Fire! Fire!

A fun packed morning in Year 2 this week. As part of the children’s history lessons, they have been learning about the Great Fire of Gateshead. They created their own houses in class and had the opportunity in our Forest School session to see first hand the effects of fire. Before the session began Miss Rowe, the Forest School Leader, discussed with the children the fire safety measures she had put in place and her expectations of the children. They were very attentive and proved to be very knowledgeable about how the fire began and spread.

Once outside staff took the children onto the MUGA so they could watch at a safe distance. The houses had already been lined up on the field to create a street. Miss Rowe talked them through the lighting process and children predicted what would happen. Despite the lack of wind the children were surprised how quickly the fire burned. Miss Rowe pointed out to them the chimneys on the rooves around the site, the boxes worked in the same way funnelling the fire up through the middle and out of the top, sucking oxygen in through the doors and windows.

Once the fire had burnt out the children were allowed to walk down the field next to “the street” so they could see the smoking remains.

Later that morning the children were given the opportunity to place their bug rooms into our Forest School Bug Hotel. They loved poking about in it first to see what residents were already living there. We will watch over the next few months to see if the materials they added bring a different type of visitor.

Finally some time to play the Forest School way. The children tried out the rope lines, a new line has been added to increase the challenge. The children were determined to master it. Phew what a morning.