Reality Check!
It's been one of those weeks. It's felt ten days long and my feet haven't touched the ground. In fact, my no-work Friday has included 7 hours of admin on the laptops.
On top of the 7 Chartham classes doing Forest School sessions, we had Aylesham school visiting for a session too. Some of the Eco Clubs were up and running, but other changes in this new Term's timetable needed negotiating to make space.
Next week the Firs Nursery next door will be having sessions so these needed planning as well as the regular eight weekly ones this Term. We're also not too far off hosting over a dozen Level 3 Forest School Leader students for their training on-site. Oh, and we'll be repeating said training in the Autumn.
Usual site maintenance, a half-year 'report', an update to the 5-year site management plan, two volunteers, a member of staff joining the training programme, a phone call to Uruguay to answer some Forest School and Outdoor learning questions, and my fellow FSL organising replacement canopies pretty much filled up the Forest School 4-day week!
Oh and our second basecamp had been disrupted a little!
None of this is making me feel depressed or angry or negative in any way... just BUSY!
Hectic weeks usually fly by, but looking back on this week it feels like a fortnight!
Forest School is my favourite thing!
I love doing it.
Most of the time I think I do it pretty well.
But being outside, with children, is only half of the job!
In order to deliver sessions and clubs, for my own school or pupils from other settings, I need to plan for each class. There is a Termly overview and a session focus. I link planning to a progression of skills and base it on what the children have experienced before as well as what the specific needs of that class and age group may be.
To deliver one 2hr session it requires setting up, taking down, as well as planning and assessing, and potentially adapting because the weather/environment can work against you! So it's probably an extra 2hrs to ensure all that it is done effectively, including using photos for evidence, and uploading them to social media to ensure everyone gets to share the fun! The 5 sessions I run in a week will require all of this. There are some shortcuts when there are two sessions in a day, as I only set up once and pack away once. So providing 10 hours of sessions requires the best part of eight hours to produce!
Of course our 'classrooms' need a lot of maintenance too! Safety sweeps, pruning, raking, mowing, planting...
We are a school with almost 9 acres of space at our disposal.
We want to utilise it, to share our growing expertise, offer support to those who are interested, and ultimately get our pupils, and as many other children as possible, outside as much as we can!
This is why we host training! If we can encourage more people, more settings, and more schools to provide Forest School and Outdoor Learning then we will!
And I hate paperwork!
Hopefully, most of the admin prep is now complete or in a skeletal form awaiting details. Our session plans will work from the Termly Overviews, the eco clubs all have agendas, the sites are pruned and awaiting new shelters!
This six-week block of Forest School has commenced. Being outside with 30 children is the easy bit!
It will just run like clockwork now...
Won't it?
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