OK, I’m not really. I have, however, spent the last three days in a woodland setting. I have been out of school doing my the practical assessment component of my Forest School Leaders qualification. Over the three days we: revised the written component of the course; were individually assessed on our safe use of various tools and ability to teach knots; participated in a challenge where we had to build benches in groups; and planned and delivered a mock Forest School session (where the rest of the group took on either the roles of learners or observers). I was particularly impressed with the bench our group made.
This was another intense, but extremely rewarding learning experience. So, I may not have been baking or ‘crafting’ but I have been out in the woods making benches, building fires, using tools and making friends. There is some crafting time planned for this weekend, but right now I’m going to relax with Mock the Week and some peanut M&Ms.
So, today was Forest School. The weather was beautiful, sunny but slightly windy. This meant that we got the fire started quickly but burnt through our whole supply of wood. We were cooked a yummy lunch of square sausage sandwiches and we enjoyed cups of hot chocolate by the roaring fire.
And now to the point of my post. Today, I made the mallet you see pictured above. Not impressed? Before I made the mallet, I felled a tree in order to get the wood. After I’d cut the tree down I removed the branches from the trunk and then, using my hands, measured the length of trunk I would need to cut to make the mallet. In the centre of the length of wood I used a saw to make a cut about a couple of cm deep. From here I took a Billhook and mallet and used them to split the wood and create a handle. I wasn’t able to get the handle thin enough using the billhook so I then took a knife and whittled the handle until it was smooth and thin enough for me to hold comfortably.
Every Tuesday I, along with another teacher and a couple of Rangers, take a group of pupils out on Forest School. We go to a local wood and build a fire, cook some food and then attempt to craft things out of the materials which surround us. In weeks gone by we (and when I say we, I mean mostly the pupils) have built tables, benches, a shelter, bows and arrows and have also done some nature inspired art work. A few weeks ago one of the Rangers taught me how to chop down a tree safely and we used the wood to make a surround for the camp fire. Today the Ranger helped a group of 3 pupils make the rather impressive bench you can see in the photo. I was so impressed with it that I thought I would share my rather poor camera phone picture with you. Over the next few weeks we (and by this I mean the pupils and me, yeay) will be making more benches, some tools and learning how to tie pretty knots. Hopefully I will manage to remember to take my camera with me so that I can photograph my crafty exploits.
Slightly off topic but the food today was amazing. I ate the best potato scone I have ever tasted.
