Forest School Lite

Anyone who has visited this blog before, followed Chartham Forest School on twitter, or found posts on facebook will know that even though we offer Forest School sessions at our school, we are not exactly facilitating Forest School at the moment.

After the first Lockdown in March this year we made a decision regarding reopening in June - that classes would be outside as much as possible. 

This was driven by two main facts:

The first being that the outdoor environment was safer than the indoor environment. Inside we had to get to grips with one way systems and smaller classes, and children socially distanced in classrooms, alongside helping pupils learning at home. There was a lot to juggle. 

The second being that different children had had different lockdown experiences. Some may have spent a lot of time in their garden, may have taken daily walks with their families, may have had much more time to engage in self chosen activities and may have 'enjoyed' both their home learning over lockdown and their free time. Others may have been cooped up inside, some may have experienced illness within their family, some may have experienced loss. 

When September rolled around things hadn't really changed. Some children HAD been in school since June, but far more pupils had been away from school since March, and all were coming back to new classrooms, new teachers, new year groups, new timetables, and a new way of learning. So we continued with sessions outside for all classes led by the Forest School Leader. 

These sessions had time restrictions. Partly because the only safe way to welcome back a school full of children was to stagger their starting times, and finishing times, plus their break and lunch times to ensure neither the lunch hall or playground became crowded. Social distancing altered, but bubbles remained and needed to be separate to reduce the risk of cross infection.

Being outside was still the safer option. So from the start of the school year 2020/2021 we continued with the shorted Forest School sessions and focused on Outdoor Learning. 

As a Forest School Leader it was difficult to see these sessions as 'Forest School'. 

They didn't meet the criteria for being 'Quality' sessions. 

They didn't follow the structural framework of Forest School Learning.

So 'Forest School Lite'* was born. 

The basic start and end of each session at basecamp. Beginning with the same calm perspective and finishing together quietly, ready to return to the building. 

The reiteration of Forest School Rules to ensure the safety of people and the environment. 

The opportunity to use Forest School equipment and the site (subject to covid risk assessment), and the possibility of some Forest School activities.

This only gave each class just over an hour outside per week with the FSL, but their timetables allowed for further Outdoor Learning with the class teacher each day. This time backed up and extended their learning in class. The focus was continuing to allow children both time outside of four walls to breathe cleaner air, and the opportunity to experience nature and spend time away from whatever stresses school and home may carry.

In Forest School the focus continued to support the children's own interests and allow the freedom of exploration and discovery, but within a limited time frame.

In the Kent School Year there 6 Terms a year. So for Term 1, September to the end of October, this weekly routine continued. 

We are lucky that our grounds are extensive, and afford space for classes to use a sports field, some woodland, a wildlife garden, a playground, and a large Mud Kitchen. This allowed quite a few classes to be outside with their teachers at once as well as running a Forest School Lite session at the same time. 

In Term 2 the classes needed to slide a little bit more towards a more regular timetable. The focus on wellbeing remained, as nationally we headed towards another lockdown. Teachers had the option of splitting their classes to allow half to attend Forest School and half to remain inside for some focused learning. Different year groups and different teachers used their time in different ways. Some classes still came out for their allocated 90 minutes. Some kept the whole class in for extra focused learning then came out for a shorter time together. Others split the class. All this made Forest School Lite even liter! 

Meanwhile we tried to keep to the FS ethos of each child following their own learning and interests in nature.

The combination of lack of time and routine, AND covid meant many activities were restricted. Using tools was difficult. Controlling possible cross infection with almost 400 children using the same tools each week led to much tool being reduced. Plus time restraints for any project was a recipe for frustration. Some children still viewed coming outside as extra break time and needed to let off steam making activities difficult because they couldn't settle. Any activities meant the Forest School Leader was unavailable to observe and oversee when these children needed to vent, and influenced what was available.

We still aim to have a celebration week with hot drinks and treats at the end of each term, which the children love, and feels a little more like actual Forest School!

So Forest School Lite is not perfect!

I still don't know how else to get an entire primary school of children outside as part of a meaningful weekly Forest School 'curriculum', other than having two FSL who can simultaneously run sessions at 2 hours long, and follow a progression of skills. But school funding has been hit hard over the last few years, and the pandemic has not helped, so the chance of employing a second Forest School Leader is highly unlikely. Many schools cannot employ one.

We tried to provide the kind of activities that require some guidance but could be accessed independently. Such as digging, and weaving, and supplying information for bird and bug finding, and tree and leaf identification. We have gutters and water to create chutes, there are den gaps in bushes and trees that can be climbed, and sticks for den building. 

It is almost essential in managing Forest School Lite, all classes have the same activity across the week. These have to be easy to differentiate because of the age and ability range across a week, or even a day. Groups need to access the same equipment as there isn't the time to change everything over between sessions.

The investigation activities are independent and a staple. 

Introducing something new each week to build on those skills can't always follow the individuals learning, or the classes progress as much as it did previously. 

But it's not just the time to swap out activities, that has to run alongside the wiping down of equipment used, the FSL washing hands and sanitizing, assessing the activities and planning the way forward... for 16 classes! sometimes 5 different groups in one day!

The other side to this is that as a provider it feels like the same thing is always out - but to the individual children they only have access to these once a week for about an hour.

In 2021 I'm hoping to find a way to remedy this a little more. 

Watch this space to see what we come up with!

Meanwhile the children continue to love being outside, they look forward to Forest School. From outside it's impossible to judge if any of this has an impact on classroom behaviour, attitude to learning, or confidence. Outside the children have moved on in leaps and bounds when it comes to confidence outdoors, and seem to be absorbing some outdoor knowledge! 

In the summer we had a child go from hating walking through long grass in June to climbing trees in July. 

Last Autumn we had a Year 1 child hate getting a speck of dirt on himself to being a Year 2 mud magnet this Autumn. 

There are children who arrived at Forest School unsure of their surroundings who have settled into building worm hotels and naming trees. 

There is a definite progression in attitude and skills outside. So despite the 'Lite' format, sessions are having a positive impact.

Like all Forest School Sessions children will often take from them what they need. Whether that is the chance of solitude, peace and quiet, pursuit of their own agenda ignoring all classmates and setting out independently, or whether it is part of a group, working together and altering the hierarchy of who is able to lead. Often being outside allows different children to bring different knowledge and skills to their class and changes who will take charge. The reduced session doesn't change this aspect of Forest School learning.

In January we continue with Forest School Lite. It's the only way we can get all classes out each week. We will always have the basic activities available to help investigation, and we will continue to develop our site, and we will offer new activities as regulations and timings allow.

And we will always end each term with a celebration of the outdoors!

*This article from the Guardian by Liz Lightfoot about how different schools deliver Forest School is worth the read:

Forest schools: is yours more a marketing gimmick than an outdoors education?