Mama Beech

Just a quick note to say we are hosting Forest School Learning Initiative in May/June of 2022 who will be running a Level 3 Forest School Leader course at our site. FSLI are entering their 15th year of training and running their own sessions in the Cotswolds. They deliver training worldwide, regularly traveling to Australia and Asia as well as across the UK.  We are based in   Chartham , Canterbury, Kent The first module of the training will be completed ONLINE. Date: 4 x face to face Training Days of the course: 5th, 6th, 12th, 13th May 2022  2 x face to face Skills Days: 16th, 27th June 2022 Cost:  £775 (plus VAT) per person (Price Deal!)  to include Open College Network West Midlands registration. We have parking, buses on our street and a train station nearby! Of course, you also get the opportunity to look around our site! This is an opportunity for schools who are considering introducing Forest School Register an interest with us email here to sign up at...

Most of the effectiveness of Forest School comes from the quality of time spent outside. Children repeatedly doing both new things and returning to things they consider important expands their interests and their expertise. We know that repeated actions grow both muscle memory and strong neural pathways, but immersing yourself in something you love to do builds confidence and self-esteem. Discovering something new adds curiosity and motivation into the mix! Knowing that Forest School will be there next week means the fear of missing out is less, freeing children up to decide what they want to focus on now, and what they will be happy to try another time. I have a lot of suggestions aimed at me that start with "next time, can we...?".  Many children will work on a project such as peeling or whittling and ask to leave it in the shed until they come back. Others try over and over to master a skill, with varying degrees of success, with no goal or judgement except their own. The...

All 'Child Led' learning requires following the interests of the child, but the environment in which they're learning needs both steer and support what the children want to know.  There are a few factors that influence this, the site and provision being the main two. As we have our own relatively secure site on school grounds, we can develop our site to entice children to explore something new, and we can work WITH children to create something they want.  We aim to have a lot of different activities constantly available to classes. They need to be accessible to children aged 4 to 11, and as independent to use as possible!  These are a few of them: A Nature Table of things the children have found and wanted information on, from moss & Lichen, to fossils and rock, to seed cases and leaves, and including feathers and bones! If I have a book or ID sheet to support looking these things up I leave it on the unit so children can access pictures and information when I'm not...

I know, we've been in 2022 for over a week, which in education means any New Year Celebrations are already fading in the mists of time...! But for me, it means Forest School hits the ground running as of Monday. This week switched from a ridiculously mild December to a frost January and Winter flexed its claws. I have to admit I like Winter! The frosted grass looking sage green, the opaque air hung above it, watery skies and pale sun. Ice on the spider webs, sparkly evergreens, bare tree branches scratching the sky, long shadows and even the drumming of rain, crisp air with a promise of snow, even wet eyelashes, and foggy breath! I know going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark is for many a depressing routine, but my inner troglodyte bursts forth, and warm baths, not showers, and snuggly blankets on the sofa with a good book are the reward!  Naked trees make the birds easier to spot - which is definitely a good thing as the RSPB Garden BirdWatch and Big Schools' B...

On rare occasions, we need to cover a Forest School session INSIDE. It may be because the weather prevents a session, it may be a staffing issue, it may be an introduction for children who will find the outdoors challenging, but whatever causes it, there are times when setting up activities in a classroom is suddenly needed. I've said before that I have a large IKEA blue bag that I keep certain activities in, these are not necessarily ones I can/will use in Forest School, like jigsaw puzzles, colouring, cutting out, etc. It's fairly quick to add some of the nature table items, bug ID, and bird guides, etc. into the bag to make what is basically 'nature learning' feel a little like Indoor Forest School! One week in December started with me under the duvet with a fever and headache, and a PCR test pending. School canceled Forest School because waiting each day to decide what the following day's timetable would be was too hectic. So once back in on the Wednesday indoor...