People sometimes ask us….’but where’s the school’. We’re so used to the idea that school is bricks and mortar. Well here, the forest is our school, but more than that, Forest School is an ethos rather than a place.
The Forest School Association describes Forest School as:
‘a child-centred inspirational learning process, that offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions. It is a long-term program that supports play, exploration and supported risk taking. It develops confidence and self-esteem through learner inspired, hands-on experiences in a natural setting’
The Forest School ethos and principles were agreed by the UK Forest School Community back in 2011.
Principle 1: Forest School is a long-term process of frequent and regular sessions in a woodland or natural environment, rather than a one-off visit. Planning, adaptation, observations and reviewing are integral elements of Forest School
Our sessions take place weekly for some groups and monthly for others and happen all year round, come rain or shine!
Our sessions are planned around the interests, needs and progressions of individual groups and, at times, individual learners. That’s why two groups will never look the same.
Principle 2: Forest School takes place in a woodland or natural wooded environment to support the development of a relationship between the learner and the natural world.
We are very lucky to have a beautiful woodland setting for our ‘home’ site.
We work hard to balance the needs of our forest school with the needs of our forest and try to reduce our ecological impact where-ever possible. After all were are only visitors in the forest, and we need to behave as good guests should, by looking after our environment.
We take inspiration and resources from our natural environment where-ever possible and aim to support children to build positive relationships with nature.
Not everyone can have their own forest and lack of the perfect site should never put anyone off! We have worked with schools to enrich playgrounds and school fields and it is amazing what you can do with even a smaller space.
Principle 3: Forest School aims to promote the holistic development of all those involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners
We are guided by the children we work with on how to best meet their developmental needs. Physical, social, cognitive, linguistic, emotional and spiritual aspects of a learner are all equally important and inter-dependent.
Principle 4: Forest School offers learners the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves
Risk can mean many different things; for some, it is a risk to be themselves, to dress the way they want to, to try to make a friend, to try something where they may fail, to jump from a fallen tree or use a wood working knife for the first time.
We employ a risk benefit analysis approach and we encourage children to become risk assessors for themselves. So whether its asking a new child to come and play or jumping off the tree house, they have the tools they need to see what the benefits could be, what the risks are and how to keep themselves as safe as they can, and to manage the risks that remain.
Principle 5: Forest School is run by qualified Forest School practitioners who continuously maintain and develop their professional practice.
Emma and Pip are both qualified forest school leaders (as well as our other qualifications), and despite finishing our training a few years ago, we have never stopped learning!
Hopefully more of our team will be embarking on their Forest School Leader journey this year and our staff and volunteers will be continuing to access in house training.
Principle 6: Forest School uses a range of learner-centred processes to create a community for development and learning
Our forest school sessions are child-led and that can, and does, take us on many different adventures!
Our planning holds our learners at its centre and we constantly reflect on our practice to ensure we are being guided in the right direction.
But what does our Forest School mean to us?
To us, our Forest School is a place to belong, to call home and to be yourself. It is a community that learns and grows together, where anyone can be the teacher and anyone the student.
It is a place to find peace, quiet and acceptance or to let off steam and shout at the top of your lungs and to still find acceptance.
Our Forest School is what-ever we need it to be.
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