Mama Beech

If you follow the ideals of Forest School then you have to accept that not only do different children take different things away from the experience, but that they require a variety of different experiences to meet their needs. Accepting the 6 principles of Forest School  means you accept the children's freedom to explore whatever they choose to do, even if it seems they make the same choices week in and week out. The main point of children having  TIME,  both in minutes during a session, and in weeks stretched across a year, is to allow them to work through whatever may have them returning to the same behaviour, while offering the opportunity to get involved with many different activities before or after or instead. As I've said before we're running a type of 'Forest School Lite', which has the benefit of allowing the whole school access to Forest School Activities each week, but the disadvantage of only giving some groups about 30 minutes outside. Some time outsid...

When you are a member of different online Forest School groups you realise the diversity of practice there is to choose from. The differences depend on many things. Some Forest School's provide all day sessions, some all day every day, and need to track what they do as they have a wide curriculum to cover, and if they are providing education in lieu of a state school. Some Forest Schools are independent businesses offering a 2 hour session as child care, or as an educational add on, or as a leisure activity. Some, like ours, are set within a school and are part of the curriculum their school provides. Forest School can therefore be enjoyed on school grounds, or private land, or rented sites. They may be specifically for this use, may share some or all of their space, or may to open to the public. The site used and the reason children attend will influence what a Forest School Leader can offer children in the way of outdoor experiences. None should be judged as better or worse. If y...

We are planting our trees mostly to create more hedging, but some will stand alone entities - or will be when they grow longer than than half a metre tall!  the trees came via the Woodland Trust and we have 420 to plant. It's a plan to extend the Forest school area for the future, and to give every child the opportunity to plant their very own tree. This process is going to take up a lot of this term! Each pupil will receive information about the species of their tree and make a label for it. It will also be mapped so we know where it is. For those children in EYFS right now the next 6 years ought to allow a lot of visible growth to monitor. Hopefully for those currently in Year 6 the coming of Spring and Summer 2021 will also show a lot of change. The prep work, digging spaces to plant the new hedges, is a slow process! However it will speed up the actual planting quite a lot. So far, the children seem excited at the mere thought of planting a tree, only a few have actually starte...

Heading into Lockdown AGAIN...! As a Forest School within a Primary School we have managed to be open all the time school has been open. Lots of independent Forest Schools are struggling with regulations and ratios and facilities, and the complication of being a small business grouped in with leisure rather than education. It has been a tough time for them to find ways to provide opportunities for the children and families they work with, while we were free to adapt and move forward. Our Covid-19 Risk assessment is up to date and has worked well so we plough forward with it, reviewing it each time a new activity is introduced or guidelines change.  In order to ensure every class gets to experience Forest School we're running Forest School Lite ! A shortened version that means EYFS through to Year 6, plus two SEND classes, have an outdoor session with the Forest School Leader each week. It is hectic. It's not Forest School in any traditional way, but it is working. The children...