Over the last term children across school have been learning about birds. They have been looking at the feeding habits of birds of prey. To try and help them understand the sheer speed of...
At Harlow Green, we have developed an environment and curriculum which takes children beyond the classroom and places them into their natural environment as well as their community.
Forest School
Harlow Green is different from most schools in that it is a Forest School. The Forest School approach provides a hands-on, practical education in our outdoor environment. This part of the curriculum is managed by a qualified Forest School Leader – Miss Rowe – who continuously maintains and develops her professional practice. Miss Rowe is supported by Mr McMann during Forest School sessions. The Forest Education Community has put together the guiding principles for Forest Schools. These principles were agreed to ensure good practice across the country.
- Forest School is a long-term process of regular sessions, rather than a one-off or infrequent visits; the cycle of planning, observation, adaptation and review links each session.
- It takes place in a woodland or natural environment to support the development of a relationship between the learner and the natural world.
- We use a range of learner-centred processes to create a community for development and learning.
- Forest School aims to promote the holistic development of all those involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners.
- It offers learners the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves.
Our approach at Harlow Green is centred on enabling children to develop a sense of independence and self-motivation, they become more courageous and can learn to realistically assess situations, are more self-reliant and opportunistic. This approach particularly supports the development of self-esteem and self-confidence. The focus in Forest School and Outdoor Learning is on short achievable tasks which then build in complexity based on observations of the children’s needs and interests.
Community Work
Developing children’s understanding about their local community and providing the opportunity to positively impact upon it is essential in developing the future generation. Through the regular curriculum but also through our outdoor curriculum, children are involved in projects which allows them to work within the local community in a variety of ways and to actively engage within it.
Year 2 spent the first part of their Forest School session in the woods playing a game of Kestrel and the Mice. This speedy hiding game encourages the children to experience what it might...
Reception children went out into the beautiful snow this morning. No wind just buckets of snow. What delight they took in catching it in their mouths! Staring straight up into it and seeing how...
Our music sessions are continuing at Angel Court this half term, but before they began Miss Rowe took the children to Angel Court to give the Platinum Parterre a bit of a face lift....
Despite the wild weather this week, Reception children still managed to get out into the Forest School. First they were told a traditional tale The Magpie and the Birds Nests, this inspired them to...
To link to the RSPB Birdwatch, the children across school have been learning about birds in their Forest School sessions. Through predator and prey games, stalking in the woods to thinking about feeding patterns...
Our musical journey continued with Tobias, from Equal Arts. The children practiced playing percussion instruments and learning about pitch and tempo. They composed music using pictures to represent specific sounds. This week also saw...
Reception children are learning about the feeding habits of birds Forest School style. Off to the field to build a big nest together, working the grass and branches round and around to create the...
Still learning about birds in preparation for the RSPB Big School Birdwatch, Year 4 set off on a Woolly Worm Hunt. An activity designed to really make the children think about how birds feed...
