Forest school only for 'select' children

[Eyelashesrgreat]

Ds in Y3 and his school have recently 'selected' children from his class to go to forest school. The children do this weekly whilst the other children have to stay at school and do work. The children (selected) get to wear their own clothes that day and have treats.

The school did the same thing last year and ds wasn't chosen then. Ds has had a really difficult time recently at school and would have loved to have been selected for this activity. I asked his teacher if all the children will eventually get their turn at the forest school but she has said only certain children can go. AIBU to think this is a bit unfair?

Yep

That's horrible 

On what bass are they selecting children and why??

Similar thing I my DC school. They select children with additional needs or that are struggling at home etc.

If it is the same with you, I think you are BU. I’d it is purely the teachers pets, then YANBU.

I asked another parent yesterday and she said they were chosen due to 'confidence' issues. The children who have been selected though are some of the most confident children in the class. My own ds has suffered with anxiety and low self esteem due to bullying issues since Y2 at the school.

Similar thing happened at my secondary. The kids from deprived backgrounds AND were disruptive in class (so not assessed on home income/ home life alone) were taken on exciting trips to do bowling, water parks, petting zoos whatever and it was never offered to anyone else.
I get that some kids might benefit from treats at school but don't they all deserve a turn or at least an alternative?

I'd definitely be asking for more info on selection criteria. Everyone benefits from time outdoors

Not fair at all. Should be all kids or none. I wouldn’t be at all happy if DDs school did this

That sounds awful!! The children who have been selected are the teacher's favourites, it's a very cliquey school unfortunately.

It’s more likely it’s children who have it written into their EHCPs who need extra support. Perhaps what you are seeing is not the teachers favourites but actually the more high needs children?

Just for a bit of perspective, if my child was in your child’s class, you’d think he was brimming with confidence. He’s not. Being loud and chatty does not always equate to confidence. Throwing this in there because I know my own child has been massively singled out this year because he has lots of stuff going on that none of the other parents would have a clue about.

having said that, I’d be surprised that not all the children get a turn at some point and would think it’s ok to request that.

How is a child that is suffering bullying not eligible for the Forest School?

I can only think you are not privy to the personal details regarding the other kids individual circumstances.

We have this at our school too. It’s for the children with additional needs. Speak to the SENCO if you feel your child should be getting additional support too!

My child gets this... when the list was made, it was the children struggling with friendship and similar problems. On one hand... she really was and now has a lovely group of friends. On the other hand, it would have been nice if they all got to go at some point. Its not fair to the others when they enjoy smores while the others have had maths.

In the school where I taught it was children with EHCP or who were eligible for pupil premium funding. They use the PP funding to pay for the forest school.

I imagine they tell other parents who ask that its for confidence building or whatever because they might not want to "out" those children as recieving pupil premium as some people have a stigma about it

I think you're BU to unilaterally decide your son is more deserving than everyone else. You're not BU reasonable to be annoyed though, it does sound a bit unfair.

In our school we have this for children who get extra funding. No way could schools afford it gir everybody and the extra funding needs to be utilised for the children it’s allocated to.There are other therapies too and it’s entirely fair. Quite often these children miss out on a lot in life that others do, they will have to suck that up on a daily basis. Forest schools run everywhere. If you’re that bothered join a local one.

One of the woodland where I work includes a forest school base. It is really common for schools to bring out small groups of students with additional support needs to take part in activities. Being jealous that your son is not part of these groups is pretty odd, given the reasons that children are chosen.

This happened years ago in the 90s when I was at primary school. The disruptive kids got taken out to do fun activities.

My friend and I decided that the obvious solution was for us to start twatting about at school so that we'd get picked too.

It didn't work.

Equality isn't about treating everyone the same. It's about ensuring everyone gets the same results. If the children being picked are struggling then they need more help/support. It's not 'a treat' it's a recognised teaching method that has found to be helpful for kids with additional needs etc.

Saying that some schools do play favourites or use it as a means to get rid of certain children so it's hard to know if they are choosing fairly.

Op I'd request a meeting with senco and explain your sons struggles and ask he be considered for Forrest school if you feel he would benefit.

I work in a school. We now have Forest school available to all children on a 2 year rolling programme. However when we started we were unable to fund staffing for the amount of time that was needed to give access to the whole school. For those 2 years it was a provision only for eyfs and for target children chosen because they were extremely vulnerable in terms of home life, needed alternative provision due to either learning / mental health / emotional needs - and I’m talking high need here, with fairly extreme issues. It was part of the behaviour/ mental health / learning plan for those children. Don’t make assumptions about the children who have been chosen, you don’t know their context.

We have had to make cuts in provision in other places to be able to afford to open forest school out to more children- it’s not cheap to provide qualified staff to run it- and even if they are school staff you still need to afford to release them from supporting learning elsewhere. Your school would probably love to have more children in forest school but budget may prevent it- school finances are fucked and the decisions around provision we are having to make are frankly depressing.

You could ask the school if they have any plans to expand access. You could, and definitely should, ask what support is available to help your son with his issues- we also ran self esteem groups, friendship groups etc for a wide range of children so there maybe a different type of activity or support he can have.

It could be for those children who get free school meals? Or something like that and the teacher didn't want to say or you'd know who got free school meals. I would just trust they know what they are doing.

Maybe have a little look into what happens at a forest school and take your child to a forest and recreate bits? Or see if there's any private courses you could access.

When I say the children who have been chosen have no SEN issues I am totally correct. It is a very small school and there are 2 children with SEND issues. I absolutely know this, I feel that both times the list was drawn up that it is largely down to select people the teacher likes. I'm not saying my ds is more deserving than others bit just that it's fairer to let everyone have a turn at some point.

You need to speak to the school and find out the actual criteria.

It is usually for SEN children and those with behavioural problems, not a treat for the ‘teacher’s favourites’.

Is it being paid for out of the school’s fund ?