Surely you have noticed. The environment faces significant challenges, and we must protect our planet and promote sustainability. Suppose we want to secure a healthy and prosperous future for ourselves and future generations. In that case, we must prioritise protecting the environment and living sustainably to ensure a healthy and successful future for ourselves and future generations. So how can we create the conditions at Forest School for children to enjoy the outdoors and forge their connections to nature?
The world is constantly evolving, and it's crucial to empower our children with the knowledge and skills to be the driving force of positive change for a better future. Forest School has a significant role in encouraging children to embrace nature and establish a sustainable future for all. In addition, we increasingly understand how the great outdoors can aid our mental health.
Forest School Ethos
Forest School is a way of working with people in an outdoor environment. It is not a specific place but a methodology and an ethos.
To summarise:
1. It is an ethos that promotes self-esteem, creativity, confidence, and independence.
2. Long-term sessions that build on the needs and development of the child. It is not a one-off day in the woods.
3. It enables supported risk-taking, child-centred learning, exploration, and play.
4. It works in various settings and is not exclusively based in schools. It can be in an outdoor setting.
The philosophy, not the physical environment, is necessary for forest school. Woods offer an ideal learning environment because of their diversity. Still, applying the Forest School ethos to promote child-centred learning in other natural settings, such as the beach, is possible.
Forest School aims not to teach children about green issues and sustainability. Instead, it is about childhood, freedom and connection to the great outdoors. It brings children into contact with nature when modern concerns about risk and safety may otherwise limit their access to learning and roaming in the wilderness.
Before I rave about Forest School too loudly, let me provide some context. First, forest School is relatively new; educational research needs to be better funded, and many different circumstances shape a child's achievement. However, it is tough for researchers to control all the variables constituting a child's healthy development. That said, a vast body of scientific research shows the benefit of natural green spaces for mental health.
What is known about the impact of forest schools?
· research established people in Norway and Kentucky opted for environmental careers based on positive experiences and childhood connections to nature.
· Research in the UK (United Kingdom) into Forest Schools, and their impact on young children, found positive impacts on children regarding social skills, confidence, communication and language, motivation and concentration, physical skills and knowledge and understanding.
· A study investigating life stress and rural children discovered that children with regular access to nature were better able to deal with stress in daily life than those without.
Developing this relationship with the wilderness in early years might bring about positive results for children's mental health and impact their future and how they act with the environment. In addition, as children are future policymakers, it is appropriate to enable them to have positive experiences with the environment to inform better decision-making for future generations.
Creating an environment everyone can access
Spending time in nature helps promote positive attitudes around sustainability, and Forest School can support this. However, is this likely to effect meaningful change if not all sections of society can access it?
The outdoors isn't accessible for all. According to Natural England's The People and Nature Survey 2020, you are less likely to go in the great outdoors if:
The People and Nature Survey for England: Adult Data Y1Q1
· You are on a low income
· You don't have a degree
· You are unemployed
· You have a long-term illness
· You are from an ethnic minority group; the outdoors is not everybody's natural experience, and not all families can access it as a part of their day-to-day reality.
Here are five ways to make Forest School more accessible to the masses:
1. Does the Forest School statement "there is no bad weather, just bad clothing" sound appropriate? But what if you do not have the money to purchase an outdoor kit? as these things come at a high price. Likewise, providing waterproofs for your children will only be a reality if you can afford to put food on the table. So how can we ensure every child has the gear they need to focus on learning and not get distracted by the weather?
2. Outdoor knowledge. Only some have the opportunity to gain an understanding of the great outdoors. Being frowned upon for not knowing the names of plants or trees will exclude people.
3. Transport. Consider transport costs; families on a low income cannot access Forest Schools. Can you travel to where participants are based or within walking distance of the school?
4. Be careful of stigma. Surviving socially for young people is essential. If their need to fit in with their friends is clashing with the aims of your outdoor session, do not blame them. Spending time outdoors might be alien to them; it could take time before they feel comfortable. Keep talking to them, and you will get there.
5. Procedures. Do your procedures mean that participants must identify themselves as low-income? Setting up systems to minimise poverty stigma is essential. For example, only ask for the filling in of forms in front of other families as this can be embarrassing for children.
Now that we have contemplated what Forest School is all about and how we might get people to believe it, let's think about the activities we can do to make Forest School memorable.
Forest School is fantastic for developing physical motor skills, self-confidence and emotional awareness of the natural world. The activities in the woods can be applied to the national curriculum, whether it is learning about shapes, exploring science around the fire, or learning the meaning of words through forest school stories. The outdoors is the ideal place to ascertain how concepts in the classroom can be applied to the outdoors.
It is helpful to be aware that most forest school leaders prefer to keep the time spent in the woods dedicated explicitly to the Forest School principals, which means you stick with something other than the national curriculum. Unfortunately, this issue is often contentious!
Maths
3D shapes with nature - understanding shapes
You need sticks, masking tape, leaves, twigs, and other materials.
Teaching: Put the children to get into small groups. Explain to the children that you will produce 3D shapes out of natural materials they find. Ask them to name 3D shapes (cube, cuboid, triangular prism etc.). Using sticks and tape to demonstrate how to make a square. Allow children in their teams to choose a shape they want to make. They will turn their 3D body into a bug hotel for insects and minibeasts. Let the children have free time to locate their twigs and sticks. Once their bodies are complete, get them to fill them full of smaller twigs and leaves and place them somewhere for the bugs to move in.
Outcomes: Identify and revise 3D shapes. Allow children to make choices and understand shapes' different properties and parameters.
Lesson idea for sustainability
Ways to teach sustainability at Forest School:
1. Is a rotting log dead?
By teaching the earth's natural cycles, you will inspire children to see the world differently. For example, point out a rotting log on the forest floor and explain how it is home to many small beasts, fungi and things too small to see. As they feast on this essential food supply, the soil is created, fostering more trees' life. Remove the rotting logs, and there are no more live trees. Nothing is wasted.
2. Celebrate the rain
Use wet days as a reminder of how rain is needed to make the forest so green. Explain how light is necessary, too, and remind them that trees are competing for light and working together, using nutrients we don't see to support other forms of life.
Observing the child in Forest School
You will want to observe the children to understand if your Forest School sessions are practical. Establishing a baseline of their skills and their next steps. You can then use this guide for subsequent sessions. Things to consider:
· The child's engagement with activities. Are they capable and enthusiastic? What skills are they demonstrating or lacking? What are their attitude and concentration like?
· The child's well-being. Are they concentrating? Are they feeling happy or feeling sad? Do they want to engage or not? How do they express what they are feeling? Are there moments of discomfort?
· How does the child interact with others? Is the child considerate of their peers? Does the child lead or support others? Does the child disrupt the group?
Consider what you observe and how it varies from what you see from this child in the classroom. You will start to understand how children thrive in the outdoors.