As we enter the final day of EXTRA CURRICULAR CLUBS WEEK we are delighted to introduce Tom from Bodium CE Primary School in East Sussex and his wonderful woodwork club!
When we asked Tom about his club, he told us that one of the best things about woodwork club is how the skills learned in the club can be shared with their peers during their forest school sessions because the hand tools used at woodwork club are on offer during those sessions too.
Tom told us what inspired him to start a woodwork club in particular and said
“I’ve always loved woodwork, built lots of things around the school and felt it would be a good way to spread my passion. I’m also the forest school lead and feel that the children don’t get enough time during the year (only two terms of afternoon sessions) that it would be good to offer some extra provision so they can practise skills and develop confidence and ideas.”
Some of the natural links made at a club recently occurred when the clubbers were making whistles out of elder one of the Year 4s started to make earrings and jewellery with the offcuts. This idea spread like wildfire with everyone joined in and before they knew it, they were all wearing bespoke pieces!
Tom told us that not everything is that straightforward though. He went on to say
“We’ve had an issue with storing the timber to use and trying to cut wet timber proves tricky! But we’re really lucky as we have a parent who comes in and helps and extra staff come in if they see the activity needs extra support. Everyone can see the benefits and the positive impact it has on the children.”
Children from Reception to Year 6 attend the club and the ethos of risk taking in the early years runs through. Tom has deliberately planned the club to take place on a Wednesday after school which is straight after forest school day meaning all the tools are readily available!
The children at Bodium CE Primary are so lucky to have Tom providing them with such fantastic opportunities and making connections with the skills they have in their forest school, In such a small school, the number of hats each colleague wears is lengthy and we think this deserves an extra special THANK YOU!
If you know someone like Tom who goes the EXTRA mile for your school’s EXTRA-curricular club schedule, then tag them on one of our social media posts this week or nominate them via email to hello@myscienceclub.com before midnight (GMT) on 8th December 2023 and they will be entered to win a full 12 month membership of My Science Club for your school! Or, if you sign up to our newsletter before midnight on 10th December, you will also be in the hat to win a membership too! Click here for newsletter sign up
Look forward to sharing and hearing from you all this week
Bryony and Paul
My Science Club co-founders