On  the 23rd August we started work on clearing and preparing the 1/3 acre of forestry at the back of our school grounds. This area had never been used as curriculum space before, so our first challenge was to get in there and begin to clearway dead and/or dangerous trees, and so cut back some of the brambles that would make impossible for the children to explore. Enter the robot mower...

This is an incredible machine, with flailing chains turning everything in its path into mulch. It, together with a chainsaw, made short work of the debris, and within a few hours, the space was beginning to be transformed. We would like to give a shoutout at this point to Mr Eoin Sayers, from Ballycastle, who came down to complete the work. Mr. Sayers was recommended to us in turn by Mr. Gregor Fulton of the National Trust, who kindly came on to site to see what could be down with the area.

At this stage the ground was quite treacherous, and we needed to get a window where we could get some helpers to come in and help us make sense of the space, getting an idea of areas that could be used to make this a viable learning space for our young people.

In order to make this space safe to use by our children, we asked for help from our parents, and they answered the call, spending 4+ hours moving felled logs and cutting the ivy from the bottom of the tree trunks. We are indebted to Mr. David Leahy in particular, who gave his time and expertise to the felling of dangerous trees within the forest area. 

After all the trees had been felled, as a group of parents and teachers, we determined a number of little areas that could be shaped into 'den' areas by the children, and run ways through which the children could move and explore. Most significantly, we earmarked a natural clearing as a possible fire-pit arena for the toasting of marshmallows!!

The end result. We now have a great space for our children to explore, play in and begin to take part in Forest School lessons...but we aren't finished yet...