Forest School For All

Since I started leading Forest School at Chartham sessions have changed, altered, evolved, and changed again! Like everything in education, there are a lot of influences that require addressing, working with, working around, and encompassing. 

What began as two or three afternoons a week with half a class became rapid 80-minute sessions with 16 bubble classes across 4 days when covid first hit! A School that had traditionally reserved Forest School for KS2 PPA sessions, and split the class between on-site sessions and swimming off-site, suddenly had full classes, all year groups and all Key Stages engaging weekly.

The move back into some semblance of normal is ongoing, but we tried hard to stick to providing FS for all classes until late last year. The compromise was shorter sessions, which did impact the quality of activities but allowed the whole school to take part for well-being. In November we moved to longer sessions, with classes alternating each term/half term with their year partner. With 15 sessions required to cover the entire school across four days, it was the only way to deliver better quality Forest School and still ensure all pupils had access to seasonal participation.

However, when classes are NOT doing sessions they have been both missing Forest School and missing out on Forest School, and it's been noticeable!

Next term should bring brighter weather (she says in a snow storm!) we plan on getting ALL classes out once again, AND encouraging outdoor learning by supporting staff in taking their classes outside. This will run alongside Forest School.

Both classes in a year group will be outside together, and yes that is a lot of children! Class teachers and support staff will be out with them reacquainting themselves with FS routines and rules, or learning them if they are new to the school.
While some of the children are engaging in child-led exploration with me, some will be focused with their teacher on a specific learning intention linked to their topic or current curriculum phase.

We honestly have no idea how well this pilot will work - but we're going for it!

Strangely this isn't the forever plan! It's an interim solution. Chartham is lucky enough to have large school grounds, approximately nine acres, and pre-pandemic had embarked on plans to make the school as outdoor-friendly, outdoor-involved, and outdoor-based, as a general Primary School can be! We've had many interruptions, global and local, and are now trying to get back on track!

Hopefully next year we can run two Forest School sessions side-by-side as we are taking advantage of hosting Forest School Training with FSLI and training TWO members of staff to be Level Three Leaders!

As a two-form entry school, we have 14 classes plus two satellite classes from a partnered SEND School so there are a lot of children to include across a week and this will definitely help!

This will change our capacity for Forest School significantly. Not only do we have the space for several basecamps on site, but each area can focus on a specific aspect of Forest School. 

For instance, we do have a pond, but the area it is in is a garden and there are no climbable trees or mud kitchen.

There is a second basecamp and large mud kitchen area, with no pond or nearby storage.

We have raised beds on-site and a polytunnel but using both during a session means limiting the exploration of the children not involved in gardening because of supervision and safety issues.

Our hope is that each area can take on its own kind of focus, led by the Forest School Leader who wants to develop it. Currently, the Copse Basecamp lends itself to tree climbing, space to run, some den building, and bug/bird/flora exploration - oh and how could I forget the Dig Pit! It lends itself to a lot of MUD!

The second Basecamp is a lot more wooded. There are climbable trees, space to dig, a large mud kitchen in situ, and a few hundred bricks which the children love to build with.

The wildlife garden is alongside the polytunnel and raised beds, and it would be perfect for a kind of 'Garden School' where growing could be focused on, plus pond dipping, and a generally quieter environment.

As of yet we do not know if Forest School Leaders would stay strictly with their sites. The idea of rotation for Leaders as well as for children is appealing but as of yet there have been no discussions regarding how this will work precisely as of September! Whatever we do, it will certainly change and evolve as we go along.

Currently, there are two excited Forest School Leader students preparing to be focused on their training, and that is how it should be.

Our pilot for having a year group outside together will pave the way for the year groups to be out together next school year but in separate basecamps.

The staff being trained will not be dedicated Leaders with no other role, and hopefully will be able to undertake smaller intervention groups outside as well as carry out some of their current roles inside.

These roles will also alter and evolve as time goes on. September will be a learning curve for us all as we pilot what will almost be a Forest School Department at Chartham Primary School!

We are all excited about these changes and are aiming to use this venture to support all staff in learning outside, practically, in planning, and with inset.

We have the space and facilities to increase our outdoor learning beyond Forest School, Garden school, interventions, and anything else we may timetable. Teachers can experience this kind of pedagogy and use it in their outdoor lessons, we can support them by sharing experiences and ideas amongst us, and offer some basic training in all things Forest School.

No doubt there will be pitfalls along the way. Days and weeks when staff need to be moved around because of sickness/absence, other considerations like school journeys and SATs week to work around, but the will is there and we are going to find a way to make it work!

The potential is huge - the reality will be a problem-solving, team-building, exercise in cooperation, collaboration, trouble-shooting, and critical thinking.

But then it IS Forest School!