Forest School Adventure (part 12)

Tomorrow will be the penultimate day. Forest School with the 3 - 8 year olds, I'm really looking forward to it, watching the children enjoy the woods and exploring the environment.

Today, however, was my last full 'day off', and it was glorious! The sun shone, the sea sparkled, the white sand glittered, the green of the trees and gold of the broken was vibrant.

A few volunteers and I headed off to St. Martin's, the 5th inhabited island here at the Scilly Isles, and the 5th one we've visited. This wasn't the usual boat trip chugging over to a sister port, we took the long way, the wildlife tour around the Eastern Isles, and looked out for seals!

The water was very calm considering we are nestling in the British corner of the Atlantic. The breeze was warm. Seals lazed on the rocks or bobbed their heads out of the water to watch us pass by. It's never entirely certain who is the voyeur! The people holding mobile phones aloft or the water creatures watching us with mild interest!

There are also plenty of sea birds skirting the water, diving in the surf, or joining the audience on the rocks watching the humans float by.

By the time we reached St. Martin's  the sun was beaming on Parr Beach so we headed into the sea for a swim. Despite the Gulf Stream the water is NOT warm! Not even tepid! Luckily the 3 of us braving it are used to sea swimming and we managed a few lengths before laying on towels to warm up.

I've often been interested in completing Beach School training, I like the coast - any coast - albeit rocks, sand, sloping grass, jagged cliffs, calm bays or rolling surf. Rock pools are a lot of fun, and today, in clear water, swimming between columns of seaweed which formed forests from sea bed to surface made me want to be able to identify the different species all around.

I use the beach near where I live, but it is the total opposite of those here. We do get the occasional seal. There are seabirds. Seaweed does wash up regularly. There is no sand, just shingle on the shore and mud flats that house shellfish. What I have learned about MY coastal environment needs to adapt to be useful here! 

That's OK. That's why learning is a life long experience. 

In the way we show children how to hunt for information, we need ourselves to research what is new to us.

Today wasn't a planned sea safari! Until 20 minuted before we boarded the boat this volunteer group had been set on a quiet day near where are staying. The Wildlife Boats haven't been running due to sea mist rolling in and out. The notification of the Seabird & Seal viewing hit the information board half an hour before it left, and in true adaptive style we made it to the boat in time! Previous plans forgotten, new aims, new experiences, and a new adventure in place. Not so much child led but volunteer led!

To us this was grabbing an opportunity and going with it,  something that most adults are fine with doing. When it's a child it can be difficult to let go of the original plan, to hand over the direction of investigation to them. But this is exactly what we do in Forest School every session.

So having followed our interests, learned something new, had a lot of fun, and built a memory or two that will struggle to fade, we're back in our accommodation, smelling of the sea, with salt in our hair and smiles on our faces.

Curiosity and opportunity should never be underestimated as the best introduction for learning. Even if it occasionally needs a tweak or push start.

It's essential both in Forest School and in Life!