cooking bacon sandwiches with Primary 1

The pupils showed an interest in cooking bacon sandwiches in the RSS outdoor classroom. The pupils asked "how are we going to make a fire at RSS for cooking?". We explained to the pupils that we were going to be using a gas stove. The pupils gathered in a group and watched as the teacher demonstrated how to set up the gas stove with the gas bottles, gas lighter and stand for the pan to rest on. The teacher also went through the safety rules of cooking with a gas stove which included;

• not touching the middle and outside part of the pan when it has been sitting on the gas lighter for a few minutes 
• not to stand too close to the gas stove because the oil from the pan could begin to spit everywhere which could go on their skin or clothes

After some of the pupils had a go at holding the plastic end of the pan and flipping the bacon over. When all of the bacon sandwiches has been cooked and with some of the pupils asking "can I have ketchup on mine please?", I asked the pupils feedback on how the sandwiches tasted. One of the pupils said "mine is a nice and crispy" when another described the flavour of theirs as "it tastes like barbecue". 

Primary 2 joined up with Year 11 for cooking

Primary 2 enjoyed working together as a group to dig a hole in the forest school classroom. The pupils explained that they were "making a den". 

While Primary 2 were digging one of the Year 11's showed an interest in cooking all of the pupils and staff members a bacon and egg sandwich as they put cardboard and wood into the fire pit to make a fire. Another one of the Year 11 pupils supported Primary 2 by helping them to dig and to pile the mud into the middle of the tyres as they explained the purpose was to make the weight of the tyre heavier. 

cooking with Primary 3

The pupils showed an interest in cooking their own bacon sandwiches using the gas stove. When we got to Hartlebury Common we found a big tree and a spot to do the cooking. The pupils helped the teacher to set up the airbed sheets for them to sit on. Before the pupils began to cook they all sat around in a group as they listened and watched the teacher demonstrate how to prepare the gas stove with the gas bottles, gas lighter and the stand to put the pan on. The teacher also went through the safety rules of not touching the middle and outside of the pan when cooking but to hold the handle when flipping the bacon.

After the pupils supported one another by one pupil holding the pan while another used the spatula to flip the bacon over. The pupils took it in turns to cook their own bacon sandwich. The pupils also chose who was going to cook and who was going to butter the roles with one pupil asking their peers "how much butter do you want". 

As a group of pupils were cooking, another group enjoyed climbing the big tree and showed an interest in exploring Hartlebury Common. The pupils found a swamp and said "it is like Shrek's swamp". The pupils also found a stream and enjoyed throwing sticks. One of the pupils explained that the name of the game was "stick fishing". 

speedboating with Year 10/11

The pupils showed an interest in having a go to drive the speedboat. The teacher took all of the pupils out as a group to demonstrate how to use the lever to move the boat forward, reverse and give it some speed as well as what directions they needed to turn the steering wheel to go left and right. The pupils took it in turns to keep one hand on the lever and one hand on the steering wheel at all times as they started to move the boat forward in small movements. Then the pupils each had a go to manoeurve the boat back to the shore by following the direction of the wind as they steered the boat to the right and then to neutral for slowness. 

After the pupils went out in pairs along with the teacher as they travelled along the lake either up and down, side to side or all the way around in circular motions to create the movement of a doughnut.

 

After each pupil had a go at driving we asked them their feedback on how they thought about driving the speedboat. One of the pupils reacted in a positive way by sounding excited in their voice saying "that was amazing the best thing I have ever done and it was my first time, I was like a pro" when another pupil explained that he liked "making the boat go on it's side that was fun".

Year 8 cooking bacon on a stove

The pupils enjoyed walking around Worcester Woods talking about how they like to have their bacon cooked. One of the pupils said "I like mine a bit crispy" when another discussed how their family likes it cooked too saying "I like mine done quickly like turn it over twice and that's it when my sister likes it done like it is nearly burnt". As we were walking a found a wooden log sitting area and decided to make it our camp for where we would cook the bacon. One of the pupils said "I would like to be the cook". The teacher set up the gas stove as the pupil after started to place a couple of pieces of bacon onto the pan at a time for their peers and staff members. When their bacon sandwiches were done the pupils enjoyed the most important part which was eating the sandwich with one pupil expressing how thankful they were towards their peer for cooking the food.  

Speed boating with Year 9 at Bartley Sailing Club

The pupils showed an interest in each having a go to drive the speedboat along with the teacher's supportive demonstration and guidance. At the beginning all of the pupils went out on the speedboat as a group for the teacher to go through which ways to turn the steering wheel to go different directions and how to operate the lever to control how fast and slow the speedboat goes. 

The pupils then went out in pairs with the teacher where they took it in turns to travel up and down and side to side along the lake. Some of the pupils showed an interest in making doughnuts as they went round in a circular motion several times really quickly. After one of the pupils asked if they could go all the way around the edge of the lake along with the teacher and one of their peers. 

walk around Leasowes Park with Year 7B

 

As we got to Leasowes Park the pupils enjoyed walking around talking about the sights and natural organisms they could see with one pupil saying to their peer "look I have one of those flowers that you blow on and the petals come off". Another pupil took an interest in the river asking "can I walk through it because on the sign back there it says it is a pool and I want to swim with the ducks". The pupils also enjoyed finding small and big logs and sticks to walk along with. While we were walking the pupils travelled in a variety of ways such as walking up the hill and along the bridge or climbing to the top of the stream bank. 

Halfway around Leasowes Park the pupils showed an interest in exploring the stream by walking through the water or jumping to "let me make the biggest splash". One of the pupils found a really long stick and with their peer described that they were "going fishing". Another pupil enjoyed walking to the top of the bank which was next to the stream and sliding down on their bottom talking about their past experiences of sliding down the bank before saying "I did it the last Outdoor Ed lesson but last time I went down on my stomach". 

Before we went back to the minibus all of the pupils had a go on the park where they enjoyed seeing how high they could go on the swings, see how fast they could travel on the spinning top and completing the obstacle course of walking and crawling along circle bars.

Year 7A decorating their wooden robot

The pupils showed an interest in continuing to finish off the final parts to their wooden robot. The pupils had a go at either using the electric cutting saw to cut a big piece of wood into a small piece for the robot's neck and operating the drill using their right hand to start and stop and putting their left hand on top to push the drill down to screw two nails into the wood. 

 

After the pupils enjoyed working together to decorate the robot using two colours of paint. The pupils chose "blue" and "silver". One of the pupils said "I want blue because it is my favourite colour". The pupils as a group decided who was going to paint what parts of the robot. One pupil said "the body i think should be blue" when another pupil explained "I think the legs and feet should be silver". 

While the pupils were painting the teacher found an old computer screen and asked if they wanted to use it for the robot's head. All of the pupils agreed with one pupil saying "yeh it will look like the other robot's on the shelf, it will look so cool". The teacher drilled two nails into the computer screen to keep it stable as the pupils after used yellow paint to paint the robot's face. 

walk around The Snipes with Primary 1

The pupils enjoyed walking around The Snipes as one of the teaching assistant's brought along their two dogs. The pupils showed an interest in walking the dogs along the river as they watched them begin to dive into the water. The staff member explained that they were going for a swim. Whilst walking we talked about how we would need to walk down some steps to get to a cave and to see the boats stationed on the harbour. As we got down the steps the pupils saw the caves and one pupil said "wow they are really big, do you think a bear lives there". We continued to walk where the pupils enjoyed having running races seeing who could run the fastest by encouraging one another to know where the beginning of the race was and where it was going to end. One pupil supported their peers by including every pupil and discussing the areas of "we will start at this small tree and the race will finish by that taller tree". 

We turned ourselves around and walked back up the steps counting to see how many there were. As a group we counted to the number .  The pupils enjoyed finding sticks to walk along with saying "it is my walking stick". We walked all the way around the field throwing sticks to the dogs and talking about what sights they could see such as "the sun is hiding behind the clouds.

Primary 2's continuation of a wooden robot

At RSS the pupils continued to add parts to their project of making a wooden robot. At the start of the lesson the pupils identified that the body feature of the robot they were going to make was "are we making the feet so our robot can walk". The pupils each had a go at operating the variety of tools such as a big saw, drill and coping saw.  The pupils watched as the teacher demonstrated how to use the tools safely and what to do when they needed to tighten the blade for the saws to make it easier to cut the wood. 

The pupils then worked in pairs taking it in turns by sharing the tools and encouraging one another by demonstrating to their peer how to angle the saw when cutting. One pupil said "you have to point the saw towards the floor to make a straight line if not then the line will be all wiggly". The pupil continued to talk about their past experiences of operating the big saw before and who with "I know this because I cut wood with my Granddad every Wednesday". The pupils supported the teacher as they attached the small pieces of wood for the feet to the wooden legs of the robot with the pupils holding the robot while the teacher drilled the nail into the holes.  

Primary 3 at Creation

All of the pupils showed an interest in travelling to the skate park. As we got to Creation the pupils gathered together and was each given a scooter and helmet. The teacher went through the outdoor ed rules and safety instructions of no swearing, being mindful of other people, keeping the helmet on at all times when using the scooter.

All of the pupils had a go on the scooters and took it in turns to swap their scooter with their peers. The pupils worked together in small groups and as a class by encouraging their peers to join in. The pupils also enjoyed riding up and down different sized ramps and demonstrating to their peers what tricks they could do. On the way back to school all of the pupils as a group showed their interest in returning to the skate park on another outdoor ed lesson. The pupils discussed what parts they liked and if they had been on a scooter before. One of the pupils said "I do wheelies on my scooter at home". The pupils continued to talk about their past experience of taking their scooter to a skate park which wasn't fair away from where they lived and how they use to go with their friends from around their house". Another pupils identified one of the ramps as "I really liked the big one because you could go really high".

sailing with Year 10 and 11

 

Two of the pupils went off in the sail boat working together to steer the boat and sail in a variety of directions while the small group enjoyed talking about the sights they could see on the speedboat as well as shouting encouragement to their peers such as "pull the sail into your body" and "you need to duck your heads or the sail will hit you". Throughout the lesson the pupils in the sail boat showed an interest in directing themselves with some staff support to different coloured balls which were placed all around the lake. Halfway the pupils said "can we do a cap side". The teacher relayed instructions of stand up in the middle to unbalance the boat and then as the pupils were in the water, the teacher continued to advise them to work together to swim to the back of the boat and push the centre board up to turn the boat upwards, and then to swim to the end of the boat as they helped one another by one pupil pushing behind and the other using their arms to pull themselves up to the middle of the boat. We asked for the pupils feedback on what they thought of going into the water and one pupil said "it was fun but very cold".

After we went back to the shore to eat our lunch and then as a group the teacher took them back out in the speedboat to go as fast they could all around the lake. To finish off the lesson two of the pupils had a go and jumping into the lake.