Wow! Manse and I are exhausted!!! 16 kids per day for 5 days is a lot! But well worth it. The children were creative, funny, curious, tenacious, cooperative, kind and just all round brilliant. And we’ve had some lovely feedback from parents -

“Thank so much for organising this and giving the kids such a wonderful time. Emil and Noah loved it. Hope you keep doing this!”

“Thank you so much for putting on this truly wonderful experience. I'm very envious of the children! Laurence and Frankie learned so much.”

“Thanks for the lovely pictures! Mimi had a great time and might well be up for doing it again. Hope you will now be able to enjoy a well-earned rest...”

“What a wonderful blog - thank you so much. Our boys had such a brilliant time - you can see how you captured their interest in the lovely photos. They would love to come back!”

“Thank you so much for this message and wonderful illustrated report of the week! It was such a special week and we feel really privileged to have been a part of it. Thank you for making it such a stimulating and interesting adventure. Ambrose has referred to it a number of times since and we are sure it will stay with him for a long while and of course many of the skills, forever.”

The beginning of the week seems a long time ago now. This is what we did -

On Monday we walked just a short way into the Woods, but quickly found ourselves in a secret hideout, complete with camp fire pit. The kids loved the secluded, safe feel. That morning was all about food and cooking. We got them chopping veg for a veggie stew (with a bit of first aid training for good measure!) which they they wolfed for afternoon tea with lots of grated cheese and slices of bread to dunk. While waiting for it to cook we went for a long ramble through the Woods where they learned to identify some edible plants, the names of trees and plants, and made an obstacle course from the hay bales behind the Chalet, before returning to “camp”.

Tuesday was navigation and shelter building day. Manse taught the group some basic navigation skills using the Wytham map and some compasses. The kids then used their skills to navigate us round cool paths in the Great Wood. Following the example of Raymond ffennell who first brought children to the Woods for restorative fun in the 1920s, we instigated quiet time after lunch which worked brilliantly. The afternoon involved building dens, putting up shelters, and fire lighting with flint and steel.

On Wednesday we set off on an expedition all the way across the Woods. It took us all day. We spent ages at the lovely area of beech trees at the top of the hill, playing around the large den that previous children have created, Manse and I hovering close by as they climbed the accommodating beech trees, calling out any behaviour that worried us, annoying those who fancied their climbing skills more than we did! We finally moved on, practicing navigation skills, over the brow of the hill, plunging into the cool, verdant, deep woodland on the far side. We stopped for lunch at my favourite clearing, finding crickets and eating blackberries, and then wandered on, via the pond to spot dragon flies, onto Sunday’s Hill. After a couple of hours of wild games, we finally trudged home via Manse’s strategically placed water station, and a last play at the den at the Dell, before saying hello to the sheep and heading back down the hill to the car park.

Thursday was very exciting as we were joined by Dr Liam Crowley, one of the world’s best entomologists, and fantastic teacher. Liam showed the group all sorts of ways to find bugs, and told us all about them.

On Friday Liam had set a moth trap for us so we spent ages looking at them all, potting them up, and identifying them. The kids then drew them as accurately as possible to see if Liam could recognise them from their drawings - the drawings and Liam were very good! After another ramble through Great Wood where we found many more invertebrates, we collected twigs from the piles made during recent tree felling, to make bug houses to take home. We found time for more tree ID, taught this time by the children who had been with us at the start of the week, some leaf rubbings, and some games.

Bug houses, and at least one luxury hotel.

It was such a pleasure to see the children engaged in what they were seeing and learning. I also love those moments when I interact with one who is being a bit over the top, or needing a bit of TLC, looking into uncertain faces, and finding a way to restore certainty and a sense of calm. We have that privilege on a small summer camp that bigger groups (and school teachers) can’t achieve. Kids are fantastic in small numbers! All education should be like this.

Many thanks to all the lovely parents who we met dropping off and picking up who appreciated what we created for their children. We really enjoyed meeting you.