Mama Beech

It's almost May. We're hurtling towards half way through 2023. Yes, it is my age that makes time fly, but so does the pace of life. We're all so busy, all of the time. Once upon a time I scheduled in 'things to do', nowadays I plot time to chill onto the calendar! Is Spring here now? We're way past the equinox, and the clocks have sprung forward, and a solid 4 months of the year have passed... It's impossible to tell from the weather, this is Britain, 4 seasons in one day is a fairly frequent occurance, but the minus temperatures have faded in the South East, and even frost has vanished. The sun does like to peek out now and then and it does have some heat in it. The result is a mass of trees bursting into life, blossom like confetti on the breeze, dandelions polka dotting the grass, and twigs retreating behind green shrubbery. I love Spring. Actually I love all seasons, but I love watching Spring emerge and change the landscape dramatically. But it brings a...

Although our Forest School doesn't deliver 'lessons' or refer to the National Curriculum when planning, it will always overlap.  The Basecamp at the Copse is very much a resource area, where children have access to information and equipment to help them look for, find, and identify the flora and fauna of their environment. It also provides space to try some art in Situ (although this can, and does, happen anywhere), a Book Nook, and a woodwork bench. On the edges of the Copse are the Mud Kitchen, The Dig Pit, and the Ball Run.  The ball run is the perfect opportunity for observing many skills coming together and provides a practical outlet for science, technology, engineering, and maths. This week has been a brilliant example.  On Monday the sole session was with a visiting school, and their Year 2 Class helped gather together all sorts of items, old chairs, tyres, an unwanted clothes airer, logs, and a pallet, to ensure the gutter offcuts we have had support on different...

Term 5 is about to dawn. I was going to say that it's going to be busy for us - but every term is fairly hectic! We have the brilliant FSLI arriving at the start of May to begin training this year's Summer Students to be Level 3 Forest School Leaders. This takes a reasonably large amount of promoting, and a bit of organising to host! It is great fun to see grown adults discover Forest School on a deeper level and renews our enthusiasm for it through watching the students learn, and through a reevaluation of how we provide sessions because we see it through their eyes.  Some students will have quite a lot of experience in supporting Forest School and are now ready to take on a bigger role, while others may have come across it relatively recently with little opportunity to explore it beyond liking the ethos and observing a little. Some may even have stepped up and volunteered to train for their school with no idea of what they are letting themselves in for! This is why hosting t...

It's midway between the two weeks off of work for the School Easter Holiday. I have only been in work once, I've bought 2 books, and I've cued the basic Forest School Social Media for the next term online. I'm by no means the only person or profession to either never entirely switch off, or to work out of hours, it's the norm for many of us. This 4 day weekend though, my aim was to just enjoy time with my best friend who lives 100 miles away, and switch off completely while we finally get to catch up... When working I'm pretty much awake by 5.30, up by 6.30, out the door by 7.15 and at work by 8. This routine doesn't leave me entirely on days off! So I'm still awake early, but make a cuppa and head back to bed. So here I am at 5.50am, Bestest is asleep in the next room, I can hear birds outside and I'm typing on my phone! Yesterday, I was explaining my job to someone. People ask and I always use my job title of 'Forest School Leader' and more...