Pre-Prep Forest School Week

The whole of the Pre-Prep have enjoyed an exciting week of Forest School activities.  

Nursery got creative, took risks and persevered all throughout Forest School week. Highlights included making orange ice lollies, enjoying picnics in the school grounds, eating fire-cooked damper bread with honey, rolling down the grassy bank and creating forest potions with goblin and fairy magic!

Reception class learnt some First Aid on Monday, made natural crowns to wear and built stone sculptures by the river. Tuesday saw them learning how to whittle safely, building willow houses and pond dipping for tadpoles, bloodworms, snails and dragonfly larvae. Pupils spent most of Wednesday in the woods, making damper bread and using sandpaper to smooth wood 'cookie' necklaces and decorating them. Potions were made by mixing different natural materials and magic water! On Thursday the children went on a scavenger hunt in pairs and collected leaves to make leaf art. They enjoyed a fun swim on Friday and carried out the nine stick challenge in the afternoon to finish off a fun-packed week.

Year 1 pupils have enjoyed trips to Dartmoor and Grenofen where they worked on navigational skills, went letter boxing, made boats and kites using natural objects and laid a trail for their friends to follow. They also took part in lots of activities using the school grounds; going on a nature scavenger hunt, using the camp fire to make damper bread, making tree faces using clay and creating a trust trail. 

Year 2 also learnt some First Aid on Monday and then visited Princetown Visitor Centre. The children focused on Sherlock Holmes and The Hounds of the Baskervilles, watched a film about Arthur Conan Doyle and dressed up as characters from the story. They also visited South Hessary Tor and went letterboxing. Tuesday began with a bike ride along the cycle path and a trip to Grenofen to take photographs, make dens for their cuddlies and search the woods for parts of a story which they put together. On Wednesday, Year 2 made their own minibeast dens and placed them around the Pre-Prep. The children will be checking the habitats to see what wonderful creatures they attract. Pupils were then asked to look at the playground and think about its suitability for a child in a wheelchair. The rest of the day was spent in the woods exploring the surroundings, making damper bread and having hot dogs for lunch.

Thursday saw Years 1 and 2 visiting Burrator where they experienced setting a trail for others to follow, tying knots to make their own jewellery, learning and using Morse code to communicate, using the natural materials around them to make a frame for a kite, making boats from natural materials for a boat race along the stream, and making maps.

On Friday the children created stone mini beasts using natural materials. There are now blue bottles, ladybirds, bumble bees, dragon flies and poisonous spiders lurking in the classroom! Years 1 and Year 2 also enjoyed the chance to use the outdoor swimming pool as a treat for their hard work this half term.

More photographs can be found on Facebook.