Mama Beech

Many Forest School sessions run within Primary Schools. Trying to keep to the ethos of the pedagogy we know and love while influenced or even pressured, towards doing something very different is not always easy. For those of us who trained while working in education, a career of providing proof of learning is inbuilt. There's an entire philosophical PHD somewhere in the question of whether learning happens without proof! We reduce it down to tick charts, numbers, and letters, and load it as data onto reports and software. Often 'proof' becomes a product, something 'to take home', something tangible that stands solid as evidence of achievement. At Chartham, we don't use Forest School as an extension of what is happening inside. We may offer activities to support what's happening in their themes and topics, and the children themselves frequently bring their new knowledge outdoors and ask questions, act it out, and explore it in a different way. What happens in...

This week we have two days of Skill Training before our 18 FSLI students disband. Some are doing their 6 weeks of planning and delivering sessions this term, others in the new school year  in order to meet the criteria to qualify. A small minority of them have only been to a few Forest School Sessions themselves, the majority have attended with their own children or with classes of pupils, but forging forward to finding your own way to run a session can be daunting - even with children/classes you know! Last week, two of my colleagues on the course delivered their very first Forest School Sessions!  Helen is running sessions with a Year 2 class, while Kalina is working with a class in Year 6. Having supported me very well for over 60 sessions, Helen still says: " Preparing for my first session as a Forest School Leader (in training!) provided a few sleepless nights and a little bit of ‘panic planning’. I had it in my mind that the children might get bored so felt I should give...

I'm spending a lot of time supporting student Forest School Leaders. Well, nowhere near as much as a full-time trainer does, but a lot more than I've ever needed to before! This ranges from phone calls with questions, to emails for confirmation, to me choosing to share articles and information that I come across with people who may find it helpful. The first thing to notice is that their enthusiasm is infectious. A great session with the children, one where there are too many 'wow' moments and great questions from the children to list, so many discoveries and connections you see them make, and even the wildlife seems to have got the memo and showed up on cue, doesn't fill me full or enthusiasm or excitement. Sometimes it's relief! Usually it's a sense of... validation...? That Forest School has proved its worth yet again? I don't know what to call it when everything falls into place perfectly, I feel happy that everything aligned! Satisfaction that what ...

Chatting to student Forest School Leaders over the last couple of weeks reminded me just how flexible we have to be as practitioners. Supporting the delivery of training meant describing how Forest School should be according to the six principles , and brought home how much compromise many of us make when we work in schools. Some students have been tasked with setting up a Forest School in their educational setting, some will be taking over existing provision, some will be joining a Forest School 'team', and some lucky folk are setting up independently and can offer full-blown sessions as they see fit! For most of us, squeezing sessions into a school timetable, ensuring staff have breaks, fitting around staggered lunchtimes, the length of a school afternoon regardless of activity, and not interfering with Maths and English... AND considering the size of the school, one form entry may allow for all classes to have some kind of long session a week, but two or three (or more) form...

I spend a lot of time talking about the benefits of Forest School for children and how effective any and all Outdoor Learning is. In the same way that some people choose to teach Primary and not Secondary, or volunteer with the Scouts or Guides, what makes us as adults choose to provide Forest School?  In a week when student Forest School Leaders were welcomed to our school, it's something I've given some thought to. Were they all willing volunteers? Had any been asked to do the course? Was anyone reluctant to start this journey? Who had experienced this before as a volunteer or participant somehow? Who was walking in blind!? We have two staff members on the course. One has spent almost three school years supporting me outside and for a lot of that time it's been weekly. They have seen Forest School in snow, rain, hail, and sleet. They've sweltered in 30oC plus heat. They've accompanied classes that throw themselves into Forest School exploration, and classes that n...

I know lots of Forest School Leaders are doing a great job of flying the flag for Outdoor Learning. I am biased, but it is a great part of OL and feeds into all others as well as classroom life. I know many FSL have found life within a pandemic was frustrating as sessions were cancelled or reduced, and now that we are emerging into a world with a better understanding of covid, getting children outside has suddenly increased in demand. For all those independent Forest Schools I hope this growing interest leads to a surge in sessions to make up for the lost time and money to your businesses. The children do need you! For all those independent FSLs out there, I hope schools are snapping up your services and making the most of the expertise out there and are bringing it into schools. I also know that neither of these options are that simple in practice. But they are in theory. Parents and schools and other organisations need to be thinking about the summer and planning for the new academic...

Since Covid swept the country there has been a focus on getting children outside. This is a great thing. After years of adults complaining sending children outdoors will 'make them sick' the idea that germs cause sickness and not the weather is finally taking hold! Getting the children outside has led to staggering breaks and lunchtimes, hopefully to more lessons going out into the playground or school garden if they have one. Grab a clipboard and take almost any lesson outside. Get a bit creative and take entire subjects out of the classroom. Use the space to make the learning plan bigger. Assemblies, music, and choirs have all moved out of the building in order to continue - look online and see what has been achieved by relying on outside spaces! There has been a surge in woodcraft and foraging courses, for adults as well as teachers, forest bathing and outdoor yoga has brought mindfulness back to parks and woodland, camping holidays have never been so popular! The human race...