are essential.  These help to avoid bites and stings during the summer months.
• Footwear – old trainers, walking boots or wellies are perfect
• Extras - a freshly filled water bottle, sun cream applied before school.

Year 3 Forest School - Thursday 18th April

This week we spent our Forest School session at Rivacre Valley, learning how to identify our location on a map. We learned all about 2-figure grid references and identified different symbols and keys which are used on maps to help us identify where we are. We then used natural resources to build routes on the floor of the forests to show our route from school to Rivacre Valley. We vcame back to school and finished our session with a fire and a toasted marshmallow.

Year 2 Forest School - Thursday 25th April

We had a wonderful Forest School session this morning despite the unpredictable weather.  We did lots of work about minibeasts and the morning just flew by.  The children made bug hotels, clay models and hunted around the grounds for minibeasts.  We played games to explore food chains and at the end of the session we enjoyed a fire with delicious marshmallows.

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