Find out what has been happening in school this week.

• Atlatl making

  Thu 29 Jun 2023

  Today was the day to finish off atlatl making. The spears are done so now onto the throwing part. The children all had a go with the atlatl as it was, to get the idea of what was needed. This takes some practice to be honest but everyone tried really hard. They then perfected the atlatl, using knife skills. Once everyone had whittled their wood down to a nice size they tried again, throwing at a target. Everyone improved an awful lot and they were pleased to get to take them home. 
  A game of Eagle Eye finished our day off nicely

  

• Sports day

  Wed 28 Jun 2023

  Good fun on sports day where everyone took part and tried their best. A lovely afternoon of team games. Green team won the overall event. Well done to them.

  

• Shin Rin Yoku

  Sat 24 Jun 2023
  

• Y6 in the woods

  Thu 15 Jun 2023

  Week 2 for Year 6. The camp fire wasn’t lit today so the children were asked to collect skinny sticks and Birch bark andMatthew started a fire really quickly.  We continued with the spears initially. Matthew showed us how to burn off the wispy bits on the spears and how to use the knife to create a smooth finish. This took some time but just before dinner we were ready to bind on the feathers. Gut was used as the binding, it can be pulled very tight and then it shrinks as it dries. After dinner it was covered in pitch(made from pine tree sap, charcoal and a bit of muck). This is heated until it becomes runny and is smoothed over the binding. 
  To finish off today, we started on fire lighting and we were shown how easy it is for areas to catch fire and how important it is to put them out properly.

  Next time, we will continue with our atlatls. Nice to have a warm day in the woods for a change, even if the insects found us tasty!

  

• New skills in the woods

  Thu 08 Jun 2023

  This half term sees Y6 bringing together all the skills they have learned over the last 5 years in forest school. Usually we start with shelter, however Y6 have a project to do which is atlatl and spear making. The children all had a go at spear throwing using the atlatl so they knew what they were aiming to make. The first job was to select suitable wood for the spear and cut it down independently using a saw. Once this was done, Maria reminded everyone of knife safety and points were carved and the bark stripped. The basic atlatl shape was formed from willow and the children began to shape them properly. These will dry out over the next week and we will continue to work on the wood.