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We are fortunate to have extensive grounds and access to amazing places nearby, so we make the most of our local environment by having regular outdoor education lessons for pupils in Early Years to Yr 6 (Children should always come to school in clothing appropriate for the weather, however on outdoor ed days they will be required to wear school uniform with additional layers to go over the top of their uniform, including waterproof outerwear and wellies).
Sessions on the school grounds are based upon the Wild Passport study programme and objectives . This covers areas that include fire making, shelter building, knots, cuts and identification skills as well as lots of opportunities to develop communication and teamwork.
AUTUMN 2025
Outdoor Education will be offsite at The Learning Forest this term, thanks to funded Tree-mendous Learning sessions through a Hallburn Windfarm grant.
Children will visit Catherine at the forest on WEDNESDAYS as follows:
24th September - Class 1 (yr 1&2)
1st October - Class 1 (yr 1 & 2)
8th October - Class 2 (yr 3 & 4)
15th October - Class 2 (yr 3 & 4)
22nd October - Class 3 (yr 5 & 6)
5th November - Class 3 (yr 5 & 6)
09/05/25
We were treated to another beautiful day for our outdoor session this week. As mentioned last week, pupils without appropriate clothing were expected to sit out; however, they were able to find wellies to protect their legs and participated carefully, remaining vigilant around the undergrowth.
The children continued working on their wattle walls, gathering willow and collaborating impressively. They showed great teamwork and respect for the natural environment we are so fortunate to enjoy here at Fir Ends.
It was a wonderfully calm and engaging session. Both Miss Fisher and I were pleased to see such positive behaviour from the children — well done Class 3.
02/05/25
The weather is certainly being kind to us this term, long may it last!
The lambs are growing well in the field next to our outdoor area and the birds are in full chorus. In addition, the vegetation is changing weekly, the willow has shown us how resilient it is to the winter climate and has continued to grow well on the school grounds.
However, a gentle reminder: several children arrived this week without the appropriate clothing for our wildlife area. As a result, they had to wear hot and uncomfortable waterproof trousers to protect themselves from stings and scratches. Please ensure your child comes prepared next week with long trousers, as those without will not be able to take part in Outdoor Ed.
This week, the focus was to improve their den making skills. The children were challenged to make a group of 4 with at least one member of the opposite sex in their group, promoting inclusivity and teamwork.
Constructing a wattle wall was revisited, and the safe use of secateurs. The students then collected willow and worked collaboratively to build their walls, and by the end of the session, their efforts were really starting to take shape. To round off the activity, pupils visited each other’s areas to observe and review the work. Back in class, they shared constructive feedback with one another. This not only helped them reflect on their own projects but also encouraged them to consider how to give thoughtful and sensitive feedback—a valuable life skill.
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25th April 2025
A lovely afternoon for Class 3 to enjoy the outdoor area. The class potatoes were planted, so fingers crossed!
They explored the wildlife area, taking particular care of the nettles and briars. Using their secateur skills they trimmed areas to create spaces with their group. All fingers were intact at the end of the day but we are going to work on their building skills - using the Wild Passport, we will be looking at building wattle walls. They wove willow on our latest willow structure and decorated it beautifully.
We spent time identifying tree types so they could record the 'woodland' in that specific area - evergreen or broadleaf.
March 14th 2025
Once again the sun shone, and once again as soon as the last pair of wellies were on and we stepped out from the canopy....the rain and hailstones appeared!! However, spirits were not dampened and the children impressed myself and Miss Fisher with their resilience.
We looked at the map, now plotted with 'Areas without nature' and considered where areas of hedges and shrubs would need to be plotted.
Up at the Outdoor Area, the children returned to their groups from last week and had the challenge of creating a den, which the adults could fit in, with the added task of clearing their chosen area of briars (Which had the opportunity to grow wild in this area last summer.) The groups amazed us with their positive attitudes towards this, working well with their group, taking turns, collaborating with ideas, and listening to each others suggestions. They worked safely with the secateurs and looked after the tools appropriately.
In the pictures you will see the dens they made, some more repeating patterns, the beginning of a dead hedge to support our wildlife and children working well together in the outdoors. Lots of points were handed out today, well done Class 2.
Unfortunately there will not be an outdoor session next week due to a calendar clash.
March 7th 2025 - Started with a lovely spring day, but right on cue as we prepared to head outside...the heavens opened!
The children had a new challenge today....we have started to map the area in line with the Education Nature Park, so today they were mapping areas without nature such as the play trail, playground and paths. We also had to look for - unusual places to find a plant, a small piece of nature and a repeating pattern in nature.
To map our areas without nature, they also had to decide if the surface was permeable or non-permeable.
Lets hope the spring weather continues for next week!
Please remember children MUST come to school in uniform and can put outdoor clothing over their uniform (or change of clothes), for the afternoon session.
07/02/25 A very chilly day in Outdoor Ed today!
We continued our discussion of Dreams and Goals, looking at the obstacles that get in our way and how we overcome them. The children were put into teams and set the task of creating picture frames with the help of their team mates. When not working on a "Square Lashing" - a type of knot which ties 2 sticks together, the children were tasked with Den building, nest making or stick peeling. At the end of the session they all had a go at creating sparks using a flint and steel. Great work today Class 1!
31/01/25 Outdoor Ed returned this week for KS1, the children continued the discussion about Dreams and Goals. We have previously discussed dreams the children may have......to be a footballer for England, a better artist, a better reader etc. Mrs Britton suggested the dream of being an Olympic Gymnast.......is this possible? Obviously, our positive children said a resounding YES. However, our discussion progressed to having realistic goals........and what the obstacles may be. Sadly, apart from my lack of ability, my age is an obstacle and is not something I can change! So it was concluded my dream was not realistic.
Could some of our children play football for England? Absolutely! But, what obstacles might they experience?
A coach they don't get on with
Relationships within the team
Injury
Time
The weather causing training to be cancelled
We discussed how most of these we are able to be overcome......so this, with a lot of work, IS possible.....watch this space!
In our session today, the Goal was to peel a stick - Realistic?✔️Achievable? ✔️ Completed? ✔️(By those who did it)
The next goal was to join two sticks together with a sheer lashing - Realistic, but challenging ✔️ Achievable, with support✔️ Completed .....in progress!
24th January - See if you can spot any of these birds over the weekend, from the safety of your home. Can you create a fact file about one of these birds to share with us?
March 14th 2025
Once again the sun shone, and once again as soon as the last pair of wellies were on and we stepped out from the canopy....the rain and hailstones appeared!! However, spirits were not dampened and the children impressed myself and Miss Fisher with their resilience.
We looked at the map, now plotted with 'Areas without nature' and considered where areas of hedges and shrubs would need to be plotted.
Up at the Outdoor Area, the children returned to their groups from last week and had the challenge of creating a den, which the adults could fit in, with the added task of clearing their chosen area of briars (Which had the opportunity to grow wild in this area last summer.) The groups amazed us with their positive attitudes towards this, working well with their group, taking turns, collaborating with ideas, and listening to each others suggestions. They worked safely with the secateurs and looked after the tools appropriately.
In the pictures you will see the dens they made, some more repeating patterns, the beginning of a dead hedge to support our wildlife and children working well together in the outdoors. Lots of points were handed out today, well done Class 2.
Unfortunately there will not be an outdoor session next week due to a calendar clash.
March 7th 2025 - Started with a lovely spring day, but right on cue as we prepared to head outside...the heavens opened!
The children had a new challenge today....we have started to map the area in line with the Education Nature Park, so today they were mapping areas without nature such as the play trail, playground and paths. We also had to look for - unusual places to find a plant, a small piece of nature and a repeating pattern in nature.
To map our areas without nature, they also had to decide if the surface was permeable or non-permeable.
Lets hope the spring weather continues for next week!
Please remember children MUST come to school in uniform and can put outdoor clothing over their uniform (or change of clothes), for the afternoon session.
07/02/25 A very chilly day in Outdoor Ed today!
We continued our discussion of Dreams and Goals, looking at the obstacles that get in our way and how we overcome them. The children were put into teams and set the task of creating picture frames with the help of their team mates. When not working on a "Square Lashing" - a type of knot which ties 2 sticks together, the children were tasked with Den building, nest making or stick peeling. At the end of the session they all had a go at creating sparks using a flint and steel. Great work today Class 1!
31/01/25 Outdoor Ed returned this week for KS1, the children continued the discussion about Dreams and Goals. We have previously discussed dreams the children may have......to be a footballer for England, a better artist, a better reader etc. Mrs Britton suggested the dream of being an Olympic Gymnast.......is this possible? Obviously, our positive children said a resounding YES. However, our discussion progressed to having realistic goals........and what the obstacles may be. Sadly, apart from my lack of ability, my age is an obstacle and is not something I can change! So it was concluded my dream was not realistic.
Could some of our children play football for England? Absolutely! But, what obstacles might they experience?
A coach they don't get on with
Relationships within the team
Injury
Time
The weather causing training to be cancelled
We discussed how most of these we are able to be overcome......so this, with a lot of work, IS possible.....watch this space!
In our session today, the Goal was to peel a stick - Realistic?✔️Achievable? ✔️ Completed? ✔️(By those who did it)
The next goal was to join two sticks together with a sheer lashing - Realistic, but challenging ✔️ Achievable, with support✔️ Completed .....in progress!
24th January - See if you can spot any of these birds over the weekend, from the safety of your home. Can you create a fact file about one of these birds to share with us?
17/01/25 - Another fine day in the outdoors. Several children were less well prepared this week but due to the kind donation from Murray Farm Care of some outdoor clothing, we were able to kit these children out.
We continued with the discussion on Dreams and Goals, ensuring everyone understood the vocabulary; Challenge, realistic, Goal, persevere, team work etc. The children continued their practise of knot tying, incorporating tying a knot around a stick then progressing to tying 2 pieces of wood together. We then did a re-run of the knot relay, culminating in a challenge of doing it blindfolded - the children could choose whether they put the blindfold on. Following this, they were connected in teams of 4 by ankle straps, they then had to work together to move around the field, this amounted in several tumbles and lots of giggles.
The bird feeders have been emptied, so lots of opportunities to spot some of our native birds and we are already watching the forecast for next week 👀🤞
10/01/25 - Such a beautiful, if rather chilly start to our outdoor learning for Class 1. They were ALL prepared, which has set the standard for 2025 and inevitably gained their 'Ready for learning' points. We are incorporating the Jigsaw module of 'Dreams and Goals' into our Outdoor Learning this half term, so there will be lots of discussion around what they are good at and what they would like to be better at and what steps we can take to get there.
On Friday we practised Knot tying, as part of the Wild Passport we follow in Outdoor Ed, even with cold fingers they nearly all managed an overhand knot and put this to use in our relay race which was very competitive and warmed up some chilly toes. They also demonstrated they could all use secateurs safely when cutting willow.
The children enjoyed some hot Vimto and we ended our learning with some identifying of UK wild birds in preparation of the Big Garden Bird Watch later this month.
06/12/24 (EYFS) We were lucky with the weather today and Storm Darragh did not impact our session. Firstly we headed up to our VERY wild area at the top of the field where we had to watch our feet stepping over the briars and under the branches. The children looked up high in the trees and noticed all the changes going on in the environment. We were reminded of our fire safety, for entering and leaving the area as well as our behaviour around the fire pit. We pretended to cook over the 'fire' and reminded ourselves about kneeling on one knee, to enable us to 'spring back' quickly if we needed to.
Then we looked for some visitors to our wildlife area and someone spotted ......... sadly not a squirrel, but a black and white cat, high up in the tree! 😆
Then Class 3 joined us and buddied up with the young ones to help find leaves for their tree decorations. They all seemed to enjoy exploring together. It's the last session for 2024, lets see what next term brings 🍃
29/11/24 - Early Years and Year 3 buddy up to enjoy some quality time in the outdoors. They learned about fire safety and how to enter the fire circle (We had a pretend fire for this introduction). The Year 3's were great at demonstrating the safety position when cooking around the camp fire and they all enjoyed some hot chocolate before exploring with their buddies. The Year 3's really stepped up when given such roles of responsibility with their young charges.
22/11/24 - Year 4 Willow weaving Christmas Trees
22/11/24 - EYFS investigating ice and enquiring why it was there.
15/11/24 - EYFS enjoying hot chocolate, after a busy afternoon exploring in the outdoor area.
08/11/24 Year 3/4 weaving willow bunting and enjoying baked apples over the camp fire.
15/11/24 Year 5/6 Weaving willow to make bunting in the outdoor area. Team work was evident along with demonstrating persistence and resilience as the activity was not as easy as it looked! Some of our students really stood out as they supported their peers with this task.
AUTUMN 2024
AUTUMN 2024
Although the full-afternoon sessions are paused for now, we are still taking children outside for short activities.
Children do not need anything other than wellies and a waterproof coat for these sessions.
Autumn A - This has started well with all year groups participating in an outdoor session. At this point I must add that we do go outside WHATEVER the weather......so, if it looks cold and wet, we WILL be out in it therefore please send your child with appropriate clothing and preferably a spare pair of socks at least.
Each group has cut willow and used tool skills to whittle the willow to a point, this was then skewered to our own Fir Ends Apples and then toasted on the fire. The charred apple wass peeled, coated in sugar & cinamon, and re roasted in the flames then consummed....not to everyone's taste but so many skills were achieved in the process.
September - October 2022
October -November
The weather has been variable this month and with Christmas upon us we started our Xmas Wreaths. This involved using our tool skills to safely cut the willow and then shape into a wreath : Learning objective -' use a flexible material to make a ring.' These have been stored ready to embellish during the next session.
One of the more special moments, I felt, was when the children studied the poppy seed heads I brought in from home. We discussed their significance and held our own special Remembrance Day by scattering the tiny poppy seeds. Keep your fingers crossed for our own display of poppies next summer.
Outdoor Ed Groups December 2022
01/12/22 Yr 5/6 It will be cold!! Please dress accordingly
08/12/22 Yr 3/4
15/12/22 Yr 1/2
December 2022
We have been fortunate the weather has been dry for us in December enabling fire lighting skills to be put to good use. This not only ensured we could enjoy some toasted waffles but also meant cold fingers and toes could be warmed up throughout the day.
The children were reunited with their wreaths and added to them using a variety of evergreen foliage fastened on with florestry wire, string or in some cases just a bit of optimism! They improved their skills with secauteurs/ plant identification and also wood skills with some being very adventurous creating a mobile within their wreath. We hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and looking forward to more outdoor adventures in 2023.
January 2023
This month we are meeting learning objectives in nest and den building as well as learning the different knots to support this skill and improve our dens. The children have also been trying to identify trees from their bark and buds and we have started recording changes in our environment with the help of our own weather station (a thermometer and a rain gauge) and a regular photograph of our site to visually record changes. I would like to say the children are impressing me with their preparation for our outdoor days - their clothing has notably improved in readiness for our very changeable climate and they receive extra points if they are 'Ready for Learning' and dressed appropriately. I look forward to seeing what February brings...
Creating a spark using a steel
Square Lashing
Lashing wood together
Building a nest
Knot tying
Den building
Building a nest
Wrapping a stick
February 2023
This has been a short month with the half term break, however all year groups have been outdoors to experience the changes in the environment. We have continued with knot tying and den building whilst also ensuring that ALL children have had the opportunity to create sparks using a flint and steel. In many cases the children progressed to lighting cotton wool whilst following safety procedures as part of the Wild Passport curriculum
March 2023
March has been cold and wet but the children's enthusiasm has remained with continuing improvements to their outdoor ed clothing. The majority are now dressed appropriatley for our Cumbrian weather and many, sensibly, have a set of warm, dry, clean clothes to put on at the end of the session which class teachers and Mrs Ross really appreciate so thank you for your support with this.
This month we have concentrated on the learning objectives of our Wild Passport; Years 3,4,5 & 6 have started to develop their knife skills by demonstrating forehand grip, creating a point on a piece of wood and some are safely able to create a stop cut. All year groups have been improving their skills of animal track identification, tree identification (from their twigs), and latterly they have built a bird hide and had a go at 'twitching' - being quiet is key so we are working on this! Den building has improved as they develop their skills of 'lashing two pieces of wood together' to help support a tarpaulin between trees. I think we are all looking forward to an improvement in the weather for the start of the new term.
What can you see?
Being patient
Tree ID
Can you see me?
Signs of spring
Wild flower ID
Spotting birds at the front of the school
Knife skills
April 2023
This month we have focused on team work with each year being split into small groups and activities have included; den building, tree identification, animal print ID and more tool work. The weather has been mixed and children have been well prepared for all eventualities. April has felt like a short month with only 2 outings to our outdoor area but changes are definitely afoot as spring tries to make an appearance. We planted our potatoes later than was advised to try and miss the late frost but a cold weekend tried to get the better of us.....time will tell but they look pretty good at the moment!
I invested in an outdoor trail camera and have shared some of the wildlife shots it has captured at my own home nearby; badger, deer, pheasant, woodcock, squirrel and a rather strange black, hairy horned beast which turned out to be a small bull who would escape his pen for a midnight wander.
May 2023
Well Spring is finally here, what a difference in our outdoor area. Our weekly diary report and photo really shows the changes each season brings and encourages the children to be more observant of their surroundings.
The year 5/6 have been learning new skills to help 'craft a mallet', and are becoming more competent at identifying animal tracks. The year 3/4 are now identifying birds (from photographs) using bird books and have been learning ways to identify whether a tree is dead or alive with Mrs Thompson. Their den building is improving as is their ability to work as a team.
My most recent trip up to the outdoor area (while setting up before the session) my birdsong app identified 6 different birds - I am not able to do this!! Blackbird, Jay, Carrion crow, Bluetit, Great tit and a Song Thrush
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