rock climbing at Creation with Year 10

At the start of the session the pupils were introduced to the instructor who explained what the safety rules were for climbing the rock walls. They demonstrated how to put the harness on correctly, where and how the rope was going to be clipped so they could start their journey of exploring the walls as well as explaining how to get down such as when they got to a height they felt comfortable to stop at, they would need to just let go of the rocks and their bodies would slide down. The pupils enjoyed climbing a variety of rock walls at different heights. The pupils and staff members took it in turns have a go at seeing how high they could reach. When they had achieved one height the pupils showed an interest in moving onto the next one as they pushed themselves to climb higher at more difficult stages. 

cooking with Year 8 and 10

 

Year 8 and 10 showed an interest in exploring the forest school classroom and cooking a bacon sandwich using the fire pit. Before they could cook the bacon the pupils took it in turns or worked together in pairs to collect the resources of shredded paper and dry pieces of wood to put into the fire pit to start the fire burning. When the fire was ready one of the pupils enjoyed spreading butter around the pan, placing the bacon inside and putting it onto the fire tray. As the pupil was cooking the food the rest of the class enjoyed kicking a football back and forth between each other or exploring the forest school obstacle course as they climbed over or through the middle of the tyres with the goal of not touching the floor. 

creation with Year 9 and 10

On the mini bus ride to Creation all of the pupils showed an interest in exploring the skate park by discussing about previous experiences of being on a scooter. When we got there all of the pupils were given a helmet and explained why they needed to wear it to protect their heads as well as scooter. The pupils enjoyed travelling up and down the various sized ramps on the scooters at various speeds. The pupils showed an interest in demonstrating their tricks of bunny hops, spinning the whole of the scooter around as they were jumping in the air or when they were stationary for practice. The pupils worked together as a group to see who could achieve the highest jump on their scooters as they took it in turns to race along the ramps one at a time. 

The pupils supported one another by encouraging their peers to have a go on the higher ramps as they demonstrated first the safety positions of where to place their feet on the scooter and their hands on the handle bars for them to accomplish the goal of getting from one side of the ramps to the other. The pupils after having a go on the scooters enjoyed running between the different height ramps as they accomplished the goal of seeing who could reach the high and low ramps the quickest. 

sailing with Year 7B and 10

Year 7B and 10 showed an interest in sailing along the Bartley Lake. All of the pupils and staff got themselves kitted up with a wet suit, waterproof coat and a life jacket. When they were ready all of the pupils gathered together as a class and watched as the teacher demonstrated the techniques they would need to use to steer the boat left, right and straight ahead, control the sail by pulling the string in tight or loosening it and which way they thought the wind was coming with one of the pupils identifying what way the ripples in the water were travelling. After the pupils made their way to the shore as they prepared their boats by undoing the sail and placing them into the water. 

When we got to the shore all of the pupils were paired up with two in a boat. After the pupils  gathered around their boats and listened as the teacher explained that the next step was for them to work together to set the sail and place the rudder down into the water. The pupils took it in turns to climb onto their boats as the staff gave them a little push along the water to start them off. The pupils enjoyed working in their pairs by travelling in between the balls and around the edge of the lake. 

While they were sailing a couple of the pairs demonstrated how to do a capsize as they began to lost control of their sail boat. The teacher explained step by step the safety instructions of how to roll their boat back up by pushing the udder back into the middle of the boat for them to swim to the other side and climb themselves back on. 

building a rope swing at Habberley Valley

Year 7A and 10 joined together for their outdoor education lesson with the Year 10 pupil taking on the responsibility of being teaching assistants. The pupils showed an interest in exploring Habberley Valley by finding sticks to support them as they walked or using the sticks for the activity of curling with one pupil saying "this is what they do when they want to move those bowls around, they wave the stick back and forth as it moves". As we were walking the teacher explained that they were going to be building a swing out of rope and a log for them to seat on. 

While the teacher was preparing the rope swing the pupils enjoyed walking to the top of the small cliff as a group by encouraging one another saying "hold my hand and I will pull you up" and "put one foot on the rock in front of you while you use the other foot to push yourself up". When they got to the top the pupils took it in turns to make their way back down by either running or rolling on their sides. After the rope swing was set up safely, the teacher explained the safety rule of wearing a helmet while they were on the swing to protect their heads if they fell off. Some of the pupils had a go at seeing how high they could reach with one pupil saying "I want to go really high that I touch that tall branch" when another pupil described how they were going to travel on the swing "I am going to be Tarzan". 

Primary 1 exploring a park

The pupils enjoyed exploring the variety of different apparatus at the park. The pupils showed an interest in seeing how fast they could spin around on the sat down spinning wheel, achieving the goal of completing the wooden obstacle course independently and taking it in turns to each have a go at seeing how quick they could go as the zip wire moved from one side of the zip line to the other as well as seeing high they could reach when the zip wire got to the end and bounced back. The pupils also enjoyed swinging from one monkey bar to the other with the challenge of turning their bodies around still holding into the monkey bars without falling onto the floor. One of the pupils demonstrated their idea of wrapping their legs around the post to support their body weight for them to take the next step of crossing their arms over with the achieved goal of facing the opposite way which led back to the start. 

walk around Worcester Woods to a park with Primary 2

 

The pupils enjoyed walking around Worcester Woods as they discussed what they could see. One of the pupils pointed and said "look there is a mushroom". The pupils showed an interest in exploring the woods through different movements of running along the paths or in and out of the woodland areas. We discussed how the woods felt like "a jungle with all of this long grass". The pupils walked along logs showing the staff how to balance their bodies with one pupil expressing "look I can walk along without falling off, I just stick my arms out". While we continued to walk further the pupils pointed out a couple of tree huts stood up beside the trees. The pupils showed an interest in dismantling the huts as they identified the sizes of the logs used. One pupil said "this long is taller than me". 

We began to walk towards the outside of the woods where we found a large surface of grass which led to a park. The pupils enjoyed seeing how fast they could travel on the zip wire, achieving the goal of reaching to the top of the climbing frame along with their peers and staff members and exploring the various shaped apparatus. 

Primary 3 explored Hartlebury Common

The pupils showed an interest in exploring the sights of Hartlebury Common with the challenge of finding a big tree for them to have a go at building a rope swing with the teacher and staff using rope to tie around a branch and a log to sit on. While we were walking the pupils enjoyed travelling to the top of the hill as they split into two teams with one group walking in and out of the bushes or the other group having a running race to see who could reach the top the quickest. 

When we got to the top the pupils found a swing which was already made and enjoyed seeing how high they could go as they moved their feet back and forward to balance the weight of their bodies or as a group working together to push their peer's back as well as pulling the sides of the log in the same motion of back and forth. The pupils also showed an interest in spinning their peer's around on the swing really fast that one pupil reacted by saying "look they are going around again". 

creation with Year 10

On the minibus journey the pupils showed an interest in having a go on the scooters at Creation as they talked about what tricks they were going to do and if they could bring their own scooter or "can I bring my BMX in because I have put new wheels on it and a new crank so I will be able to show you my skills".  One pupil said "I am going to do a bunny hop" when another identified what height they were going to achieve on the scooter "I am going to do the highest group, you will see me going down the ramps really quick". 

When we got to Creation each of the pupils put on a safety helmet as we talked about why they had to wear it was to protect their heads if they fell off which was described was more likely going to happen. Each of the pupils were given a scooter. They all went off together as a group exploring different sized ramps with one pupil saying "let me show you how high I can go on this ramp". The pupil went again to see if they could go any higher which they did saying " I definitely went even higher that time". 

The pupils also enjoyed taking it in turns to travel down the ramps one at a time to create a chain reaction and see who could make the highest jump. 

Volley ball match with Year 9

The pupils and staff enjoyed playing a whole class game of volleyball. The pupils and staff took it in turns to pass the ball to each other over the volleyball net as they used the palm of their hands or clinched their fingers together with the goal of seeing who could get score the most points.

Year 7A walk around Worcester Woods

The pupils showed an interest in walking around Worcester Woods pretending they were in a forest. The pupils travelled along the woodland paths and through the forest trees playing a game of penny wise. The aim of the game is for the person who is taking on the role of penny wise to achieve the goal of catching their peers out. After the pupils had explored the nature reserve they enjoyed playing on the park as they took it in turns to have a go on the slide and worked in pairs to guide one another on the swings by pushing the bottom of the seat or using the strings to see how high they could reach.

walk around Hartlebury Common with Primary 2

 

As we began to move along the sandy paths at Hartlebury Common by walking or running the pupils showed an interest in exploring the environment by climbing trees and creating marks in the sand by using their feet and hands. One of the pupils said "look I can see where I am walking, I just follow my footprints". 

The path started to incline as we continued to walk to the very top. When we got to the top the pupils found a swing and enjoyed swinging back and forth with the support of a member of staff pushing them behind or using their legs to move their bodies with one pupil saying "I want to go really high". 

We carried on exploring the sights of Hartlebury where we found another big tree with a tree hut as the pupils showed an interest in climbing along the branches and sitting in the hut. Two of the pupils started to describe the view from the top of Hartlebury common's hill between one another as they identified how tall they felt "wow it really high up here that look, the houses look really small".

walk around Castle Morton Common with Year 10

The pupils enjoyed walking to the top of Castle Morton Common where they showed an interest in talking about the various sights of the land rover testing route as the teacher explained that the area is where people come to test out the speed and function of their land rover vehicles, walking in and out as well as through forest areas, running up and down small banks, gathering around a surge tank as a group to explore any findings with one pupil saying "let''s look inside we might see a dead body" and climbing to the edge of a historic statue.   

After we had discussed historic facts about the statue we walked back down to the bottom of the hills. The pupils then showed an interest in cooking bacon sandwiches on a gas stove. One of the pupils enjoyed taking on the role of cooking sandwiches for their peers and staff members while another pupil supported by buttering pieces of bread. The pupil began to talk about his family's jobs of working in a cafe and how they cook their bacon for their customers "my mum doesn't use a gas stove she puts it on a tray and it goes straight in a big gas oven". 

walk around Hartlebury Common with Year 8

The pupils enjoyed exploring the sand as they began to draw pictures using their hands and feet. Half of the group showed an interest in going on an adventure trek of climbing to the top of the hill with one pupil saying "look at the view from up here, the trees look really small". The pupils also enjoyed walking along the forest areas as they found a big tree and climbed to the top. The pupils in pairs ran to the bottom of the hill and then back up to see who could run the quickest. On our way back we began to trek through tall grass hedges and tree branches to achieve the end goal of reaching the bottom. The pupils worked together to travel in a variety of movements such as using their arms to move the hedges to the side, lifting their legs up high to step over or communicating between their peers and staff to work out what their thoughts were towards the safe solution to get themselves through. One pupil suggested "why don't you get on your tummy and use your hands and feet to shuffle your body".

Year 9 exploring Wyre Forest

 

The pupils showed an interest in exploring the nature resources of Wyre forest by walking through long grass as one pupil said "I feel like I am walking in a forest", climbing on top of logs, travelling in and out of forest areas and finding big logs and sticks to add onto a tree hut already structured. While the pupils were exploring one of the pupils enjoyed feeling the texture of the leaves and branches as the pupils worked together as a class to cover their peer's head and body in the leaves. The pupil walked around calling themselves "I am the tree man". 

Halfway the pupils found a old surge tank and enjoyed climbing up, down and over the bars to reach the top as they sat down to have a look at the scenery. The pupils identified ants that they could see crawling on the ground and showed an interest in finding the ant's nest. We found three big piles. One of the pupils talked about the height of one pile saying "that is the tallest pile out of the others but the ants have a tree to help them build their nest". We saw a cliff edge and the pupils and staff members showed an interest in looking at the view of a stream. We talked about the pupil's past experience of canoeing along the water of Bewdley last week for the DoE expedition.