Mama Beech

We all get the idea that going outside for a walk is good for us. Fresh air, moving muscles, blood pumping... Physically it is great for toning muscles and even losing weight, but the overwhelming evidence demonstrates that it does far more for our wellbeing than just boosting our bodies! As Mental Health Awareness Week is coming up, it seems a good time to look at all the proven benefits of being outdoors. Both for children and for adults. I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted here, but I will include links that help prove the point for those of you who need to convince others elsewhere For Children the benfits come from fresh air in developing lungs, immune-system building microbes from soil, resilience due to seasons and weather, space to move, and endless things to discover which feed their minds and grow their curiosity! It sets the tone for being active for life , and stimulates their need to explore and investigate for themselves - learning. It builds confidence. ..

When it comes to providing activities and experiences in Forest School we try hard to stick to things that we COULDN'T do inside. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but it is guidance. Taking lots of equipment outdoors doesn't feel child led, nor does it feel too much like Forest School. There will always be information to access and equipment to support exploring, but beyond reference books and sheets, magnifiers, binoculars, and bug pots very little is a staple.  Tools are available, that can just be yarn and scissors, peelers, palm drills, or something that needs much closer supervision. There are digging areas and mudkitchens on each site, swings, and platforms, as well as access to climbing.  We do offer opportunities to weave, tie knots, create a nature table, and plant. We may suggest den building or hide and seek. We will respond to requests for litter-pickers, or pond dipping, or whatever activity on site we can accommodate, with support and with equipment. When a ch

We have a lot of visitors at Forest School.  Plenty are of the feathered and furred variety, and the children love meeting them! But, we also have lots of people coming and going. This week (and next) we have a group of students on their Level 3 Forest School Leader Course. We team up with Forest School Learning Initiative a couple of times a year, we provide the space and the support tutoring, and FSLI provides almost twenty years of training experience on 3 continents, in several countries! It's great having students around as it's impossible NOT to view everything we do through their eyes as new and different! Which is always a great perspective! We also have some much smaller visitors in the form of children from the Nursery next door! Again, watching them need very few activities, and to just revel in the freedom of exploring for themselves is a timely reminder as to why we actually do this!  Last weekend we did a little visiting of our own and took the opportunity to mee

Things have been so busy we have pretty much abandoned writing a blog! Winter does seem to be developing into Spring, all the signs are there, and the weather is being very kind (at least here in Kent!), but there's always the concern that frost will come and ice will kill off all that has started to bloom. The Terms are flying by, how are we approaching two-thirds of the way through the school year already?  Not only does Christmas feel a bit like a fortnight ago, but the September start certainly doesn't feel like it was six months past!  Forest School is a constant no matter what, and we continue to take classes outside whatever the schedule, as well as co-plan Forest School training provision and hosting First Aid, and juggle the school's needs with offering more to the community. We are a team. There are three of us delivering sessions. Two FSLs have an additional role in school and our Forest School Lead deals with Forest School only. Even with a shared workload there