Forest School
Laura, Year 5 teacher.
"Southway School had a fabulous day finding out how to survive in the wood like Robin Hood! They learnt shelter building, making useful items out of wood and clay, how to identify different trees and what the wood was used for and weaving. ‘A fabulous well-planned day!"
Forest School
Helen, Parent.
"After attending the Woodland Explorer After School Club which uses the Forest School ethos for six weeks, my son was better able to make choices and decisions, he had a little more independence, he was more confident in his interactions with both children and adults, he had a keener interest in wildlife, the outdoors and craft activities and a better ability to sit still and listen! I am very impressed!"
Adult Craft Workshop
Clare
" We had a great time this morning trialling Ruth's Christmas Workshop. It was great fun as she had berried holly, ivy, cotoneaster and many other plants and seeds that were very satisfying to work with, plus tinsel, ribbons etc. I highly recommend it! I haven’t had so much fun in ages!"
Non-Fiction Author Workshop - Year 3 Teachers
"The children really grasped the process of creating a nonfiction page and were proud of their achievement."
"Ruth was able to bring her expertise and enthusiasm of the outdoors into the classroom to explain the process of non-fiction writing and inspire the children to be writers themselves."
Richard Williamson - Observer Newspaper
"A book by Sussex writer Ruth Street will tell you all about them (water voles) in easy words and super pictures. Your children or grandchildren will be entranced and maybe go on to read Wind in the Willows and the adventures of ‘Ratty’. Ruth has produced some fine colour photographs to show us what water voles do along the river banks nowadays."
Independent Project
"Ruth was invited by the Head teacher of Chidham School to work with her independently to produce a scheme of work that embedded knowledge of Chichester Harbour into the school curriculum.
As the school is situated on the shores of Chichester Harbour, the field work was administered by Chichester Harbour Conservancy. It was achieved by having two Harbour weeks, one in the autumn and one in the spring, where every child in the school engaged in field work that increased their understanding of their local area.It was designed so that by the time the children leave the school, they would have a thorough understanding of the importance of the local habitats, their wildlife and the management issues involved in looking after them."
Key Stage 1 – Years R, 1 & 2
"The sessions were well organised and delivered with good resources. They started in the classroom with a talk about safety when out and about, which meant that the children were focussed on the important details for their outing.
All the adults were briefed on the plan for the day so that when we were out and about the groups were all active for as much time as possible and the pace was quick enough to keep all the children interested and engaged in all the different activities. The range of activities was good as were the range of resources used.
There were good links to the topics that we were covering in class. The most successful aspects of the days were the group based activities."
Key Stage 2 - Years 3 & 4
"Thank you for all your hard work!! I thought our morning / afternoon was a great success! The children came in buzzing with it the next morning. I can't think of anything I'd change about the visit."
Year 5 & 6
"We had two days with you and thoroughly enjoyed both. The pace and balance of the days was excellent. Important discussions were held on site, drawing the children’s attention to the local geography of our coastline that we see every day but take for granted.
The combination of factual information and practical activities on the shore line has given the children a secure understanding of the processes involved and the different habitats present in our local area.
The activities were clearly presented, demonstrating your excellent knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject matter. This was highly infectious, rubbing off on pupils and staff alike."