I am using the outline that my coworker and myself created, using some of the same information, however within the Reflection and Evaluation and What I learned boxes I have given my own view and break

I am using the outline that my coworker and myself created, using some of the same information, however within the Reflection and Evaluation and What I learned boxes I have given my own view and breakdown, and within the Ideas for next session I have adapted or added my own ideas, along with hers. 

Session 1

Session Theme/Focus	Safety Observation Love of the outdoors
Reflection and Evaluation	The children were very excited for their first visit to the forest. The attention from the children was positive and they generally followed the rules. Lots of time spent on setting the rules and boundaries and quite a bit of time spent reflecting on weather and what we are feeling eg. cold, warm etc. Children were engaged in wanting to know what the plan for the session may be. For the next session I feel we need to spend less time on talking about weather and spend more time listening to the children about what they want to do in the forest and what they may like to get out from being at the forest, for example have any of them always wanted to build a den but never had the opportunity, or is there a child particularly interested in trees and we need to do more research of what's in our area.
What I Learned	Some children were very excited to be down at the site and therefore just wanted to run off and explore, however, did not appreciate all the activities that could be offered to them, as they just wanted the space to run about and jump over logs, rather than take part in activities. I also learnt that there are some children don't spend time in the outdoors, which was a bit alien to me as I thought everyone did, but there was a large amount of children that didn't know how to act in the outdoors and almost seemed 'scared' of the large open space and didn't want to explore as it wasn't in their nature to not be guided by an adult. We will need to implement more time for the children to explore and have a small amount of guidance from an adult to ensure the children it is safe to go far from base camp, also to go off the track, many children stayed on the track and would not venture into 'the wild' Having an adult to stand beyond in trees and may ask 'what's over here?' will create children to venture more out of their comfort zone.
What the Children Learned	The rules for staying safe at Forest School and they were able to apply these during the explore part of the session. The boundaries of the Forest School area, nobody crossed this boundary or indeed ventured away from the main group. Some children were able to talk about the hazards at Forest School and how to stay safe. “ I took my treasures home and put them in my treasure chest.” “There were lots of things to find in the forest.” ‘It was muddy – I liked jumping in the mud” “I found SO many sticks.” “We can’t eat stuff ‘cause it might make us sick.”
Things to Add to Risk Assessment	Small gap in boundary fence, notify ECT to have it repaired.
Ideas for Next Session	Children need to have further opportunities to explore the woodland space with adult support Children were picking up sticks and using them in imaginative ways e.g. magic wands, walking sticks and swords, can we challenge them to think of how many things they create with one stick. Children want to run in the forest! Need to build up awareness of possible challenges to this and explore with children when it may be unsafe to run in the forest. Encourage the children to explore outside the tracks.

Session 2

Session Theme/Focus	What can we do with sticks? How can we work together?
Reflection and Evaluation	The original plan for today's session was to explore what we can creatively do with sticks, make into swords, magic wands or create shapes on the floor, however the weather forecast was wet and we thought it best to have the children to continually move and be physical, therefore adapted it to a den building session, allowing the children to keep warm with movement and hopefully make some form of shelter. Children worked really well within their groups, they were all allowed to choose what group they were in and where they were allowed to create their den. Some groups had clearly had some experience in making dens and automatically knew what to do, others did not know where to start and an adult had to model propping up a branch against a tree and to give them guidance and get them started. Before any member of the group wanted to go inside their den, an adult had to make sure this was safe and nothing would fall on them. It was good to get the children to check these with us so they could start to understand risk management and what we are looking for.
What I Learned	At the beginning of the session the children really looked forward to the song we sang and some even looked forward to the quiet time, some children struggled and just wanted to get on with the physical activity. Very similar to the last session, I was surprised at how many children didn't know how to start a den. Modelling is very important but also important not to try and take over. We had a parent volunteer with us and I had to remind them that although we can model and start the den it is important for us not to get carried away and just complete the task for them! Dens are popular and the children really enjoyed them, and it was lovely to see the community spirit, at the end of the session we moved around the space with all children to look at the dens and had the owners talk us through their design and the children looking were so intrigued and asked lovely questions that it showed me they can reflect and respect others when they are undertaking a task they all enjoy.
What the Children Learned	Develop shelter building skills Working collaboratively to share ideas and complete a task “This is our den and look – this is where our pet spider lives!” "We could fit everyone inside our den, it kept us dry in the rain.” “Our den was good – it didn’t fall down.” “Everyone helped each other.” “Can we keep our den and play in it next week?”
Things to Add to Risk Assessment	Small amount of water is present in ditches across the footbridge. There must always be an adult present if children are playing in this area.
Ideas for Next Session	Children found worms and spiders and were excited to share with the rest of the class. Need to broaden children’s experiences to allow them to engage more with the forest. Possible walk a longer, different way into the space to open up the childrens mind that the space is bigger than they realise and they are allowed to explore safely.

Session 3

Session Theme/Focus	Insects and their habitats
Reflection and Evaluation	After the first two sessions being heavily guided and organised activities, we tried to be more free and child-led. This time, children had shown an interest in the bugs and insects around us, so we provided them with bug hunting equipment and allowed them to go off and see what they could find. It is a rush as we have limited time on site, so it is difficult when we have to stop the children from searching due to time limits and trying to fit everything in. The children were hugely involved in this session, all the children took part, some children worked in pairs, in groups or individually. We had managed to set up activity stations prior to the learners visiting the site, which allowed them more free time, however, I would still like to see more child-led activities and ideas.
What I Learned	Setting up the activities in different areas of the forest could promote independence and encourage the children to explore more areas and enhance their creativity by doing the same activities but in different areas. Although being more child-led it creates more chaos as we just don't have much time, I think it would be good to try and do certain things in the school before we attend the site so allow more time to explore and less time sitting in circle time.
What the Children Learned	Identifying insects Develop an appreciation and respect for mini beasts and learn the importance of handling them with care and respect for their habitats. Wild flowers like snowdrops grow anywhere, what a snowdrop looks like. “Look, there are so many worms in the mud.” “You need to look under things or you won’t find anything.” “This shell was a snail but now it is dead.” “I don’t like spiders, I want to play in my den.”
Things to Add to Risk Assessment	N/A
Ideas for Next Session	High level of interest in minibeasts, continue work on this. Some children asked names of plants growing, interested in wild garlic growing. Children still need encouragement to explore areas and play independently, more time to explore their own interests. Lots of children ask the names of minibeasts and plants. Go through forest rules and expectations before leaving the school site to extend exploration time.

Session 4

Session Theme/Focus	Minibeasts and habitats
Reflection and Evaluation	Learnt from the previous week to keep introduction to today's session short, allowing children to have more time to explore. We explored the forest school space for minibeasts and their habitats, lots of children couldn't name minibeasts, we supplied them with an information sheet to help identify and supply with extra information, such as what they eat and how the live. The children were enthusiastic and engaged in the activity, very happy to continue with the nug hunting activity and even when presented with free time, the majority of children continued with bug hunting. It was lovely to see all the children engaging in the same activity and choosing the same, and with each mini best found they were just as excited as the first find.
What I Learned	Allowing the children to have more input can influence the rest of the class. Children like routine and although we hadn't planned on doing the morning song and quiet time, the children wanted to continue to do this as part of the routine.
What the Children Learned	To identify living and nonliving things To being to identify plants and minibeasts To develop observational skills and teamwork when having to move a log and find minibeasts “I know this one, it is holly.” “I don’t really know their names but the leaves have different shapes.” “I like it when I can choose what to do but I don’t really like it when I have to do something else.”
Things to Add to Risk Assessment
Ideas for Next Session	Imaginative play with animal puppets and with their dens Continue to use extended free play during sessions.

Session 5

Session Theme/Focus	Creating with sticks
Reflection and Evaluation	This session was heavily child-led, although as leaders we set up activity stations, the children were allowed to take part in any of their choosing or able to create their own. We had den building, mud painting, digging, bug hunting and tree climbing. As the children had not taken part in tree climbing yet, we had to establish some safety rules, explaining they were only to use specific trees and branches and climb only to their head height, this was supervised by an adult at all times. Some children asked to build bridges – supervised activity due to shallow water in ditches from heavy rainfall. They tested the bridge and then wanted to share the bridge with the rest of the group. At the end of the session children could choose which bridge they wanted to exit basecamp by. An adult was there to support children crossing the bridge and some children went round again to repeat the activity independently. This was so successful and entirely child initiated – it was well supported by myself. After the bridge had been used, we had to return the logs/branches and make the children understand the ecological impact we may have if we were to leave the branches across the small stream. I believe this was our most successful session yet, it was mainly child led, the children are much more confident in the space and aware of the impact they are making in our natural space.
What I Learned	Having adults to support the slightly riskier activities (bridge building) are a huge benefit to the sessions. Children are much calmer when they feel they have more time to explore and have the opportunity to do more than one activity. I also found the children to be much more resilient than I thought, during the bridge building, they struggled to begin with, but they kept going and managed to create something for the whole group session to enjoy.
What the Children Learned	To use imagination to create Tie simple knots Combine materials to create models
Things to Add to Risk Assessment
Ideas for Next Session	Very engaged with using string! Explore knots in future. Children wondered why we hadn’t seen bigger animals in the forest.  Children were disappointed that we had to take the bridge down.

Session 6

Session Theme/Focus	Animals and their habitats
Reflection and Evaluation	After sharing the story 'We're going on a bear hunt' the children were full of ideas and excitement to take part in Forest School. Our journey to Forest school the children related the story to our own walk and what we could see. To help the children explore the surroundings and start understanding the animals we could have in our forest and their habitats, we placed puppets around the area for the children to discover, they could then use the puppets in any imaginative play that they wished. Today's session really showed how far the children have come since the first session, much more confident and resilient. Happy to explore the space and really get in within the trees and wildlife. As the children were confident of their surroundings and the rules, the session felt longer as the children were able to enjoy the activities for longer.
What I Learned	By allowing the children to explore certain spaces including looking higher up in the trees allowed their mind to open for creativity, the children came up with many different things to do with the puppets.
What the Children Learned	To make careful observation To name animals that live in a forest habitat
Things to Add to Risk Assessment
Ideas for Next Session	Follow interest in birds, making nests using the clay mud to mould eggs Forecast looks cold for next week’s session – hopefully we can make ice sculptures and observe the frozen puddles and frost. Children’s fascination with building bridges continued – explore how to develop this further.