Mama Beech

Most of the time I keep this blog quite light. Generally, I assume I'm preaching to the converted, and the people who pop by and read this don't need convincing that Forest School has many benefits, although occasionally, I do add links to research and bang on a bit about some aspect or another.  There is no real 'aim' of this blog except to document what we do and how. It's a record of tried and tested successes and failures that we've learned from, and a little bit of an explanation as to why we do it at all.  The start of a new school year is a huge learning curve for children. Six or seven weeks away from the routine of school means the children need to re-engage with school life, moving up a year alters expectations, and being a little older assumes a little more maturity, but each class has gone back to the start of being in year 1, or year 2, or year 3, etc, and has a path ahead of them to become settled 'old hands' at being in their year group. S...

Apologies for the lack of blog this weekend just gone. I usually aim to do it on a Friday afternoon - and it sometimes spills into the weekend, but lately, time has been running away from me! With the last of Summer fading away any sunny day feels like it needs grabbing! My weekends are full of housework, laundry, errands, and chores, and when the sun shines the opportunity to ignore it all is very tempting. Of course, it doesn't actually go anywhere, but ignorance is bliss so I spent Sunday at a Flower Farm and have been playing catch up with the hoover and washing machine ever since! Meanwhile, although the new school year doesn't feel very new anymore, there are still a lot of changes and rearranges to accommodate. Forest School is always a work in progress, so developing sites and practice while getting to know new children means a lot of reworking. My two colleagues new to Forest School know the school well but don't know the classes in Forest School, this is a learnin...

In my experience, September is a weird month. It signals the start of a new school year and a new school term. For independent Forest Schools things change, as some children leave to start school, or move schools, Summer Camps are over and new children start, but the weeks and sessions continue as they have done all year round. In School it's almost the same thing, a whole new EYFS, last year's Year 6's  have moved on, new pupils dotted about across the school, a new timetable, some new staff, and an overgrown Forest School to tame. September means change. For those of us who have done little Forest School over the School Holidays, there is also the slow return to the normal routine. To a different pace of life to that of August. Whether you've had a busy Summer or a lazy Summer the alarms were switched off and choices of how to spend each day were almost endless! Every year FSLs in schools everywhere have to adjust to having breakfast within 30 mins of getting up, to l...

I feel like we should break a bottle of champagne over a fire-basket or something (that's not going to happen, I'm not wasting good wine!), but we are now up and running and have three separate, different, Forest Schools on-site! It's taken a while in the planning, and although I'd like to claim it's all part of some master plan, it has simply evolved as Chartham Primary School has embraced Forest School and made the most of the opportunities that have come our way! The children started back at school this week, and all three sites have had classes for full 2-hour sessions. For those who aren't aware, we are a 2-form entry Primary on the outskirts of Canterbury in Kent. Our building was originally designed as a Secondary school and has been adapted for use. It comes with a huge playing field, a car park, a 'School Garden', raised beds, and a strip of woodland around most of the perimeter. Oh, and there's room for the independent Nursery behind our bu...