A Forest School Journey

I began my Forest School journey by helping out on a woodland trip with some other staff members and a different group of children than the one I am used to. I really enjoyed it but struggled with the lack of structure as I was used to lesson planning and having very structured days. After this, I decided to apply for the Forest School Leader position at my nursery and was excited to start my journey with my colleague Kathryn.

Before our training week, I was really nervous as I didn’t know what to expect. I enjoyed the week though and realised that the Forest School ethos really worked with my own ideas of EYFS teaching. I also made a group of Forest School friends who I have since gotten to know better and we have formed a helpful and supportive group. I came back to the nursery with lots of ideas and started leading trips to the woods, obviously without any tools or fire.

When I began looking at the portfolio I was really overwhelmed at first. I started doing a bit at a time and started this blog. I really enjoyed learning about different woodlands and getting out into the woods to look for different fauna and flora. I was able to use this knowledge in my sessions to help teach the children about the woods. I started practicing my practical skills on a weekly basis by meeting up with the friends I’d made on my training week and started to introduce bits of this into my sessions too such as knot tying and putting up shelters. I also began researching theories of learning and the Forest School approach and began using this in my Forest School sessions but also in my general day to day practice at nursery.

Our assessment week took place the week before the UK went into lockdown due to coronavirus. It was a scary time and I loved being in the woods and working on my tool use and fire skills. When I finished my assessment week I felt a lot more confident about the practical aspects of Forest School. Sadly I was only back at work one day before the lockdown began. My colleague and I have worked hard during lockdown, creating our Forest School handbook and our policies and procedures. I am now feeling excited and confident to properly start our Forest School sessions when we can!

 

The main role of a Forest School leader is that of a facilitator. They do not teach the children or tell them what to do, rather they provide them with the opportunities they need to learn and develop. This means they spend a lot of time during Forest School sessions observing the children so that they know what they need in terms of development. Each session is planned in advance but is adapted in response to any children’s emerging interests or needs. After each session, the Forest School leader reflects on their practice and is constantly adapting and improving through this reflection.

Another important part of being a Forest School leader is ensuring that the environment is safe through the use of risk assessments and that all of the children’s basic needs are covered. Without this, the children will not be able to reach their full potential during sessions as they may feel unsafe or unhappy.

LDFSP 3.1 Describe how external and internal impacts can impact on social behaviour

The above diagram shows Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This is a model which splits children’s needs into five stages. Each stage must be satisfied before a child can move onto the next. The first four stages are the child’s basic needs and the fifth stage is where a child can learn, develop and grow. Many behaviours can be attributed to the need to satisfy some of these basic needs.

In the table below I will discuss the positive and negative impacts that different factors can have on the behaviour of children.

LDFSP 3.2 Explain how a learners behaviour could impact on own and others learning and development

A child exhibiting negative behaviours will not be learning or developing effectively during Forest School sessions. They may cause disruption to the session and even low-level disruption can impact the rest of the group. In some cases, they may cause harm to themselves or to others in the group. Their behaviour may also mean that the Forest School leader is focussing on them more than the other children which will affect the other’s learning and development, and in some cases, their safety.

On the other hand, if children are exhibiting positive behaviours they will be more engaged in the sessions and will get more from them. Their social skills will develop as they will encourage other children to join in too.

LDFSP 3.3 Evaluate methods of encouraging behaviour that is appropriate at Forest School

The Forest School ethos encourages good behaviour by giving children the opportunity to take risks in a relatively safe environment so that they are less likely to engage in dangerous behaviours. Children are given trust and respect by Forest School leaders, developing their self-esteem and therefore improving their ability to recognise and control their emotions. We must also ensure that every child’s basic needs are met. Forest School leaders recognise that every behaviour has a meaning and may reflect a child’s needs. If a child is misbehaving we can consider the hierarchy of needs from the bottom to the top and try and understand why a child may be behaving the way that they are. Once we understand the reasons behind the behaviour, we can try and help the child.

Please see the link below which is the Behaviour and Antibullying Policy for our Forest School sessions:

Forest School Behaviour and Anti Bullying Policy

I worked together with my colleague who runs Forest School sessions with me at our nursery to create this policy. Please see the link below which is our evidence for how we worked together.

Working Together Evidence – Behaviour Policy

References

Forest Schools and Outdoor Learning in the Early Years by Sara Knight

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs by Saul McLeod

Play has been shown to be extremely important as it helps children to make connections in their learning by thinking in abstract ways, using their imagination, and developing an understanding of how others think and feel. Play should not have a purpose but should be open-ended and focus on the process rather than the end product.

Playing outside is very beneficial to children, promoting their wellbeing and allows them to build on their physical development while working on muscle strength and coordination. It has also been shown that exposure to sunlight can give us a natural boost and therefore have a positive effect on children’s mental health.

in 2004 The Playwork Principles were written by the Playwork Principles Scrutiny Group. The principles are:

1. All children and young people need to play. The impulse to play is innate. Play is a biological, psychological, and social necessity, and is fundamental to the healthy development and well-being of individuals and communities.

When a Forest School leader plans sessions, they are based on the children’s impulse to play. Any learning goals are implemented through play and exploration.

2. Play is a process that is freely chosen, personally directed, and intrinsically motivated. That is, children and young people determine and control the content and intent of their play, by following their own instincts, ideas, and interests, in their own way for their own reasons.

3. The prime focus and essence of playwork is to support and facilitate the play process and this should inform the development of play policy, strategy, training, and education.

Sessions are planned based on individual children’s interests and needs. However, a leader will often direct the session away from the planned activities if a child shows a particular interest in something different. This is where “in the moment planning” comes into effect. During sessions, children do not have to take part in any activities if they do not want to and are free to explore and play in their own way. In my own sessions, I will plan activities and tell the children that they are available. It is therefore up to the individual children to decide whether they would like to take part or whether they would like to do something different instead. Staff will adapt to what the children choose to do.

4. For playworkers, the play process takes precedence and playworkers act as advocates for play when engaging with adult-led agendas.

Forest School naturally includes many aspects of the curriculum, including science, maths, and art. However, sessions are not planned in the same way as school-based lessons. Forest School leaders are interested in the holistic development of the child, not just the learning objectives.

5. The role of the playworker is to support all children and young people in the creation of a space in which they can play.

Often, a child will suggest something they want to do in the woods and it is the job of the Forest School leader or staff members to figure out how to do it. An example of this is a session where children were very interested in We’re Going On a Bear Hunt. They wanted to play “bear hunt” so I suggested using a shelter like a cave and the children enjoyed running in and out, pretending they were bears. This could then be extended to allow the children to try building their own shelters using natural materials.

6. The playworker’s response to children and young people playing is based on a sound up to date knowledge of the play process, and reflective practice.

All Forest School leaders and staff members have up to date training in child development and play. This is from training and from personal development. Forest School leaders are always learning and developing their pedagogy.

7. Playworkers recognise their own impact on the play space and also the impact of children and young people’s play on the playworker.

The Forest School leader evaluates and reflects after returning from each session. When I return to the nursery I fill in a sheet which helps me to consider how the session went and how it could be improved next time.

8. Playworkers choose an intervention style that enables children and young people to extend their play. All playworker interventions must balance risk with the developmental benefit and well-being of children.

Forest School Leaders are constantly risk assessing the area and the activities to ensure that the children can take risks in a relatively safe environment. We encourage the children to push themselves and encourage risk-taking when it benefits their learning and development. An example of this can be seen in the photo below, this child had been enjoying swinging on the ropes and decided to see if they could hang from the rope, using their legs as well as their arms. They were awarded with a large sense of achievement and their physical development benefited too.

Types of Play

There are several different types of play and all of them can be facilitated through Forest School sessions.

Symbolic

This type of play allows children to explore and work on their understanding of concepts, using objects to symbolise things from their experience. In the woods, the children will use natural materials to symbolise people or objects in their play. They often do this with pinecones in our woodlands and like to create “families” of pinecones or build things using them.

 

Rough and Tumble

This is close encounter play through which children can determine their own strength without causing any harm or injury to each other. It gives the children a feeling of exhilaration and helps them to use up excess energy. This kind of play is well catered for in Forest School sessions through running, climbing, and physical games.

Socio-Dramatic

This is role-playing where children may re-enact experiences of a personal, social, domestic, or interpersonal nature. The children may role-play visiting the shops, cleaning the house, or looking after babies. In nursery, this play takes place in our role play area where there is a kitchen and baby dolls. In the woods, this play still takes place but takes more imagination from the children. They have enjoyed playing games such as collecting natural items in baskets and pretending they are doing the shopping.

Social

This type of play is how children learn about the rules of social engagement. It is often linked to socio-dramatic play. During Forest School sessions we encourage the children to work together to complete their goals. An example of this was when we played Hungry Birds and the children needed to work together to find all of the “worms” that were hidden in the area.

Creative

Children are often engaged in creative play, through using their imagination to design and create different things. This can be through making and building physical items or expressing themselves through dance. It can also involve the creation of different games and role-play adventures. In our sessions the children have been very creative, including building houses and shelters for animals, designing pictures on the floor using pine needles and pine cones, and in the photo below, creating a bird nest for the birds after being inspired by the Hungry Birds game we played.

Communication

This is play using language, words, or gestures. Examples of this kind of play at Forest School include play-acting during role-play games, telling jokes, singing, and poetry.

Dramatic

This is similar to Socio-dramatic play except that the events that the children are role-playing are those in which the child is not a direct participator. This includes acting out stories, which is often done at Forest School. The children I take to Forest School love to act out the Bear Hunt story because the environment is similar.

Deep 

This type of play is extremely common in a Forest School session. It is play which involves taking risks to help develop survival skills and conquer fear. During Forest School sessions the children may use tools and fire or conquer their own personal fears such as heights, climbing, and insects.

Exploratory

This type of play involves exploring the environment or items found in the environment. The children in a Forest School session explore the woodlands and manipulate and explore materials through handling, throwing, or banging. An example of this can be seen in the photo below where one of the children was investigating the noises he could make by banging sticks on different things in the woods.

Fantasy 

This is play where the child may rearrange the world and role play things that would not usually happen in real life. This can be found in lots of role-play games that the children create in the woods.

Locomotor

As the name suggests, this is locomotor play which involves children moving in any or every direction. Children love to run around in the woods and the uneven terrain adds a new dimension to this kind of play.

Mastery

This type of play is where children try to master their environment by changing it. It can involve digging holes, building shelters, and making fires.

Object

This is using objects by using hand-eye manipulations and movements. During Forest School sessions this can involve using real tools or using natural objects as tools. Another example can be seen in the photo below where one of the children was making crayon rubbings on the bark.

Recapitulative

This is where children can explore ancestry, history, rituals, stories, rhymes, fire, and darkness. It is where children have the opportunity to access the play of earlier human evolutionary stages. This is captured in Forest School sessions with the use of fire.

 

References

Play Wales

Muddy Puddles – The Role of Play

Forest School Adventure – Outdoor Skills and Play for Children by Naomi Walmsley & Dan Westall

Learning Through Play: For Babies, Toddlers and Young Children by Tina Bruce

There are two main ways to build a temporary shelter using woodland materials. For both of these methods a ridge pole is needed which can be a large stick. This is what decides the width of the shelter. A large number of long sticks are then needed to make the rest of the shelter.

A Frame Shelter

• The sticks are stood in a triangular shape, leaning towards each other. They should be alternated to help them to link and hold together.
• The ridge pole is placed on top of the triangles and can be tied on to make it more secure.
• Both sides can then be covered with smaller twigs and sticks to fill in any gaps.
• Leaves, grass and moss can be added on top of this to make the shelter waterproof.

Lean to Shelter

• This shelter requires two trees which are wide enough apart for your shelter. The ridge pole needs to be longer than the gap between the trees.
• The ridge pole is tied to both trees, using a timber hitch.
• The sticks are then laid against the ridge pole on one side only.
• The sticks can be covered with twigs, leaves, moss and grass to make the shelter waterproof.

Knowing how to erect a variety of different shelters is important for a Forest School leader, especially in this country! The three shelters I describe below are a kit shelter, a low shelter, and a high shelter.

Kit Shelter

This is often the first shelter we would put up in bad weather as it keeps all of our kit dry. The shelter has a drop back to protect from wind or rain and two sticks holding it up at the front for easy access to our kit.

To erect this shelter you first need a rope going from one tree to another. A timber hitch is used at one end and the tarpaulin is threaded through the rope. An overhand knot is used just before you reach the other tree and this creates a loop. The end of the rope then goes around the tree and through the loop. A slip knot is then used to finish the rope. The back of the tarpaulin is pegged to the ground. Two sticks of similar height are then used to prop up the front of the tarpaulin by putting them through the eyelets. A guy rope is attached to the top of each stick using a larks foot knot and the two pieces of rope are pulled separate and pegged to the floor to create tension.

Low Shelter

The purpose of a low shelter is to create a dry space for the children to sit under. It is erected in exactly the same way as a kit shelter except both sides of the tarpaulin are pegged to the ground, creating an A shape.

High Shelter

A high shelter is any shelter that is high enough for us to stand underneath. It can be used to shield a fire from rain. The shelter above was erected in the same way as the kit shelter except it was higher up the tree. Both sides of the tarpaulin were propped up with sticks.

A shelter can also be made much higher, where you can’t reach to tie the knots. To do this you need to tie a heavy knot like a figure of eight  on the end of the rope and then throw it up over a high branch. You can then tie the rope in a timber hitch at a lower point on the tree where you can reach. You need to thread the tarpaulin through the rope before doing the same on the other tree. The tarpaulin will then be up as high as the branches you’ve chosen. This is perfect for over a fire.

Here are the Fire and cooking policies for our Forest School:

Fire Policy

Food, litter and waste water disposal policy

This policy was written by myself and my colleague Kathryn Wilson who is the other Forest School leader at our nursery. Here is our evidence of working together:

Working together evidence – Fire Management

For my first piece of Forest School research, I decided to look at “Impacts of Long Term Forest School Programmes on Children’s Resilience, Confidence, and Wellbeing by Sarah Blackwell”. This study can be found here.

Why was this paper written?

The benefits of Forest School on resilience, confidence, and wellbeing are well known but Sarah argues that much of the research is based on short term Forest School studies. She, therefore, collated a number of studies which were a minimum of 9 months long for her paper. She used findings from Forest Schools, early years practitioners, psychologists and educators from around the world.

What methods were used?

The research used a qualitative method, meaning that non-numerical data was used. The data used was based on educators’ opinions which are subjective and may be biased towards Forest School. As it was secondary data from other people’s studies, Sarah had no control over the reliability of the data. However, it would be very difficult to complete a long term study such as this in any other way as there is no numerical data available.

What were the results?

Resilience

The overall result was that long term Forest School programmes improve the resilience of children. The studies compiled were from two nurseries that are running Forest Schools, a Daily Mail article on playing outdoors and a study on the impacts of nature programmes on children. All of the studies agreed that resilience was improved, based on observing the following in children:

• increased confidence
• being more involved
• being more willing to take risks
• stronger self-esteem
• improved regulation of emotions and impulses
• greater empathy

It was suggested that Forest School develops resilience by providing self-directed learning opportunities for children and allowing them to make their own decisions, as well as helping children to develop positive relationships with others.

Confidence

Again, the overall result was that long term Forest School programmes improve the confidence of children. The two studies compiled here were from research studies based on Forest Schools. They both agreed that children’s confidence was improved, based on observing the following in children:

• being more involved
• being more willing to take risks
• initiating their own ideas
• being more independent
• stronger self-belief
• being more interested in learning new skills

Sarah suggested that Forest Schools help with confidence by giving children the freedom to explore and initiate their own activities. The importance of the role of educators was also mentioned. Educators help to build children’s enthusiasm, encourage those who are feeling unsure and then step back when children are fully engrossed in their activities.

Wellbeing

The overall result was that Forest School programmes have positive impacts on the wellbeing of children. Wellbeing was associated with good physical and psychological health. The studies compiled here were a study on Forest School, one from a nursery that was running a Forest School, a study on children’s physical activity, two on the impact of the natural environment on wellbeing, and a study on the impact of nature on children with ADHD. They all agreed that children’s wellbeing was improved with exercise but not all of the studies were about Forest School.

Evaluation

This project confirmed what we all suspected, that long term Forest School Programmes improve children’s resilience, confidence and wellbeing. The findings were similar to what I have noticed in some of the children taking part in our Forest School sessions at our nursery.

The studies that were compiled were all positive studies and it would have been interesting to see if there were any that argued against Forest School programmes for objectivity. It’s possible that not many of these exist but it would have helped to strengthen the arguments Sarah is making for the benefits if she could have mentioned some of the arguments against Forest Schools and tackled them.

As she mentioned in her own evaluation, the next step would be to collect some primary data on long term Forest School programmes rather than collating data from other people’s studies. However, because all Forest Schools, learners and leaders are very different, it is important to look at studies from different places to get a full picture.