Wet welly fun at Minstead on Thursday!

The children had a wonderfully wet day at Minstead on Thursday. They learned all about caring for Minstead's animal residents and how to create a sustainable farming future for our planet. They also explored rivers by studying maps and creating their own. The children tested how waterproof their wellies were by conducting some scientific recording in Minstead's river itself!

We finished the day off by telling stories and sharing jokes in the roundhouse by the campfire. A brilliant day!

Minstead 2019 Day 2

Hello All! A fabulous second day from everyone here at Minstead. Today the children got up close with the Minstead chickens and sheep. As well as doing some stream investigating. This afternoon in the sunshine the children all made a clay (straight from the ground) animal, which were really lovely. We ended our day with songs, jokes and stories round the campfire in the round house.

Minstead 2019 Day 1

Good morning all! We had a wonderful first day yesterday out in the warm sunshine and the beautiful forest. We tried out the wonderful bog with bare feet!! Walked a looonnng way. We received our badges and two of our beads and also played games in the evening. Also we enjoyed a story around the campfire which was a lovely end to the day. Today we are learning all about the creatures that live here and going for a dip in the stream later on. Look out for our next blog later tonight.

Wet and Wild Wednesday!

A few photos of our Minstead adventures today, it started of really wet but the sun came out for our bog walk this afternoon.

Muddy Minstead!

A selection of photos from the last couple of days. We are having loads of fun and are nice and muddy! Mrs Latto has departed, Mrs Fawcitt has arrived and we had Miss Harrison visit us this evening too.

Terrific Tuesday!

Although there were a few tired faces around this morning (including the adults). Today has been another action packed day at Minstead, Woolly Workers, Muck Movers and a lovely visit to Minstead village, followed by the church.

Muddy Monday!

What a day!

Our day has been action packed with lots of fun and mud. We arrived at Minstead, quickly unpacked and then departed on a long walk. We stopped for lunch on the way, where we joined briefly by a group of donkeys. We had lots of fun learning all about the New Forest and this evening we had a lovely end to the day, with a visit to the round house for a fire.

All children are now de-mudded, sat on beanbags with a hot chocolate ready for bed!

Foot Squishingly Good Wednesday at Minstead!

Today we were joined by Mr Crook for a ice cold, foot numbing, body bouncing march across one of amazing boglands in the New Forest.Those of us who were brave enough to walk across the boglands with no boots (and that did not include Mr Crook!) yelped our way to the middle where we shown how incredibly deep the marsh was. We rounded off a terrific day with homemade sausages, a lantern parade and stargazing. We were also visited by Miss K who brought some Oakwood cheer to our hot chocolate session.

Jam Packed Minstead Tuesday- Den Designing, Mud Raking, Egg Collecting, Woolly Working, Lantern Making, Clay Sculpting, Bonfire Watching!!

All that and pancakes too!! Have a look at the fun we have all had at Minstead today.

Mud, Mud, Wind, Rain and More Mud-Ideal Conditions for a fun filled day in the Forest!

After arriving safely, choosing our bunks and unpacking our possessions we went for our first muddy trek through the forest. In between finding the deepest muddles and gloopiest mud, we learnt about the biodiversity of Planet Earth. We all picked our 'creature teacher' and earned our first bead. We are now awaiting our well deserved tea and chilling on the extra large bean bags.

Tonight we will be in the classroom reflecting on what we have learned and then making our way to the Roundhouse for a bonfire, story and hot chocolate. A great first day.

Minstead Day 5

Here are a few final pictures from Day 5 at Minstead.

The children had to pack and tidy their dormitories before changing their beds for the next set of children.

The final activity was the map of mystery, and although the weather finally turned on us and we got a little wet the children's spirits weren't dampened and they finished their Minstead adventure in style.

2015 Minstead Day 4

This morning the children completed their final roundabout activity to earn their 5th bead for their necklace.

We also spent some time working on our Earth books as a reminder of all work they have done this week before trying to master the high seas (The Minstead river) by building paper boats and racing them downstream.

Following this we explored the Village of Minstead, where a few naughty children found themselves in the Stocks!!

This evening we had a campfire, sang some classic songs and told some very bad jokes.

Courtesy of Sonny,

Knock Knock,
Whose there?
Europe...

Minstead Day 3

Day Three Minstead Log:

After a filling breakfast of beans on toast and cereal, it was business as usual for the Oakwood crew. They have now fully adapted to the New Forest pace of life.

On rotation this morning, the groups completed a different activity from yesterday: pond dipping, muck moving or looking after the chickens.

Then in the afternoon we had to tackle the 'Bog of Doom'. We walked over 40 minutes to get to one of the biggest and deepest bogs in the east of the forest. Some brave souls (no pun intended) even braved the bog bare feet.

It is now nine o'clock and they are all tucked up safely in bed. I can here someone snoring, but can't quite make out who it is! Maybe you can guess?

Minstead Day 2

Day two of Minstead has again seen ideal weather for a crisp February.

This morning we completed the first of our three roundabout sessions, Aquatic Adventures, Egg Layers or Muck Movers. After, we continued our exploration of the New Forest, where we made the best dens ever seen in Minstead.

The evening activities were all art based. Clay work, to create monster heads for Thursday nights Bonfire, Bandanas, to celebrate our animal names, and lanterns, to light the way around sight in the darkness.

Have a look at our pictures below.

Minstead Day 1

Marvellous Minstead got off to a great start today with muddy wellies, wet socks and tired feet.

The children have all begun to explore the New Forest and chosen their badges - remember to test your child when they return! Whilst exploring the beautiful forest we built dams in the river (hence the soggy socks) and took great delight in 'busting' them.

After dinner, which was a rather filling Pizza, potato wedges and salad followed by apple and blackberry crumble, we moved to the classroom to start our earthbooks before stories around the fire in the Roundhouse.

We can't wait for a goodnight's sleep!!

Minstead: The Video (PG*)

(* Contains scenes of mild mud....)

After much hard work in the editing suite, Minstead: The Video (2014) is now available.

It stars Years 4 and 5 and is set in the glorious surroundings of the New Forest.

Although it was too late for the Oscars this year, we know you will enjoy it!

Bog Adventures!

The Minstead fun continues!

We started the day with a wholesome breakfast of cereals and beans on toast. We then tried to impress our room inspector with the tidiness of our dormitories (we are still on 6 and a half out of ten and need to get full marks for our gold teamwork bead on Friday!).

We had a special treat this morning as we were able to prepare our sandwiches for lunchtime. Some of us had ham, some cheese and a few even chose Marmite! All topped up with a healthy portion of salad...!

Our watery, eggy and mucky adventures continued, and this afternoon, after watching the wet, windy weather carefully, we ventured out for our bogland adventure.

We learned about this special, fragile habitat, and then walked on to experience the strange sensation of sphagnum moss! We (mostly) stayed dry, with only one or two wet wellies to show for it!

Dinner was local sausages, with roast potatoes and carrots and cabbage. We are really trying to eat our greens!

We finished the night with stories in the roundhouse, using our homemade lanterns for subtle lighting.

More from Minstead

Hello again from Minstead! After a torrential start to the day, (which just added to the mud!), we ended with some sunshine once more.

After a good night, (and a very hearty breakfast!) we split into our groups to earn our first challenge bead. One group were 'Egg Layers', meeting the resident free range chickens (but not Henrietta who has her own notion of 'free range'!). Another group learned about the importance of recycling, by becoming 'Muck Movers', whilst the third embarked on an 'Aquatic Adventure', pond dipping for watery creatures.

Following lunch, we went for another woodland wander. We met the 'Ditch of Doom' yesterday, and today encountered an even deeper, even wetter, even muddier ditch today - which we nicknamed the Ditch of Death* (*death of dry boots and socks, that is!).

We created a 38 metre snake, played some games and returned to the centre tired but happy.

We tucked into a delicious home made cottage pie and then spent the evening molding clay, designing bandanas and creating beautiful lanterns ready for our campfire later in the week.

Minstead's Muddy Monday Madness!

Finally, a dry and sunny day! That certainly didn't stop us enjoying the VAST amounts of mud to be found around Minstead Study Centre.

After settling in to our dormitories, we ventured out into the 'wild wood'. We walked, we squelched, we jumped and... we got stuck! But most of all, we had great fun.

After jumping streams, building dens and meeting cows, we made it back in time for a tasty tea of homemade pizza, chips and salad, followed by apple and blackberry crumble with custard.

The fun didn't stop there though! We have all transformed into mysterious creatures today, so we learned all about our new name tonight. Then, we wrapped up warmly again for our visit to the roundhouse, where we warmed out toes by the fire and listened to old stories. The clear night skies even allowed us a view of Orion's Belt and even Jupiter!

Tired but happy, we have now settled into our beds to dream of today's adventures and anticipate what tomorrow might bring!

Minstead 2013

After a long delay, due to technical difficulties, the Minstead 2013 video is now finished and available for viewing. Did you go this year? Or thinking about next year? Take a look and find out more!