Mama Beech

Earlier in the year, I wondered aloud - well, in print - why Forest School isn't automatically offered as an add-on to teacher training. I know of a few universities that organise visits to sessions, and even one or two that buy in extra training and regularly send the students to a session to participate, not just observe, but it isn't standard practice. Whether Covid is on the rise, mutating again, or slowly dying out, in this post-lockdown world getting children outside as much as possible is the healthiest option! Outdoor learning has proven time and again that it promotes well-being and increases positive mental health , as well as promoting physical health . With the new GCSE in Natural History on the horizon Secondary Schools may well find embracing Forest School an easy way to introduce the subject. Of course, Forest School is not yet embedded in all Primary Schools, those that have it may well find their pupils at an advantage when choosing such a GCSE a few years aft...

When I worked in London immediately after Easter came Summer Term.Term 3. In two halves. Now I work within Kent and this is the dawn of terms five and six. It's the same time period, it's the same season, and it's the same chaos across all education. If you work in a school your year is divided into six no matter what. You are technically at work nine months of the year, but you squeeze in twelve months of work during that time! Summer Term(s) feel the easiest. You've had your class for two-thirds of the school year and you've all got to know each other and the routine. no longer does the commute to school and the drag home happen in darkness. Everyone and everything seems more cheerful. Somehow, in our perspective, this overshadows the end of year reports, school journeys, SATs, pending staff changes, school fetes, sports days, parent evenings, leaver's concerts, parties, and the emotions of year six children getting ready to move on... Forest School remains co...