Summary of the open meeting and decisions to make!

Thanks for coming along the other day, it was in the middle of a very
> busy spell for us so hope it didn't seem too disorganised! I think there
> are a lot of tired children at this point in this term (my own
> included!) so hopefully it will be easier for them after the Christmas
> break and a good winter thing to do when there's not so much running
> around outside to be done.
> 
> Can you include your phone numbers in a reply to this please? Also check
> out http://northbristolwoodchips.wordpress.com where I'll put news and
> stuff.
> 
> I realised there were loads of things I didn't say so I'll say them
> here. First of all, it would be really good to get some idea of who
> thinks they would be able to do it. A couple of people said they were
> going to leave it for a term as their children were tired after school.
> Let me know if anyone else feels like this. We need 15 at £1.50 per 4-6
> year old a session to make it work money wise, although I'm working on
> some fundraising plus we're getting some money from the District to help
> start up, so I need to know if we need to find more (we currently have
> 14 x 4-6 year olds and a few littlies if you all want to come minus
> those who've said they can't). If we pay half termly like this and have
> at least 15 then if the children are tired and you don't come for a week
> or two it'll still work - I think we'll have to accept that not everyone
> will come every week as they're still young, and plan activities
> accordingly (ie not spanning several weeks in case weeks are missed).
> 
> I am happy to run the logistical bit of it and open and close the
> sessions and have some ideas for the first few sessions then if anyone
> wants to run an activity go for it! Nige is going to do the treasurer's
> bit but it would be much easier if we could pay per half term (so £9 for
> 4-6 year olds, maybe a couple of pounds for littlies, depending on
> numbers) if that's OK otherwise come mid-Feb there will be two people
> there and it'll all go wrong on the finances!
> 
> Re: siblings, I think with the lobby as a spare room and outside later
> on in the year we should be able to work with parents and little ones
> staying if you'd rather do that than leave them, especially in the
> beginning. We can have a cut-down version of the activity for little
> ones maybe in the lobby if we're doing something a bit more grown-up.
> 
> Some of the first few week's activities will be around forming an
> identity (finding a name, choosing Woodcraft names, maybe making our own
> song, mandala, totem, banner, flag or the like!) and getting to know
> each other and later on we can work on more outdoorsy, bushcraft type
> stuff and plan a short camping expedition, maybe with some of the St
> Andrews or other Elfins groups. There is also a Woodcraft hut at
> Watercatch Farm outside Backwell that we can go to when the weather is a
> bit better, with a fire pit and hut, which we cleared recently. We could
> do outings to Willsbridge Mill, Goblin Coombe (near Backwell), East
> Rocks Woodland near Bath etc later on.
> 
> The structure suggested might look like this:
> 
> 4pm - Game - 5 mins game while everyone arrives
> 4.05pm - Snack
> 4.10pm - News circle
> 4.20pm - Main Activity
> 4.40pm - Game
> 4.50pm - Short story followed by a song
> 4.55pm close
> 
> We can also get outside people to come in and talk about things like
> maybe bee-keeping, gardening / growing or something! I think some of the
> immediate issues will be balancing 'boy' and 'girl' energy within a
> session, establishing some rules which we can work on as a group,
> forming a structure that works for everyone (eg snacks first or in the
> middle, songs and stories at the end) etc.
> 
> Woodies do have a uniform you can buy but I thought it might be fun to
> tie die some T-shirts (maybe even organic cotton ones from Better Food
> Company) in a colour we all decide upon, they could sew or draw or paint
> things on it too - thoughts please (including an absolute no to any kind
> of uniform!). You can do badgework but I think we'd leave that for a while.
> 
> I have a Scrapstore card and also a card for Bwerani, the multi-cultural
> toy library.
> 
> Any thoughts on any of this please let me know! Also any thoughts on how
> we might be able to encourage people from all social and ethnic groups
> in the course of time so that it doesn't end up white and middle class!