As the Year Turns

It's THAT time of year. We have 4 weeks of Term 2 left and school is getting busier than ever. Carrier bags of tinsel and costumes are appearing, the Hall has been timetabled for rehearsals, and the children are already chattering about Christmas gifts.

It's THAT time of year. Coughs, colds, and fevers are doing the rounds. Children are sneezing everywhere, staff have constant headaches, and the boxes of tissues in the classrooms deplete in a day.

It's THAT time of year. Gluesticks and glitter. Christmas meals marked on calendars. School disco preparations. Shopping to do after work. Evenings out. Juggling dates. Watching time gather speed...

It's THAT time of year. 

Hectic.

At basecamp it's different. The rain beats rhythms on the canopy, smoke curls in patterns, the birds twitter away above, we sit as we always sit making sure everyone is mindful of being safe, of keeping others safe, and of exploring exactly what and where they wish. 

We have the opportunities to make things, to slice wood cookies, to weave, to peel, and create, but we also have a choice to play tag, to climb trees, to hide-and-seek, to dig, to make mud pies, to move, fidget, and not focus on someone else's outcome.

We have the chance to sit and watch the birds feed, to spy a shy mouse, or to catch a glimpse of a speedy squirrels. We can make spaces for them, we can put out food for them, we can simply enjoy them.

We can find out more about the weather, the season, the wildlife, or nature as a while, or ead a book for the sheer pleasure of it. We can make paint, make marks, make a mess.

It's not a Christmas-free zone, but what festive ideas come into Forest School come from the children. When they suggest we make something we will. We'll take their cue, and their ideas, and together figure out how and what we will do. Those who want to join in.can, and those that don't have plenty of other activities to explore.

The Year is a cycle of time that rolls around again and again. In my work life it starts in September and grows busier and busier until it bursts in mid July. In my private life it starts in January and is now hurtling to a close! In Forest School it's a steady plod of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. 

Where we view the start of that cycle is probably telling. When planning for sessions it's still Summer at the start of the academic year, we then slide into Autumn, before Winter takes hold and we wait with baited breath for Spring. Spring often falters before rushing headlong into Summer.

So for me the cycle should at least start in Autumn, albeit before equinox and the metrological declaration of the end of Summer, as that is the order I work them.

The chronological year, the start of 2023, began with Winter, so it would make sense to name the seasons in my head starting with the coldest.

But I always imaging Spring as the start of it all. The awakening of everything, the emergence of life. 

I love all the seasons, Summers are for exploring, Autumn's are for enjoying, Winter is for resting . Spring is for new beginnings.

They all have good and bad woven into them and they all require work!

It's that time of year. Children settling, festivals sparkling, cosy evenings stretching, glittering frost blooming, warm socks, warm drinks, golden light, and puddle reflections.

And I plan to enjoy it.