Queen's Park School go wild in the woods
By Charlotte Rustin
Queens Park Learning Mentor
In September and October, a group of ten children from Queen’s Park School had four days of forest school in The Deneway nature reserve woodland with Katie. Each of the sessions started with the whole group around the fire pit with a snack and then a welcoming activity using sticks to beat rhythms.
In the first session we learnt about fire lighting; which different sized pieces of wood to choose, how to lay them, and using flint and steel to light the fire. Initially, several of the children felt nervous and were reluctant to try using the flint and steel, but by the end of the first session, all the children felt confident about having a go and succeeded in making sparks to help light the fire.
In each session, after the group activities, children were given a choice of three or four activities they could choose from and move between as they liked. The children enjoyed den building, bracelet making, sawing wood for games and necklaces, cooking food and making hot chocolate, and whittling. The children, who are aged between six and ten, also relished the opportunity to eat lunch around the fire pit.
In addition to all of the children rating forest school ten out of ten, it was interesting to find that the most common words they used to describe how they felt in the woods were ‘safe’ and ‘happy’. All the children benefited from having something that they felt excited about and were looking forward to. We saw a number of other benefits of forest school, including children having positive interactions with other children, developing confidence trying new things, adapting their comfort zones in a different environment, and increasing their independence. Also, during the period of forest school, one child has settled significantly better into school life. It has been such a positive and enjoyable experience for both children and staff, and we would thoroughly recommend it!
Part of the Wild Side of the Tracks community wildlife project, kindly supported by the ScottishPower Foundation
