Early Autumn 2015 Update

We were so busy over the summer that we didn't manage to do a Blog Update! So here's an update of some of the things that have been happening.

Our new archery range has proved to be a great success and we hope more of our existing schools will add this activity to their programme.

This summer saw us running a lot more Bushcraft sessions which were also very well received. 

Groups started fires using flint/steel and charcloth and then cooked dampers (made to Jane's secret recipe) on the fire.

 

Click on the short video below to see how tasty they were!

 

Here's another fun little video of one of our Summer groups mountain biking. You can tell that Ian, the Centre Manager got a new video camera for Christmas!

We have also hosted several parties over the weekends in the Summer. The Garden Room and it's deck makes an excellent venue for such occasions. We have even hosted a wedding reception! Pictures to hopefully follow in a later Blog post.

 

A couple of groups have also camped on the new lawn as part of a party weekend.

One group even hired in a hot tub that we sited for them!

Of course the tunnels were also hired

 and we also ran a High Challenge session for them

 

You know where to book you next big party weekend!

Cave Rescue Training comes to DFSC

Ian Healey, the Centre Manager for DFSC, is also the Training Coordinator for the Gloucestershire Cave Rescue Group (GCRG). On the 1st June he organised a GCRG Training Day based at DFSC utilising the Dean Garden Room and grounds and making good use of the Climbing Tower and Tunnels System.

 

Interesting to know we can manoeuvre a stretcher in the tunnels!

 

Setting up radio Comms

 

 

 Abseil practice on the Tower

 

Stretcher Hauling on the High Ropes Course

 

http://www.gcrg.org.uk/

Tunnels at DFSC

Ian Healey, The Centre Manager, is a keen caver and has been leading groups of young people caving for over 20 years.

His experience tells him that many children really enjoy the tighter more challenging parts of a cave! This is in-spite of the expectations of their teachers! Ian regularly leads groups in Clearwell Caves and a popular an memorable part of the cave for many students is the 'Polo Hole', pictured above.

For a while we have had an old drainage pipe in the centre garden that has been used for problem solving challenges and it becomes a magnet to children to investigate. Above are two 2 year-olds from Forest Tots who have decided to go through it.

 The plans for the new classroom left a small area of land next to the building blank. Yes, it could have just been laid to lawn but we had a much better idea!

"What if we bought a load of pipes and constructed an underground tunnel maze!?" "We better make a plan!"

"Right let's buy some pipes". "We need some people to move them!" "Well, we've got lots of DFSC staff"

"We'll make construction workers out of them yet! Here we go walking down the road with one of the big pipes and the Centre building in the background."

 "I know lets use rainwater harvesting tanks as junctions between the tunnels!" "Yes, and we could start in a shed with 4 different tunnels heading out of it!"

"We'll need somebody with a digger and a dumper truck"

"What about putting one tunnel under the deck and another one sliding down on to the lawn?!"

This project is well under way and should be ready for the first groups to use next term. The construction phase has raised a lot of interest from visiting groups who are now looking forward to using it on their next visit. We think it will make an excellent new activity that combines team work, personal challenge, communication and  problem solving. We'll be setting a variety of challenges which  will include orienteering, mapping and transporting objects. We look forward to telling you more about the Tunnels in the future once they are being used. 

Roundhouse Receives International Acclaim!

The new Roundhouse has now been used by Forest Tots for the last two Fridays. It was particularly popular on Fri 12th April when a very heavy shower of rain had people scampering inside to keep dry.

Both Fridays new parents and toddlers have turned up for the first time and the Forest Tots organisers are planning for a busy summer. If the weather's anything like last summer they will certainly be glad of the roundhouse to shelter in at times.

The local paper (The Forest of Dean & Wye Valley Review) featured a nice 1/2 page article in last weeks edition and the Forest Tots Facebook page has been going viral with comments about the roundhouse with 'likes' being posted in America and other countries.

Tony Wrench, the Roundhouse Course Trainer, has just put a video up on YouTube about how to build a roundhouse that features our roundhouse. So if you want more information about how to build a roundhouse than shown in our last Blog post then have a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w42xQNov9qA

Bushcraft

Last week Dom and Ian went on  a 3-Day Bushcraft Course for Instructors. One of their first tasks was to build a 'debris'shelter to sleep in. It rained quite a bit and the shelters stayed dry!

The next task was to create fire by friction bow drill

 "I have created fire!"

Fresh water was available on the course but they also had a go at digging an 'Indian well' and then filtering the water through a pair of jeans.

"Better boil up that water just in case!"

Dom and Ian learnt a lot of Bushcraft skills on the course that they are now inspired and enthusiastic to share those skills with groups that visit the Centre. Bushcraft is a great activity to engage young people in the oudoors. It has it's own unique pace that provides absorbtion, concentration and committment. It is an excellent way to learn more about the natural environment and interact with it. DFSC is committed to developing bushcraft sessions into our outdoor learning activity programmes and plans to run them initially at cost only to get schools and other organisations inspired. Contact us if you're interested in giving it a go.

New Microscopes for Stream Study

Our Stream Study activity session has always been a high quality scientific learning experience. It also has two intrinsically motivating aspects that particularly enthuse the students - catching things in the stream (occassionally they even catch fish!) and then looking at them under the microscopes and seeing their intenstines etc. moving around magnified 20x's.

They start by watching a short DVD of a HTV news report from several years back that tells of how the stream was once polluted by chemical waste being illegally dumped in the lake upstream killing off all the wildlife. Their investigation is to see if the stream has recovered. Fortunately it has and we don't send them into a toxic wasteland!

 Having collected a variety of creatures from the stream  they return to the Lab to find out what they are called and look at them under a microscope. A flow chart identifies the various fresh water shrimps, caddis larvae and mayfly nypmhs etc. and then a water quality sheet scores each animal for water quality. Some like a Rat-tailed maggot can survive in fairly polluted water and only score 1/2 out of 10 for water quality, whereas a Sonefly Nymph scores 10/10 as it it very intollerant to any pollution.

We have just put into service some brand new monocular style microscopes that are easier particularly for younger children to operate. There's 12 of them so each student has their own to use and doesn't need to wait a turn.

NB Just in case you were worried...hopefully no animals are harmed during this activity! They can survive out of water under a microscope for quite some time and then at the end of the session they are returned to the stream. Some of them have probably been viewed more than once and are getting used to it by now.