100th Post

In September 2019 I started working full time as a Forest School Leader. 

The school I worked in previously offered Forest School provision in Early Years via three, then two, FSLs who also had other roles within the school. Luckily, having more than one person qualified meant that the three-form-entry school could offer sessions to two Nursery Classes, three Reception Classes, and extend it to KS1 in the summer. It was left to the FSLs to arrange with class teachers if and when sessions could happen. The school was very proud of its secluded small area of trees that kept sessions on-site, but using it was definitely an add-on to their curriculum.

By changing schools I moved from two roles to one, in a school determined to make the most of its grounds, and starting a journey to extend the outdoor learning it offered to families and pupils.

To begin with, it was a slow, considered learning curve, for all. I needed to get to know the spaces I could work in, assess their best use, see beyond Forest School for other uses and feel familiar with staff and students. The school needed to see if I was the right fit for the job the envisaged and begin to plot a course towards a much more outdoor orientated school. 

Both are a process. Neither is particularly quick! 

I started this blog almost as a journal of what we planned, achieved, altered, and failed at. Partly because ex-colleagues were interested and it gave the opportunity for all to see easily, but mostly because it still, two years on, works as the best way for me to remember what we've done, when and how!

Nothing was helped by the slow encroachment of covid into life across term three, nor the total shut down in term four, March 2020. We all had to find ways to continue education online, support the children at home, and those who were still attending on-site, and figure out how to make anything work in a pandemic!

I continued with weekly updates, musing on How? When? and Why? as well as affirmations and information to support our aims. It was surprising how quickly it moved from a diary of what we'd done each week, to seeking advice, and giving advice, on how to get more Outdoor Learning into a Primary school, and how to keep Forest School sessions running in a time of chaos!

There has been little to celebrate regarding coronavirus. It swept in and disrupted families, employment, society, travel and healthcare. Anxiety and depression spread at various levels across the globe. Covid took lives and jobs, and a huge chunk of normal life away from us all, finding a way to keep some form of continuity while changing everything behind the scenes to ensure safety as best we could, was a common issue for all education, especially for any that in a time of emergency was considered just an 'add on'.

Being outside has been the safest place when there are groups. It has always been so, but it took a pandemic to make it clear to all. The benefits of fresh air and movement for both physical health and mental health are well evidenced for both children and adults. All things considered, it was essential we could keep going.

It was helpful to receive feedback and communication from other schools, and especially Forest School Leaders, on what we hoped to achieve, as well as encouragement from all sorts of people. 

Suddenly, just shy of 23 months since we started, I've been notified that we are publishing our 100th blog post, and I don't know how the time has gone so quickly, yet feels like a lifetime ago at the same time! 

Somehow, we seem to have accomplished a lot even if it wasn't all that we had hoped and planned for. We got through two school years interrupted by Coronavirus with Forest School uninterupted, Outdoor Learning increased, and more children than ever learning outside.

Along the way we've made many friendly and helpful contacts. We've been asked to do a guest blog for Siren Films, we're liaising with FSLI to help provide training, we're meeting Kent Wildlife Trust to work out how best to support them, and we're constantly trying to involve our local community in school life, as well as connecting to local businesses.

I have no idea where we'd be if there hadn't been a pandemic. There's no way to tell what we would've succeeded at, what ideas we could've developed, or if we'd have found the time to implement any of the ideas we had. Maybe the covid helped drive the desire to take learning outside of four walls than general life ever would've...?

So here we are, 100 posts later, banging on about Forest School and making Outdoor Learning a daily occurance. We advocate taking pupils into nature, taking care of the environment, and constantly striving to do MORE outside. There is so much more we'd like to achieve, so many more projects in development, so many possibilites to explore.

Thank you for tagging along with us, or dipping in and out of our story when you can. We are happy to share our learning journey, we're open to making links and being contacted for help and advice (given if we can and received with thanks!), and if you want to pass on our experiences please feel free to share!

Summer is here, all is quiet...ish! We're back in September, hitting the ground running, with many more paths on this journey awaiting exploration. 

We hope you join us to see they takes us!