Birds and Sukkahs

Year 6 learned about the Jewish festival of Sukkot in the Autumn Term. In Forest School, linking to this topic, they created sukkahs or succahs which is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. Though the sukkah can take many forms, there are a few basic rules that must be followed in order for the sukkah to be considered kosher:

the sukkah should have at least two full walls and one partial wall. 3 walls are ideal.
the bottom of the walls should be no more than 3 “hands” above the ground.
the s’chach (the material that covers the roof) should be laid on the roof as the very last step of building the sukkah, only after the walls are completed.
the s’chach must be organic material—specifically so think leafy foliage
the s’chach should not be supported by a non-organic material so no metal or PVC.
the s’chach should be thick enough to provide shade from the sun, but not you must be able to see the stars at night.

These structures are being built following these guidelines, however, they are located where the children feel would be prime bird watching spots. Other children will be able to use them as hides when we take part in the RSPB Big School Birdwatch. Some of the children even made their fastenings from split Formia leaves so that the entire structure was organic. Others used garden twine. This is quite a challenging construction so the children have been given time over a few weeks to pull it all together.