Forest Schools

[PixieDoodles]

Hi all,
I am taking my Forest School leaders award and I was wondering if any parents had any experience of Forest schools and would answer a few questions for me please-

1)What did they think of Forest schools?

2)Is there anything they would change about the sessions?

3. Did they children enjoy the sessions?

4)Any Good and bad points about forest schools

5. any other comments?

Many thanks for reading

I asked this when I did my leader's course last November and got some great quotes for our brochure!!

We have just done our first 6 days taking the children in the woods (for our portfolios). LOVED IT!!!!! and again!

It was brilliant watching children making slides and jumping around, enjoying themselves, playing hide and seek, etc.

It is really hard work though - portfolio not finished yet (and there are 3 of us contributing to it). Final assessments in November.

Is your county hot on Forest School? We're one of the first schools in ours to introduce it. It's SO exciting!

(If you need any info about what we've done for our portfolios so far, just ask!)

Can i ask a question? Are you urban? or even suburban??

The reason i ask is that it has been introduced at our school and alot of the parents are a bit as it's very rural here (alot of the parents are farmers) and they see that there's no need to run about in woods after school in a village primary.

But if i'm correct it's not just mucking about in woods is it and drinking hot chocolate? It's about using the outdoors to help with maths, literacy etc. Have i got that right or is it just about going a bit 'swallows and amazon' for inner city kids?

Well I haven't had experience but I have had a look a round to see if theres one near me as I love the idea. I'm in a Norfolk village so pretty rural. I guess the difference between me and some of the other parents here is that I just have a back garden whereas a lot of them have land and space (farmers/liverys etc)

Sorry to hijack your thread to ask another question but having just moved back from NZ -I'm fascinated by forest schools. Are there any in the Somerset area that you can direct me to? Cheers

Sorry to hijack your thread to ask another question but having just moved back from NZ -I'm fascinated by forest schools. Are there any in the Somerset area that you can direct me to? Cheers

Rollacoasta- thanks for your reply! Im really excited to get strted any portfolio help would be gatefully recieved- Ive no idea how its going to be or what evidence I need to start collecting! My email is [email protected] Thank you

I'm inner city- Birmingham, but my local school are very into outdoor learning and we have quite a few Birmingham forest schools, so hopefullt the support will be there.
Training- Im training with Archimedes www.forestschools.com Its not cheap, but its an investment in my future! ;)

MomBombadil Its much more than running about and drinking hot chocolate lol! Its about building self esteem, team work. You can do all types of lesson- literacy, numeracy, Knowledge and understanding, science- all of them really It can be linked to the curriculum.

A quote from Forest schools 'By participating in engaging, motivating and achievable tasks and activities in a woodland environment each participant has an opportunity to develop intrinsic motivation, sound emotional and social skills.These, through self awareness can be developed to reach personal potential.' and its lots of fun too! ;) As you can see Im a BIG fan lol!

Thanks everyone for you messages far!

Hi just finished my Level 3 and 1 year of delivering sessions to Y1/2/3 if I can be of any help

I worked in one as a teenager. Exciting but tiring. What I was left wondering was, can forest schools accommodate children in wheelchairs or who aren't so physically able?

does anyone know,are there any in north hampshire?!
dd would just love it!

Pixie - I've sent your e-mail address to my school a/c and will e-mail some stuff from there as it's on our network.
We did our training with Archimedes as well, in Hemel. Have you done the first aid yet?

bmdafl - we nearly (!) had a boy in a wheelchair joining Y2 next year, and decided to buy one of those big three wheelers. I think that would have got through the mud. Anyway, luckily don't have to jump that hurdle now!

I'm a Governor at a Forest School - and yes, in our case the area used is wheelchair accessible (we have a child with complex needs). I've observed many sessions - the children adore it, and feedback from the teachers is all very positive. One interesting aspect of the feedback is that often the usually more challenging, less focused boys seem to get the most out of it - they perform much better in an outdoor environment.

My dc are at a Forest School - for the last year they have been going to the same woods weekly and have really enjoyed it all - bar a few weeks where it was about zero degrees and snowing and their little faces started turning blue - they did huddle in the emergency shelter to keep warm!

1)What did they think of Forest schools? Think they like it - are sometimes a bit reticent to go as they are still in reception so get a bit tired every now and again but once they've walked there from school they forget about it and get on with the activities.

2)Is there anything they would change about the sessions?
Nothing I can think of

3. Did they children enjoy the sessions? Yes - from what I can gather its pretty child led so they all get to do whatever they fancy - enjoyed toasting marshmallows on the fire too.

4)Any Good and bad points about forest schools
I really like the initiative and think it offers a different environment in which to learn and develop.

5. any other comments?