An evaluation of Kent Wildlife Trust’s Extended Forest School Programme

January 2016

Dr Nicola Kemp, Alan Pagden & Georgina Hudson

Executive Summary

This report is based upon research conducted as part of an ongoing academic partnership

between Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU), Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) and two

participating primary schools. In this second phase of the partnership 2 cohorts of children at

the two schools were given the opportunity to attend an extended Forest School programme

which ran over four school terms from January to July rather than the usual six week

programme. Data collection centred on a series of weekly observations of the children by

teaching staff from the school who were each assigned a small group of children to observe

during the sessions. This was supplemented by independent observations undertaken by the

research intern during two site visits (weeks 6 &12) as well as weekly reflections by the

Forest School Leader. Informal conversation about forest school was captured by the

research intern and she also conducted a short interview with one of the Teaching Assistants.

Rather than simply relying upon adult perspectives of the children’s experiences, the children

were encouraged to articulate their own views of forest school through the use of

photography, drawing and conversation with the adults present.

Qualitative analysis of the data showed the positive impact of the programme in terms of the

children’s connections with themselves, with each other and with the natural environment. A

notable feature of this extended forest school programme was the autonomy the children

developed as learners and the ownership they started to take over their own learning.

Equally, it was clear that where teaching staff chose not to engage fully with the sessions then

this impacted on the children’s experiences. The role of adults in the Forest School

environment is a subject worthy of further research. The observations of the participating

children which were at the heart of the data set raise particular questions about what is seen

and what remains unobserved. There were many instances where examples of creativity and

engagement observed by the research intern went completely unnoticed in the teacher

evaluation. This raises important methodological questions for future evaluations. The report

concludes with five recommendations derived from the analysis to support the development

of the KWT forest school programme into the future.

1. Introduction and Context

This report is based upon research conducted as part of an ongoing academic partnership

between Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU), Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) and two

participating primary schools. In this second phase of the partnership 2 cohorts of children at

the two schools were given the opportunity to attend an extended Forest School programme

which ran over four school terms from January to July rather than the usual six week

programme. The two cohorts attended on alternate weeks over the four terms so every child

had the opportunity to attend twelve sessions. Building on a recommendation in the previous

report (Kemp, 2014), accompanying teaching staff were asked to observe the participating

children over the course of the programme. The generation of this observational data was felt

to offer an interesting research opportunity and a successful application was made to CCCU’s

Student Research Intern Programme to fund a small-scale evaluation. The research project

itself took place over a ten week period from May-July 2015. A CCCU funded student

research intern was employed to analyse and evaluate the data collected during the Forest

School sessions. It should be noted that the scope and depth of analysis has been dependent

upon the nature and extent of data collected in the field by others. It has only possible to

analyse the data collected; a point to which we return later.

Any attempt to evaluate Forest School must begin by recognising the current national policy

context in England and the challenges that this presents for schools. Head teachers and

teachers seeking to build into their timetables opportunities for ‘child-centred’ learning of the

sort espoused by the forest school are, arguably, working against the grain of national

orthodoxy; the challenges that they face are complex and multifaceted. The aim of this small

scale study was to take a close look at how some of these challenges are addressed in practice

and to describe some of the processes involved. The study does not seek to test claims about

the efficacy of forest school per se; rather its aim, focussing on a particular case, is to throw

some light on the complex social and bio-physical processes that afford and/or constrain

possibilities for children’s learning in the setting of a Forest School. It asks the questions

what is happening and why?

2. Review of the literature

Research focusing on Forest School (FS) is recognised as being emergent rather than fully

developed (Ridgers et al, 2012). This is unsurprising given its recent genesis. To date the

focus has been on defining the boundaries of what Forest School actually is and on

generating practitioner accounts of experience. This is important work which lays a

foundation of understanding and has put Forest School on the research map. It tells a story of

positive change whereby children benefit in a number of ways. In their Forestry Commission

funded study O’Brien (2009) and O’Brien & Murray (2007) identified eight reported benefits

of Forest School. These include improvements in self-esteem and self-confidence; social

skills, language and communication skills; motivation; knowledge and understanding;

physical motor skills. They also found that practitioners saw the children differently (new

perspectives) and that the children took their experiences home (the ripple effect).

Subsequent studies tend to have built upon this framework of understanding confirming or

contradicting particular aspects (Maynard 2007, Ridgers et al, 2012). Although important,

much of this work has been largely uncritical in its exploration of the territory. Little is

understood about what is happening and why? What is it about Forest School which

produces these benefits?

3. Methodology

As intimated above this was a small scale qualitative study the aim of which was to elicit the

perspectives of different participants in the forest school setting and to map patterns of

engagement across a period of seven months. It was based on an approach developed in the

previous research phase which generated a methodological toolkit for forest school

evaluations (Kemp, 2014). A review of methodologies adopted by other researchers in a

Forest School context had emphasised the value of multiple and diverse methods (Murray,

2003, Davies & Waite, 2005, Kenny, 2010). It had also emphasised the need to give a voice

to “a rather absent group in human geography, namely the children.” (Christensen et al 2014

p.?). As O’Brien & Murray (2007) argue “the voice of the children and their experiences

needs to be a stronger part of any future Forest School Evaluation” (p.254). The toolkit was

then based loosely on the multi-method ‘mosaic approach’ which allows the views and

experiences of young children to be meaningfully captured in early childhood contexts (Clark

& Moss, 2001). The toolkit consists of a series of laminated cards each based on a single

data collection tool (including stills camera, digital sound recorder, written notes, reflective

journals, natural materials from the environment) with recommendations and suggestions

about its use, together with a box of associated equipment. The tools can be drawn on,

adapted and applied according to group and individual interests, needs and project aims. It

recognises the need to be able to respond to activity in the sessions using the most appropriate

tools.

Nineteen children from a mixed year 2/3 group attended the forest school sessions which

were held at the KWT forest school site from January through to July 2015. They were

accompanied by their class teacher, Teaching Assistants as well as a level 3 trained Forest

School Leader who works as a Teaching Assistant at the school. Also present on site were

the KWT Forest School Leader and a KWT volunteer.

Table 1 illustrates the types of data and the ways in which they were collected during the

forest school sessions for this phase of the research.

Table 1: Project Dataset

Type of data How collected Reference in text

Description of children’s

behaviour at forest school

sessions

Weekly teacher observations

Researcher observations

Pre programme evaluation

Post programme evaluation

TO

RO

PRE

POST

Description of forest school

sessions

Forest School leader reflections

Researcher observations

FLR

RO

Accounts of forest school Interview with FS trained

Teaching Assistant

Teacher questionnaires

Interview

TQ

Visual record of forest

school

Photo elicitation exercise (taken

by children)

Children’s drawings

PE

Drawing

Talk about forest school Verbatim notes from forest

school

Talk

Data collection centred on a series of weekly observations of the children by teaching staff

from the school who were each assigned a small group of children to observe during the

sessions. This was supplemented by independent observations undertaken by the research

intern during two site visits (weeks 6 &12) as well as weekly reflections by the Forest School

Leader. Informal conversation about forest school was captured by the research intern and

she also conducted a short interview with one of the Teaching Assistants.

Rather than simply relying upon adult perspectives of the children’s experiences, the children

were encouraged to articulate their own views of forest school through the use of

photography, drawing and conversation with the adults present. The aim was to recognise

that children experiences of places are diverse and will differ from those of adults. A photo

elicitation activity was introduced in week 7 and made available in subsequent weeks in

which the children were encouraged to take photos of their forest school experience and to

talk to the researcher about why they had taken the particular photos. A reflective drawing

activity was also introduced as part of the session in week 7. As the children were allowed

to collect data, some power was handed to them and they were able to make choices, select

their personal areas of importance and to explain their own meaning of the experience.

The dataset was analysed in a variety of ways in order to construct the fullest understanding

possible. As a starting point, data was analysed using the seven aims for the overall forest

school programme (these draw upon Murray & O’Brien 2007). These are: Relationship with

Others; Skills and Knowledge; Ownership/Pride in Local Environment; Self-Esteem and

Confidence; Co-operative Working and Awareness of Others; Attitude towards Learning;

Motivation and Concentration. Subsequent stages of analysis considered individual

trajectories as well as emergent themes across the dataset.

4. Analysis

“…for me, it’s just magic” (Interview Mrs Chambers)

Interestingly, initial analysis of the dataset reconfirmed the pre-existing narrative of forest

school making a positive difference. The weekly post-session reflections provided by the

forest school leader indicate that all seven aims had been met by the end of the programme

with increasingly positive comments in all areas. This was also strongly reflected in the

interview with Teaching Assistant Mrs Chambers who refers to forest school as “just magic”

and in the weekly teacher observations of individual children and pre and post programme

feedback which record a positive pattern of change. Within this narrative there appear to be

three key themes or sub-plots which relate to the realisation of these aims; these emerged

particularly from analysis of the photo elicitation exercise.

Table 2: Themes for analysis

Connecting with others Connecting with the

environment

Connecting with self

Relationship with others Skills and knowledge Self-esteem and confidence

Cooperative working and

awareness of others

Ownership and pride

in local environment

Motivation and concentration

Attitude to learning

4.1 Connecting with others: cooperation and collaboration

“It’s fun playing with friends. It wouldn’t be so fun on your own” (PE Zayne)

It was the changes in social relationships that was a particularly dominant theme in this

analysis. The reflections noted that in the beginning the children were forming ‘cliques’ and

arguing frequently (FLR 5/3/15). Social relations were difficult. At week six (the mid-point)

reflections note fewer arguments and reduced friction within the group. This trend continues

and by the end of the programme the final comment confirms that “the group appear to have

successfully bonded” (FLR 16/7/15). The improved social relationships are also reflected in

comments made by teaching staff.

“…teamwork for them is a really good thing. They learn to work together as a team rather than arguing all the time.” (Interview Mrs Chambers)

Mrs Wells, the class teacher, attributes the improved social relationships to the fact that the

children are mixing more widely.

“I noticed that the children while at Forest School mixed with different children outside of their friendship circles. They also argued less while at Forest School” (TQ Mrs Cole)

There is also recognition that the changes experienced at Forest School are reflected back in

the school environment. “In the woods they all become equal and so when they go back to

school…that remains the same…they respect people for what they are rather than what they

think they should be” (Interview Mrs Chambers)

It is not just the relationships between pupils which were observed to have changed. One of

the teaching staff noted “It was really nice to see Mrs Cole (class teacher) having time to sit

and converse with the children about their lives, likes and dislikes (no pressure on adult or

child).” (TO 4/6/15). The normal relationship of teacher/pupil changes in the Forest School

with a flattened hierarchy and changed roles. These social benefits of Forest School suggest

that there is potential to particularly target children making transitions within their education

– Foundation Stage to Key Stage 1; Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2, and Primary to Secondary.

Existing research has documented the benefits of outdoor residential experiences at these

critical periods of change so this could be an area for development.

Recommendation 1: To target classes making an educational transition emphasising the

socio-emotional benefits of Forest School.

4.2 Connecting with the environment

“It’s nice to climb – I only really get to climb trees at Forest School” (PE Samantha)

Another theme which was emphasised by adults and children alike was the importance of the

connections made with the physical environment. At one level this was simply about

becoming “very comfortable in the outdoor environment” (FLR 18/06/15). Many of the

children were recorded as having a limited relationship with the outdoors at the start of the

programme. Samantha was felt to be “out of her comfort zone in week 1 but by week 8 she

was totally different’ (PRE). There was also evidence of the children’s growing

understanding of the natural environment as reflected in Howie’s explanation to his friend

when trying to build a den “In the wild you don’t use glue you use string and sticky weed”.

(Howie, 4/6/15). During the photo elicitation exercise Harriet chose to take a photo of

‘nature growing’ as “she wants to make other people think about nature.”

Image 1: Nature Growing

The environment inspired many examples of creative and imaginative play as the following

observation of play on an upturned tree illustrates.

The girls used a fallen tree as the basis for their play, first referring to it as a “whale-shark” and then as a “grand kingdom palace” which was under attack by armed soldiers. Julie pointed to the roots jutting in to the sky and said “Look… there’s it’s teeth! I’m going to climb on to its back!” Once at the top of the trunk, one of the children shouted “Help! There are intruders in the palace!” This inspired the other girls to clamber back down the tree trunk and arm themselves with sticks, “we’ll set alarms and traps and fight them off!” The girls found smaller sticks and placed them in to the nooks and crannies of the surrounding trees, “the alarms are all set your majesty”. This game continued for a while, with one child shouting orders from the top of the tree trunk to her “soldiers” below. (RO 1)

Interestingly this was not seen by any of the teaching staff and when told about it, they

expressed surprise as “those girls are usually very quiet.”(RO1). It seems that the physical

environment of the forest school site provides different opportunities for learning and play.

“the children become more creative… because they’ve actually… DONE… you know, they’ve actually been kinaesthetic if you like, if you know, if you want those sorts of words… they’ve actually touched and seen and felt…” (Interview Mrs Chambers)

This creativity is felt to be reflected in the work produced by the children back in school.

The implication is clear: the experience of being in the woodland environment has stimulated

the children in the taught curriculum.

…they’ve written some wonderful poems and they’ve done… things that they wouldn’t do if they hadn’t been in the woods, if they hadn’t heard what goes on and touched what goes on… I mean you just gotta see some of their work but it is just like amazing” (Interview Mrs Chambers)

However, it is important to note here that although there were examples of children’s

connections to the physical environment, these were limited. More data is needed to be able

to build a robust analysis particularly in terms of the baseline position and the changes which

can then be attributed.

Recommendation 2: To develop a baseline assessment of ‘connectedness with nature’ to

be used before children engage with a Forest School Programme. Also to continue to

collect data beyond the Forest School sessions themselves to be able to document what

happens back at school and beyond in the children’s home lives.

4.3 Connecting with self: becoming an autonomous learner

“Julie has blossomed with Forest School” (TO 4/6/15)

The final theme concerns changes to individual motivation, self-confidence, skill and

knowledge. Although the pupils were recognised as displaying high levels of motivation and

a positive attitude to learning from the beginning, these dimensions evolved throughout the

12 week programme. Initially the group is motivated by the novelty of new activities which

are adult initiated. Towards week four it is noted that the children are motivated to practice

and revisit skills and by week eight pupils are initiating their own learning by independently

selecting the activities they wish to participate in. This development of learner autonomy

something which experienced Forest School trained Mrs Chambers recognises is particular to

this extended forest school programme.

The only thing I’d say about this long term thing is as the children become more and

more… take ownership of the forest school ….you’ve got to up your game all the

time. The longer they spend in the woods which is good… it just makes us think

more, makes us learn more as well so that’s a good thing (Interview Mrs Chambers)

This notion of ownership is one which is also emphasised in the FS leader reflections where it

is noted “children taking ownership of the session” (FLR 04/06/15). It is worth highlighting

that this is not an aspect which was observed in the previous phase of the research where the

programme was limited to 6 weeks. The implication is that it is the longer exposure to forest

school which led to this greater sense of autonomy and ownership.

Recommendation 3: To develop an extended Forest School Programme (12 weeks+)

with documented benefits for schools to offer as an alternative to the 6 week programme

4.4 The role of adults

Although the focus of the research was on children’s experiences of Forest School, the data

clearly highlighted the role teaching staff play in affecting this. The following case study of

Mrs Cole illustrates how challenging some members of staff found the experience.

Mrs Cole is an established member of the teaching staff. She identified herself as “a bit of a

sceptic” at the beginning of the programme and although she recognises some benefit by the

end (for those who find school work a challenge), she voices her concern that “some of the

more academic children have not enjoyed the weekly experience as much.” When speaking to

the research intern she discussed the need “to play catch up” (RO1) after a day out at Forest

School although she records a session as “a welcome break from testing” (TO 21/5/15).

However, although she recognises learning takes place at Forest School it is not the same as

the learning she values in her classroom role. This is evident in the following comment.

“The classroom needs to be a more structured environment where a more formal learning ethos is required to ensure an educational pen and paper outlook. Forest School is more children-led rather than adult” (TQ)

This last statement is telling as it illustrates her discomfort with the child-led pedagogical

approach of Forest School. Indeed, a comment from one of her colleagues emphasises how

difficult she found her changed role at Forest School. “…[it’s] very good for [Mrs Cole] to

observe and participate with activities rather than controlling. Different boundaries allowed”

(TS PR 3). She was noted as ‘choosing to stay on the picnic bench’ (RO1) during free play

and did not always join in with activities. As well as struggling with her change of role, it is

clear that on a personal level she found the physical environment of Forest School

challenging. “The weather! The mud! The soggy socks and wet feet! The toilet! (TS PR 1).

Her ambivalence about the programme is reflected in her depersonalised conclusion

“everyone believes it has been a worthwhile experience.” Unwilling to give her own opinion

she issues a collective response.

The research intern noted on her first visit that teaching staff were unsure of the observation

process, some asked for guidance whilst others asked for examples of what she wanted to see

in the data. Staff were unaware of the forest school prompts at the bottom of the observation

sheets and were not confident in what to look for when observing the children, resulting in an

unwillingness to participate in the sessions.

If teaching staff are choosing not to engage fully with the sessions then it clearly affects the

efficacy of the programme for the children. There needs to be an understanding that the

learning is valuable and that the school curriculum can be delivered beyond the walls of the

classroom. In the previous report a key recommendation was the need to develop outdoor

learning/forest school CPD for teaching staff to increase their confidence and self-efficacy.

The fact that all staff have had Forest School CPD as part of their in-service training suggests

that more targeted CPD is required which can explore the curricula connections.

Recommendation 4: Develop targeted CPD session to explore the curricula connections

either by phase (KS1,2, Foundation) or by subject area (particularly focusing upon the

prime subjects of mathematics, literacy and science).

5. Discussion

5.1 Forest School as Unbounded Place

The idea of boundaries seems an important one in understanding the experience of Forest

School. The preceding analysis strongly suggests that it is the unbounded nature of Forest

School which is fundamental to reported experiences of it; unbounded in two distinct but

mutually reinforcing senses. Firstly, the physical environment of the forest school site itself

is vast and literally without visible boundaries. The physical extent of the Forest School site

means that it is a place of unlimited possibilities. It is this “innate potentiality” (Olwig, 1989)

of the natural environment which seems to be particularly important to the forest school

experience for many children. Secondly it is unbounded social space where usual classroom

rules and behaviours do not apply. The unbounded nature of the physical environment is

reflected socially in the sense that the normal boundaries of rules and behaviour expected at

school do not apply. There are very particular rules and behaviours associated with forest

school but these contrast sharply in a number of ways with those expected in the classroom.

Firstly they are explicitly expressed by the session leader rather than implicit; something to

be worked out. As MacLure et al (2012) argue in the classroom “…children need to do

interpretative work to understand what they are expected to do, or refrain from doing”

(p.458). This is not the case at Forest School. Secondly they are concrete rather than abstract.

They relate to particular risks (getting burnt by the fire) and include specific instruction

(never walk in the fire circle); thirdly, they are consistent rather than changing.

We want to suggest that the physical and the social unboundedness are mutually constitutive

and can be experienced as a virtuous cycle, particularly by children who find the imposed

boundaries of school challenging. However, the reverse can be true. For some, the removal

of known physical boundaries is experienced as a threat rather than an opportunity and Forest

School is equated with a loss of control, purpose and order in both the physical and social

spheres. Equally, in some cases the dominance of pre-existing social relationships prove so

resilient and powerful that the physical place of Forest School has little impact.

5.2 Limits to the data

Whilst the above discussion starts to explore why Forest School might have such an impact

on children and their connections to themselves, each other and the physical environment it is

limited. The observations of the participating children which were at the heart of the data set

raise particular questions about what is seen and what remains unobserved. There were many

instances where examples of creativity and engagement observed by the research intern went

completely unnoticed in the teacher evaluation. This raises an important concern about

observation as a tool for evaluation. In spite of being asked to observe using the identified

Forest School aims as prompts, the focus for teacher observers was behaviour management

issues. This highlights the truism that who you are affects what you see. There were benefits

from teaching staff taking on the role of observers but more guidance and support is needed.

Recommendation 5: To provide more targeted observation sheets for teaching staff and

to spend time briefing/debriefing and discussing observations.

6. Summary of recommendations

Recommendation 1: To target classes making an educational transition emphasising the

socio-emotional benefits of Forest School.

Recommendation 2: To develop a baseline assessment of ‘connectedness with nature’ to be

used before children engage with a Forest School Programme. Also to continue to collect

data beyond the Forest School sessions themselves to be able to document what happens back

at school and beyond in the children’s home lives.

Recommendation 3: To develop an extended Forest School Programme (12 weeks+) with

documented benefits for schools to offer as an alternative to the 6 week programme

Recommendation 4: Develop targeted CPD session to explore the curricula connections

either by phase (KS1, 2, Foundation) or by subject area (particularly focusing upon the prime

subjects of mathematics, literacy and science).

Recommendation 5: To provide more targeted observation sheets for teaching staff and to

spend time briefing/debriefing and discussing observations.

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