Uffington CNature School
Welcome to our Nature School!
Nature School Update – 2nd Year 🌿
Our Nature School site is really starting to take shape! Over the summer holidays, we cleared part of the area and laid wood chips to make it more accessible. The trees we planted together as a school community are becoming more established, and it’s exciting to see the space growing alongside our children.
Nature School in Action
Spring 1
Session 1 - 12.01.26
We welcomed both Ridgeway and White Horse class back to Nature School with a Winter Scavenger Hunt. We found everything on our list! The sun even appeared long enough for us to spot shadows, and we were excited to discover a lone acorn during our search. We also revisited our knowledge of British hibernating animals, a topic we will continue to explore together until half term.
We ended the sessions by reading Winter Sleep – A Hibernation Story by Sean Taylor, Alex Morss and Illustrated by Cinyee Chiu.
Session 2 - 19.01.26
This week, we created hedgehogs using clay and natural materials foraged from the forest floor. The children experimented with a wonderful variety of “spikes”, from sweet chestnut burrs and small sticks to even tiny bushes! Everyone chose a shiny conker for the nose, while acorn cups proved a popular choice for eyes. The hedgehogs are now drying in the shed - fingers crossed!
We ended the sessions by reading Winter Sleep – A Hibernation Story by Sean Taylor, Alex Morss and Illustrated by Cinyee Chiu.
Session 3 - 26.01.26
We revised the main animal groups before the children split into teams ready for the competition. Animal cards were hidden around the school field, and each time a team sorted one correctly, they answered a quiz question about hedgehogs. The children were so knowledgeable that there was no clear winner, and as a result, all teams were awarded House Points.
We ended the sessions by reading Under the Harvest Moon by Stella Gurney.
Session 4 - 02.02.26
Our clay hedgehogs have now survived a couple of weeks drying in the gardening shed, so we decided it was time to give them a home in the Nature School area. We revisited our learning and discovered more about a hedgehog’s hibernaculum, which helped the children design and build special winter nests.
Most groups created a base using twigs, then added larger sticks before carefully covering their structures with leaves to protect their hedgehogs from the weather.
We ended the sessions by reading Under the Harvest Moon by Stella Gurney.
Session 5 - 09.02.26
We began our sessions by sorting animals into different groups. The children are becoming more confident in identifying mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and insects. Our main focus was learning about bats. We explored how echolocation works and then played a game called Bat and Moth to help bring this to life. I’m sure your child/children would love to tell you all about how the game works!
We ended the sessions by reading Foxes in the Snow by Jonathan Emmett and Rebecca Harry.
Spring 2
Session 1 - 23.02.26
We began our sessions by sorting animals into different groups. The children showed growing confidence in identifying mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and insects.
We also revisited our knot-tying skills, and the children used their knowledge to create fairy teepees. They used sticks as the structure and foraged for ivy and moss to make a cosy home.
We ended the sessions by reading Bobby The Brown Long-Eared Bat by Kate Wyatt and A.S.Mills.
Session 2 - 02.03.26
We made binoculars today. The children decorated their binoculars using pens and natural materials, which they glued on to camouflage them.
We ended the sessions by reading Bobby The Brown Long-Eared Bat by Kate Wyatt and A.S.Mills.
Autumn Term
Session 1 – 08.09.25
There was much excitement during the first session of the new school year. There were plenty of fallen conkers to be collected and leaves to crunch. Some children remembered the differences between deciduous and evergreen trees. Our main task was to make wooden frames in groups. A few children even managed to use a clove hitch knot!
We ended the sessions by reading Mouse’s Wood: A Year in Nature by Alice Melvin.
Session 2 – 15.09.25
The children carried out their Autumn Scavenger Hunt during this session. They foraged for items and then placed them in their frames on the floor for everyone to see. It gave us plenty of discussion points. Many of the children knew that acorns come from oak trees and conkers from a horse chestnut tree. We thought about why the hawthorn berries, mushrooms and acorns are important for wildlife. There was also great excitement when we found that we have a holly tree boarding the school field. This led us back to our evergreen and deciduous tree topic.
We ended the sessions by reading Squirrel's Autumn Search - Anita Loughrey
Session 3 – 22.09.25
We looked at Look What I Did With A Leaf by Morteza E.Sohi and thought about the shapes and colours of the leaves in the Nature School area. The children selected leaves, then made animals and faces. They completed their pictures by framing them.
We ended the sessions by reading Mouse’s Wood: A Year in Nature by Alice Melvin.
Session 4 – 29.09.25
This week we made Conker Rockets. This was a very popular activity and the children loved making and launching them. They were delighted with the distance the rockets travelled and we had a competition to see whose went the furthest!
We ended the sessions by reading Because of an Acorn by Adam Schaefer and Lola M Schaefer.
Session 5 – 06.10.25
For this session, we worked on weaving frames. White Horse worked together on a large weaving frame in the Nature School area. They looked for natural materials and wove them in and out of the warp threads. Ridgeway warped their frames in small groups and enjoyed weaving in the large frame.
We ended the sessions by reading Let It Fall by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
Session 6 – 13.10.25
The weaving frames really started to take shape during this session. We used the opportunity to talk again about deciduous and evergreen trees. The children challenged themselves to find a variety of colours of natural foliage to weave into the frames. White Horse continued to fill up the large frame and Ridgeway started to weave their small frames in their groups.
We ended the sessions by reading Little Goose’s Autumn by Elli Woollard and Briony May Smith.
Session 7 – 20.10.25
As it was the last session before the Half Term break, we finished our weaving frames and attached them to the fence. We also found some amazing fungi and started our log pile to attract reptiles.
We ended the sessions by reading Little Goose’s Autumn by Elli Woollard and Briony May Smith
Autumn 2
Session 1 03.11.25, Session 2 10.11.25 and Session 3 17.11.25
During the first three weeks of term, the children have been busy creating conker spider webs. They began by collecting suitable sticks for their pre-drilled conkers, then practised their tying and weaving skills to make beautifully colourful webs.
Along the way, we also explored the wonderful fungi appearing around our Nature School area, searched for fairy doors, and revisited what we know about hibernation.
We ended the sessions by reading The Squirrels who Squabbled by Rachel Bright and Jim Field, and The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger
Session 4 24.11.25 and Session 6 08.12.25
Our Clay Tree Monsters were a huge success! In Session 4, we explored which natural materials could help bring our creations to life. The children foraged for leaves, twigs, and the season’s remaining conkers and acorns.
After waiting two weeks for better weather, we finally got our hands into the clay and transformed the woodland into a forest of marvellous creatures.
We ended the sessions by reading The Woolly Bear Caterpillar by Julia Donaldson and Yuval Zommer and Autumn with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel.
Session 5 – 01.12.25
This week we made mini wreaths. Despite the weather eventually driving us indoors, Ridgeway Class still managed to gather enough natural materials to enjoy a wonderfully festive time.
We ended the session by reading There’s a Tiger in the Garden by Lizzy Stewart.
Session 7 15.12.25
This week we celebrated Tree Dressing Day, an event initiated by Common Ground in 1990. Although it traditionally falls on the first weekend of December, we felt it was a fitting way to mark the end of term. The children practised their knot-tying skills as they adorned the trees with colourful ribbons, which now add a vibrant splash of colour to the area.
We ended the sessions by reading Time Runs Like A River by Emma Carlisle.
All photos from 2024-25 can be found on the gallery page.
