Forest School

[EmmaGellerGreen]

Ds's school is just starting forest school. Y3 are all participating now and I have now been told that ds (y2) will be starting next week as part of a small nurture group. He has some sn but no dx and I understand that this nurture group is for children with sn.

I have two main concerns, firstly what are the aims and objectives of forest school and how will success be measured. Secondly how will he make up the classroom based learning that the rest of his class will be doing. Forest school is an afternoon a week, ie 10% of the school week.

Can anyone help?

I don't know how it would work as a nurture group, but our school does a forest type school for all children (nursery through to y6) for one morning/afternoon a week.
They learn loads outside, stuff that they have been learning inside they put into practice outside - e.g. flying aeroplanes they have made - which fly better big, heavy, light, small, long, short etc. Or they are looking in the natural world, finding bugs, flowers, listening to birds, seeing how the tadpoles change into frogs. Growing fruit and veg - all things they could learn about from a book, but so much better in real life. When it rains they see how the mud changes in the mud pit (chemical reactions). They have stories and hot chocolate around a camp fire. When it snowed they were out toboganning - which type of sledge goes faster, which child goes fastest, do one or two children riding together go faster, harder to steer etc.

Thank you. Yes, I agree, brilliant for whole classes! And ds would love all of that.

I am a forest school leader and we succesfully run Forest school with small groups from primary and secondary school nurture groups. Forest school seems to me the perfect nurture group scenario.

I dont know whether the leader doing your groups is a qualified leader, or whether they have tagged 'forest school' onto some outdoor learning? It would make quite a difference imo

A good description comes from the forest school association can be found here

It is a safe child led learning process which helps build self confidence and usually has a positive knock on effect in the classroom. We have seen children grow in confidence and with a small group it is the leaders responsibility to observe each child and guide them into activities which they are inspired by, and which develope the areas where they may be lacking confidence - ie we have had children who are lacking in the confidence to make decisions who are able to lead small groups and direct the building of a camp towrads the end of a series of sessions, children who initially ran around and hit trees with sticks in sessions who were able to sit for nearly two hours focusing on whittling a whistle, children with communication issues confidently telling others how to light fires, etc.

The completely different approach to learning, letting the child set the pace and the direction, whilst safely guided by a qualified leader, plus the huge benefits from working and being in nature have so many positives that I dont think you will be worrying about what they are missing in the classroom tbh.

Thanks, that is useful although I am really concerned about the missed academic stuff. It is "led by" someone who has been on a course but not yet qualified to use tools in the learning. So essentially unqualified?

Can you point me to where I can find aims/objectives and how success will be measured?

I do understand the value of this but not where academic learning will be missed for a significant part of the week.

Forest school is amazing! Building dens, catching frogs, making berry smoothies... Your children will love it and they are lucky to get this amazing opportunity.

Yes I know that. But the rest of his class will not be doing it, so he will miss the classroom based learning. I am happy for him to do it with the rest of his class!

Although all KS1/YR attend FS at our school, we also run nurture groups for small groups in KS2, for children with social/communication difficulties.

FS is a great leveller. The classroom pecking order of academic and sporty disappears when the children are in the woods. There are so many instances when I've witnessed the alpha male playing with a child with SN - something that would never happen in school.

FS gives the children an opportunity to do anything they want to do without electricity, technology or the internet! They climb (co-ordination); they play with natural objects (creativity); they investigate; they learn to communicate; they collaborate; they become more confident.

From an outsider's viewpoint, it looks like a play session. But how many play sessions allow you to climb trees or to look for minibeasts with magnifying glasses, or to play wolves in the woods with weapons made of sticks and string?

I think Forest School is utterly and truly fabulous.

at 6 years old there is probably very little that he is going to 'miss out on' in the classroom, as the literacy and numeracy is compulsory and usually covered in mornings, plus I feel its a mistake to think that education is somehow less valuable if its 'non academic'. Creative thinking, problem solving and self reliance will take your child far further than a soon forgotten class based project on most subjects.

Also, after lunch is only a short period, its not even half a day really.

personal development as well as the practical and physical skills are what we are aiming for. we can only go by the group leaders initial assesments of the childs needs and problem areas, and over the course of the sessions we try to see where their strengths and weaknesses are and guide them towards activities which will help to build self confidence, and then later challenge them once their confidence has grown in other areas. An assesment may only note this kind of personal growth, rather than clearly defined 'aims and objectives'