Branching OutAlice Savery reports on developing & promoting Forest School in Shropshire

In 2002 the Shropshire County Council Forest School acorn was planted. Not an actual acorn, but a seed nonetheless. This was the introduction of Forest School in Shropshire.

Since then, the Forest School acorn has been growing and is now an established oak tree. The Forest Education Initiative (FEI) have defined Forest School as ‘an inspirational process that offers children, young people and adults, regular opportunities to achieve, and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands on learning experiences in a local woodland environment.’ Our roots are firmly based in Shropshire Council’s the Early Years Education and Childcare team, which is part of the Children and Young People’s Service (CYPS), where the acorn was first planted back in 2002 by Julia Perry, Early Years Consultant with Strategic Lead on Forest School. Julia ensured that the soil was rich and the conditions were nurturing, which enabled the seedling to grow and then the sapling to take shape. These roots have spread through many different areas of Shropshire’s CYPS, to establish the stability of the project. Session delivery is provided at our four exemplar woodland sites and by the enthusiastic and dedicated team of Forest School leaders who deliver Forest School sessions at the sites. Training provision helps the approach to develop and expand, promoting independence and growth in self-esteem. Teamwork, compassion and respect are other benefits, as are a desire to learn, physical health and well-being. Children, young people and adults reap the benefits of the Forest School approach by accessing regular sessions on designated sites in Shropshire, some on school grounds, others in woodlands.

International conferenceNow others can learn from the experience because Shropshire Council are hosting their first International Forest School Conference in May. In 2009 Shropshire Council agreed to run a two-year Forest School pilot project, funded by and based in the Early Years Education and Childcare Team. The project commenced with the first dozen adult trainees accessing the Level 3 Open College Network (OCN) Training, which is the required qualification for a Forest School Leader. The training runs for six-nine months, including one five-day course, two days of First Aid and at least six sessions with a Forest School. The Forestry Commission’s West Midlands Forest School Woodland Improvement Grant (WIG), which ran from 2008-10 was a great source of funding for

many, as it enabled groups to bid for funding for training or other areas of their Forest School projects. We were successful in a bid that funded the enlargement of one of the exemplar Forest School sites which became a site for working with older groups. One of Shropshire Council’s four exemplar sites is still on Forestry Commission land, while the others are leased (for no fee) from private owners. They are often in a small patch of wood, which can’t yield productive timber and isn’t big enough for a shoot. We rely on the generosity of the owners who just want the woods to be used. The trained leaders could then deliver Forest School sessions, with one of them the landowner of a wood just south of Shrewsbury. Indeed, that location became the Council’s first exemplar Forest School woodland site. During the two-year pilot project, schools and settings in close proximity to the woodland site were invited to access Forest School sessions. The majority of these were Early Years settings and reception classes, with one

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group working with a challenging Key Stage 2 class. This project was so successful that Shropshire created the permanent post of Forest School Development Officer. Shropshire Council Forest School (SCFS) extends from delivery of sessions through to training and continual professional development courses. This branching canopy of Forest School provision has broadened to now comprise the four exemplar woodland sites; one just north of Shrewsbury, one to the south, one in the west, near Oswestry, and one in the south of the county near Ludlow. Each of these is a designated Forest School site with no public access. Sessions are delivered throughout the academic year and holiday programmes are also being introduced. These Forest School sessions are delivered by the SCFS team. These sites can also be used by Level 3 Forest School leaders based within the school or setting by arrangement with myself. This enables settings to ‘top up’ Forest School provision, which is usually

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Alice Savery, Forest School Development Officer, with Prickle, her ‘pet’ hedgehog

One of Shropshire Council’s exemplar Forest School sites (photo Jim Stephens)

Forest School isn’t just for Early Years groups, teenagers can access Forest School too

A Forest School leader with a group of children (photo by Jim Stephens)

delivered on the school grounds, by accessing the woodland. This can range from accessing the woodland on a weekly basis to once a term. While we work predominantly with early and primary year groups, SCFS have also branched out into the other key stages. The SCFS team regularly deliver Forest School sessions with groups up to and including Key Stage 4. In May 2008, we delivered a pilot project with a small group from the Council’s Tuition Medical and Behaviour Support Service (TMBSS) in Key Stage 3 and 4. This project was so successful – engaging pupils with their learning, raising their confidence and self-esteem, building friendships and respect for peers and adults, as well as increasing attendance, motivation and enjoyment in education – that the service has since made Forest School an entitlement for all their pupils and a successful programme has continued to run since then. The delivery of Forest School sessions by the SCFS team is just the starting point. This is a great way for schools to have a taste of Forest School before embarking fully on their own Forest School journey. Groups access weekly SCFS sessions for a set period of time, ranging from six weeks (half a term) through to a whole academic year. Following this, we encourage school staff to train as Forest School leaders by doing the Open College Network (OCN) Level 3 Forest School Training. Shropshire Council deliver this training three times per academic year and are a member of the Great Britain Forest School Training Network. Forest School has a big impact on confidence, physical well-being and a desire to learn. Early Years groups tend to be reticent when they’re introduced to Forest School, working with an adult only in the space they’ve been shown for the whole of the first session. As the weeks go on, their exploration radius grows until, in just a few weeks, you’ll see individual children independently exploring the site and instigating their own tasks. Confidence varies. At present I have a pre-school group on a Wednesday and a teenage group from a pupil referral unit on a Thursday. One of the three-year-olds has started speaking out at circle time at the end of a session. During the first day he didn’t speak to me at all, and now he will announce this thoughts with confidence and a good level of volume to the whole group. The accompanying

members of pre-school staff noticed his new confidence early on and have also reported that he is slowly transferring this into the rest of his life. Many of our teenage groups start off in the woods with low levels of confidence in themselves and their skills and abilities. We’ve recently seen individuals that used to lack this confidence showing others how to light the fire, or tie a certain knot or use a tool, confident in their ability to pass on the skill they have acquired.

Can do attitudeForest School instills an ‘I can do’ attitude in young people. It is an enabling environment and allows them to develop faith in their abilities and foster positive feelings about themselves. Forest School focuses on small, achievable tasks, and removes the concept of failure.Teamwork and compassion develop organically. A log needs to be moved, but it is too heavy for one person, so help is requested and soon it is offered freely. My Wednesday pre-school group illustrated this wonderfully when they decided to make a stick trail for their animal puppets to follow. This trail evolved into a task that involved the whole group; manoeuvering sticks three times their height, with care and consideration for their peers, until they had created a stick path that took a tour of the whole Forest School site. Groups often find a new respect for their peers and those who struggle in the classroom often flourish outdoors. Desire to learn

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develops because being outside stimulates our intrinsic desire to investigate and experiment. What is under this log? How can these sticks fit together to form a den? What animal has left those prints? Age doesn’t hinder this process of curiosity – three year olds and 16 year olds are equally curious at Forest School. Forest School is not an ‘add-on’ nor a half-day ‘jolly in the woods’, but a vital part of the educational provision for the pupils able to access it. Many groups have found that Forest School a much needed stimulus for children as it gives them something meaningful to write or draw about, for example, their den, their experience. Physical health improves at Forest School as a matter of course. The children are so busy they don’t even know they are doing exercise, digging for treasure, making dens and building more complex shelters. As Sue Palmer wrote in Toxic Childhood ‘greenery is important for lifting the human spirit, and it seems particularly important for children’. Many people feel calmer outdoors, and the same is true for children. In a recent article published by the Forestry Commission it’s written that ‘we know that a walk in the woods can be a real stress-buster’. Richard Louv wrote in Last Child in the Woods: ‘We can now assume that just as children need good nutrition and adequate sleep, they may very well need contact with nature.’ What better way for them to access nature than through Forest School? The next course, which is run in May, has just been announced on the SCFS website. This is a fantastic course that looks at Learning and Development at Forest School through to Practical Skills and Woodland Management. It costs £850 (including a two-day First Aid course) and is based near Shrewsbury, with one night spent in the woods, in shelters. Following the taught element of the course you then go on to establish a Forest School site and provision for yourself. In addition to this OCN Level 3 course Shropshire Council are unique in their partnership with Edge Hill, who enable delegates to build on the work submitted for the Level 3 Qualification and go on to gain credits at Level 4 or 6/7 with Edge Hill University.

Details To find out more about Forest School have a look at our website (shropshire.gov.uk/forestschools.nsf or the website of the Forest Education Initiative foresteducation.org.uk. Contact Alice Savery, Forest School Development Officer, Shropshire Council at alice.savery@shropshire.gov.uk, 07582 002380.

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Forest Education Initiative (FEI) www.foresteducation.org.uk Toxic Childhood how the modern world is damaging our children and what we can do about it. Sue Palmer, 2007, London.Shropshire Council Forest School www.shropshire.gov.uk/forestschools.nsf A walk in the woods is just what the doctor ordered 5.05.2010, news release No: 13556 Forestry CommissionLast Child in the Woods, saving our children from Nature-deficit disorder. Richard Louv, 2010, London

Events

SCFS are holding a three-day International Forest School Conference from 10-12th May in Shrewsbury, with the Thursday sessions taking place at three of the exemplar woodland sites. More information can be found on our website atshropshire.gov.uk/forestschools.nsf, alternatively you can call Sian Wilmot on 01743 254567.

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Activities for ChildrenSome ideas to do at school or home

Children access Forest School throughout the seasons, and learn in the process

The Weird & Wonderful Wood Show in Suffolk in May (14-15, see Diary, p09) have workshops for children. The organisers cut up and sand loads of odd bits of wood (right) so that children can bang or screw them together to make planes, boats, cars and bird boxes. “It gives them a real experience with hammers, nails and screws,” says show organiser Tarby Davenport. “The workshop teaches them the versatility of wood and reinforces the idea of recycling. It is an opportunity for children to get creative with wood.” At the withy workshop (below) children discover how to bend and weave willow, taping their ‘sculptures’ together with masking tape. They often paint them at home to hide the tape. Boys may prefer to make spaceships and jet fighters instead of insects and wings, but everyone loves it.

Extract from a child’s Forest School diary (above). What a classroom (right)!