Somerhill Review 2023/24

THE SOMERHILL REVIEW 2023/24

Saplings

At Saplings, we work within the guiding principles of Forest School, which is a holistic, child-centred learning process which supports play, exploration and supported risk taking. This process helps children to develop socially, emotionally, physically, and intellectually in a non-judgemental, nurturing, and natural environment. All children are seen as equal, unique, and valuable.They initiate and drive their own learning and development to experience regular personal success. Each week, we provide opportunities for children to meaningfully connect with nature through stories, games, and challenges and to expand on their knowledge of the environment in which we live. Saplings is a space for trying new things such as cooking together on an open fire and simple crafting with real tools.We work within a theme and explore seasonal and cultural events. Our sessions are also guided by the changing season and weather patterns. Throughout the autumn term, we learnt about sweet chestnuts, conkers, acorns and beech nuts.We made our own autumn coloured paint, using turmeric for the yellows and oranges, blackberries for the reds and browns and charcoal for black. We decorated large sheets of material with all the colours and then moved on to printing with apples as the harvest season approached.We took a trip to the orchard, collected lots of apples of different sizes, looked at the pips, and shared the story of the apple man, learning that inside every apple is a star.These made wonderful star prints, which we used to make bunting and flags. We tried our hand at our own Andy Goldsworthy style of pictures, using the treasure we had collected earlier in the term.This led to learning about patterns and demonstrating how to make recurring patterns with the objects. We learnt how to start a fire using the fire strikers; the children were excellent at learning how to be safe and practised making sparks – fantastic for fine motor development. We made hot chocolate and roasted sweet chestnuts – which nearly everyone tried! We also decorated a pumpkin to take home, using palm drills to make holes, so that golf tees, sticks and leaves could be hammered into them.

Amidst the snowy weather, the children delighted in making patterns and ice sculptures outdoors

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