By Rowan Salim
Last term (spring term) we started a science club. This came about when a visiting parent suggested it in the meeting, the children cheered, and there it was, up and running. Friday afternoons, dedicated to science. It would be fun, it would be experiment based, the children could propose experiments or themes they wanted to explore, and no one would be forced to take part. We started by doing lava lamps and gigantic bubbles. Both afternoons were fun and the children’s understanding of the properties of materials was probably enhanced. Continue reading “Are gorillas grown up monkeys?”
Every day I spend at Dacres Wood I learn something new. Last week it was how to identify animal tracks left in the snow and what moorhens like to eat. The week before that it was wood carving and bricklaying. The past week or so however, for me, has been a lesson in how to hold different kinds of spaces at Dacres Wood. Spaces for quietly concentrating, dreaming and making; as well as spaces for group play, discussion and laughter. 
wonderful Forest Families community meets I felt very excited and moved. For those who don’t know much about Forest Families, it is a learning community of adults and children who meet every Thursday in a beautiful little woodland in Croydon. Our family has been incredibly lucky to be part of this group since it started and we feel a very strong connection to the people and the space. 
when I think back over our first few weeks at Dacres Wood: the troop of children joyfully bouncing and zipping around the woods, along the bridge, to the courtyard like a deer herd, bellowing and screeching as they go.