St Ronan's is currently in the process of becoming a Forest School!
P7PF completed an outdoor learning lesson with Brian Poots from NIFSA last week. Despite the gloomy weather, pupils took part in a lot of fun activities which encouraged teamwork, collaboration and learning through exploration.
We started the session by outlining our expectations and by setting the boundaries we should stay within.
The first activity was all about camouflage! Pupils were split into two teams (Birds & Worms). Worms had to hide some string around the area. It was then up to the birds to find the hidden string within 2 minutes! The teams then reversed roles. Some of pieces of string were so well camouflaged that they were not found!
We then completed a short activity to show how we can measure a tree's height using a stick!
Our final learning activity was all about den-building! Pupils showed great enthusiasm and resourcefulness as they worked in teams to create a sturdy yet spacious den made from tarpaulin, bamboo canes and clothes pegs! Some excellent designs were produced with some children opting to spend the last few minutes of the lesson 'chilling' in them!
After evaluating the activities, it was up to the class to tidy up and fulfil our expectation of 'Leave No Trace'.
This was an excellent start to our Forest School journey! A big thank you to Brian for leading the lesson and providing us with an outdoor learning pack equipped with a variety of tools and resources for outdoor learning.
Check out some images from the lesson below as well as a PDF that shows the structure of the lesson.
