A week all about hedgehogs
We love holiday camps! It's so lovely to see how our children react to having older children around. It reaffirms our beliefs that family grouping offers the best opportunities for not just fun but for learning as we've seen all of our little ones enjoy showing off to the bigger boys and girls playing with us this week.
We've had a week all about hedgehogs. We have been reading hedgehog stories and learning all about our nocturnal friends. We've been busy creating various hedgehog homes to see which habitat suits hedgehogs best. Our enterprising little ones have then been making bowls from clay to fill with water and hedgehog food to try and tempt some hedgehogs onto site. Sadly we've not managed to see any real hedgehogs but have used our imaginations with pretend hedgehogs and a little cuddly one and have really enjoyed creating role plays around the hedgehogs life.
The local birds have been feasting well as the children have spent the week working on their fine motor skills by intently concentrating, with the occasional tongue poking out to aid concentration, on threading cheerios onto pipe cleaners to make beautifully colourful bird feeders. A few of the children also wondered if a hedgehog would come and visit us in the forest if we offered him cheerios for breakfast.....we tried ;-)
Bug hunting
We've been bug hunting, we've been swinging, we've been transporting, running, climbing and hiding. We've sung, we've read stories, we've had our faces painted & we've cooked up a muddy storm.
Finally for our cookery lesson this week the children made mini puff pastry squares with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and mature cheddar. Then they made a salad from edamame beans with mint and rice wine vinegar to eat with a smoked mackerel and new potato bake and hard boiled eggs. Lots of peeling, pushing the tiny seeds and cheese onto the squares and flaking the fish. And lots of clean plates!
Ofsted News
Following our Ofsted inspection last week, I am absolutely delighted to let you all know that our Ofsted inspection report has been published so I can share with you the result that we have been graded as an OUTSTANDING nursery setting!!
LIttle Forest Folk Wimbledon Ofsted Outstanding
Thanks to all those parents who were interviewed by Ofsted on the day for being so complimentary and of course thanks to our children for being absolute superstars. We are so proud regardless of our Ofsted judgement of how well our children are developing and how much fun they allow us to have every day.
It's exciting to know we have been officially judged as Outstanding as it's not an easy grading to achieve, especially in your first ever inspection. Huge thanks go to Vicky and the entire LFF team who work so hard on a daily basis to provide an exceptional experience for our children and who so impressed our Ofsted inspector with their high calibre of teaching.
Onwards and upwards. We look forward to using our grading to prove even more to the world how important a connection to nature for children is and how children can achieve incredible results in their development if you give them the freedom to play in a child-led play-based outdoor setting.
Read the full Little Forest Folk Wimbledon Ofsted report
Dressing for the weather
A bit chilly again this week, despite the fact that it's Spring next week. A reminder of what everyone needs to be wearing for another few weeks:
- Thermal layer - M&S have some great thermal long sleeve tops and leggings
- Fleecy trousers
- Long sleeve tshirt
- Thin jumper
- Thicker fleece/wool jumper
- Thick fleecy zip up jacket - Mini Boden have some fab warm shaggy jackets on sale
- Scarf
- Hat
- Gloves - lots of pairs of gloves to ensure when they get wet we have a replacement
- Thin cotton socks
- Thick wool socks or the horrible polyester socks they sell near the checkout at H&M which are super warm!
- Wellies/thermal boots/snow boots
Next week in the forest
Next week in the forest with Spring on the horizon we are going to be learning all about our favourite season.
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Our children have this week devoured.....
Enjoy your weekend and we look forward to lots more fun next week!
Little Forest Folk