
Mrs Gail Rees
PPA cover teacher
I qualified as a teacher in 1994 with a BEd. Art. I taught in Chippenham before moving to the Forest of Dean in 2005 where my 4 children attended Ellwood Primary. Having set up and run the garden for many years I am a Level 3 Forest School Leader.
Click on the documents below to see the photos. Scroll down to see old photos of past groups.
- g.rees@ellwood.gloucs.sch.uk
Oak Class 2024/25 enjoy Forest Adventures throughout the year on a Friday afternoons. We experience the changes in seasons and photos are put on Tapestry weekly. Here are just a few photos.
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All of Oak Class could fit into our new willow dome.
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Tree climbing in the forest.
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Making nests.
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Some lovely squidgy mud on the way.
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More nests.
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We read the story ' Bear's Winter House" Mini dens
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fun with AUTUMN LEAVES.
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Mud, glorious mud!
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Pouring water down the guttering.
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Conkers and gutters.
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Spotting micro habitats.
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Composting our fruit waste.
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Digging over soil ready for replacing our raised bed.
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Lots of worm fun.
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Great teamwork playing games.
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Making stick men using knots.
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Our stickmen.
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We always play a run around game. this one is Youre Only Safe if.....
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Tree climbing in the woods.
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We made birds nests and pretended to be chicks.
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Cone bees
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Stick caterpillars
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Bug hunt
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Muddy kitchen
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Puddle jumping
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stick caterpillars
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Chestnut had their sessions in Spring 2 . The first week was very wet so we practised tying knots inside before we went outside. Week 2 and 3 we went up to the log circle and enjoyed climbing trees, making min dens, stick creatures and whittling.
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We practised tying knots before braving the weather.
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Muddy kitchen
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Stick creatures.
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Climbing the tump and looking at Heather.
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Duplication game.
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Whittling
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Stick creations.
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Oak Class have been exploring Winter.
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A swing that the Year 6 buddies created for Oak Class.
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Dens inspired by the story 'Bear's Winter House'
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Spotting frogspawn
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'Whomping Willow, Whomping Willow, Can I cross to the Wild Meadow'
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Great fun !
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Tree climbing
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Spell casting
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Potion making
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Whittling, the two different positions for safe whittling.
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Before.
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Before
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Some of the finished wands.
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Week one onsite making mini dens for an animal.
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Our shelter over the log circle.
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Week 2 making larger dens up at the log circle.
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Lots of tree climbing on the fallen oaks.
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Bird spotter sheet
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Observing the roots and soil type around them
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Week 3 we walked to the old quarry spotting native plants on the way.
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We searched form hidden packages and in teams found one of each colour negotiating with other teams until everyone had all 6
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We guessed what was inside and then opened them.
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We found wood, iron, coal, charcoal, stone and wool all materials found in the Forest of Dean.
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We played 'Tinyaki' also known as 40:40
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We drew with charcoal.
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Finally we walked to another part of the woods and had some free time to run and play.
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Week 5 we made a fire and put in a tin of willow sticks to make charcoal.
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We played 'Tinyaki' again in a different environment.
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Some whittled sticks to toast marshmallows.
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Some creative stick people were made.
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Toasting marshmallows
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Stone sculptures
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When we got back to school, the tin had cooled and we were amazed to find that the sticks had become charcoal.
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Week 6 began with using the charcoal we made and it worked really well.
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Whittling
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Lots of expert whittlers in Beech Class.
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Super slides.
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The Year 5's had a short play time and came and helped out for a few minutes under the instruction of Kuba.
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Fun on a slide.
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Creating slides for the animals.
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Getting creative in the muddy kitchen with lavender, lemon basil and petals.
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Safely moving pallets
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Collecting seeds
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More shelters, developing and trying out ideas.
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They found a bag of string and bits and made caterpillars and stick men that we had done last year.
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Finding seeds and seed cases.
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We found a hazel nut which a sneaky creature, probably a squirrel had eaten the nut.
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We collected and labelled seeds.
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Shark attack was back by popular demand.
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The boys were thrilled with their shelter. There were a lot of knots!
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Dry grass made a cozy shelter
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Kobi made three shelters improving it each time.
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Final shelter created by Kobi.
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A good spot for hammering wood pegs in.
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Great use of knot tying
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This shelter had many layers.
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The finished dome with all of Oak Class inside. Now let's hope it grows!
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Oak Class marking out and digging the trench.
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Marking out.
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Tying in.
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Some great work by Eco Council.