Lockdown 2 - the sequel

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 are engaged, learning, enjoying themselves, and out in the open air! 

Reception Classes had their very first Forest School experience this week and were curious, observant, and involved. They worked together to build a den and had lots of relevant questions as well as life experience and knowledge of their own to share. This is a great age group to introduce Forest School to: Lay down the foundations of routine, capture the children's imagination, and instil a love of nature that can be built on year after year. 

The two SEND Classes that share our building also came outside for their first Forest School since March. Usually these pupils join in with whichever year group is age appropriate as part of our joint inclusion curriculum. Currently we cannot mix bubbles, and the time table before Half Term didn't have space to squeeze in any more sessions, so sadly they missed out last term. 

Between staggered starts, lunches, and finishes, setting blocks of time aside for classes to participate in has been a difficult feat! Forest School Lite meant most classes could be accommodated, and in review we found a way to adapt this Term and afford the opportunity to all 16 classes at Chartham .

Children also venture out with their Class Teachers as much as possible, both for Outdoor Learning AND simply by taking learning outside. Building an outdoor curriculum that stretches across all key stages that supports, involves and enhances every aspect of indoor learning takes time, and will forever be expanding - but is worth it!

Lockdown 2 hasn't impacted our plans...yet! But we know from experience that guidelines and conditions are subject to change, some slowly evolve, others suddenly mutate! So we carry on with what in our experience has been successful. It may not work everywhere or for everyone, but we haven't regretted the commitment to get the kids outside as much as possible, nor the use of Forest School resources . 

Planning for these sessions is a little difficult. Activities that can be accessed by 4-year-olds and 11-year-olds that offer challenge and interest to all take a bit of forethought! Differentiating a single activity has limited what we do slightly.

This week we were making 'Woodland Characters'. For Years 1 & 2 that was a variation of Stickman, for other year groups it became dinosaurs and foxes, wolves and even tortoises! With varying levels of support the children were able to use a peeler to strip back bark, and use twine and yarn to bind pieces together.

Using branches of ivy that were blown down in the weekend gales meant the children were able to explore the properties of 'green' wood and describe them. The combination of new wood and peelers made the experience very independent, and older children were able to try out 'lashing' pieces together themselves.

It will be great to eventually get back to real tool work, but the beauty of using peelers is that as an activity, it can have a higher ratio: the children can manage them and direct to each other how to use them safely. Obviously they are not totally risk free, but supervision can be shared between Teachers, Support Staff and the FSL, freeing the Forest School Leader to observe and/or help elsewhere. Peelers are also plastic, easy to wipe down with a cloth and weak bleach solution between uses, easy to soak in soapy water after each bubble uses them, and easy to pop into the dishwasher at the end of the day!

EYFS require separate 'planning' as they did not attend last term. KS1 & KS2 are building on what they did in September and October. Reception are stepping in to the new. The enthusiastic SEND classes will also need a separate overview. Planning, even if it is 90% provision, is always child led, driven by their interests, and expands literally on the day, during the session. 

Even this dynamic, 'on your feet thinking' needs some recording. Different classes move interests in different directions but the same starting idea makes it much easier! With 3 or 4 sessions a day swapping out all activities and equipment in the 10 -30 minute gap between them is not practical. Exploration tools (ID charts, guides, books, magnifiers, bug boxes etc) are luckily a staple that are accessible to all and differentiate themselves in use.

The digging area is never empty and transforms from a river to a volcano, from a tunnel to an archaeological dig, from discovering the creatures below the soil to exploring root systems several times a day. The water chutes are also amazingly popular, directing and manoeuvring water down and along, via gutters and waterfalls. The teamwork, problem solving and designing that the children are involved in grows in sophistication each session.

Next week we are expecting delivery of over 400 trees from the Woodland Trust. Prepping the grounds for planting all of these is a challenge in itself! Finding time between the sessions is not easy. But if the preliminary work is complete then there's a chance that over two or three weeks each children can plant their tree during their Forest School Session. 

The recent rain has been welcome, the ground is much more pliant than it was in September! We planted trees in March, just before Lockdown 1 (yes we've noticed a pattern developing!), and the heatwaves of 2020 took a toll. Some trees flourished and have grown far more than you expect a tiny 40cm tree to stretch, but others suffered from the accompanying drought. 

The countdowns are on: 

the tock tock of the season turning, 
the progression of another term, 
the run up to Christmas and all it's pomp and ceremony, 
the indeterminate rambling of guidelines, 
the advance of a pandemic, 
the meandering British weather... 

So much to work around and work with.

This week has thrown monsoon deluges, brilliant sunshine AND frost at us so far. On Monday temperatures reached a heady 18, very warm for November, and Wednesday started out at 2oC!

Let's hope Autumn's slide into Winter is full of sweet rain water to foster growth and little frost and ice to chill those baby roots!