Forest School Jo

To fully understand how children learn, we need to understand how they experience that learning. A lot of what we as adults have learned in life feels inate. Most of us don't remember being taught to walk or talk, we don't necessarily remember being taught to hold a pencil or crayon, or how to wash ourselves. We just 'know' these things.  Yes, for some of us, these skills were trickier than others, but if we have 'mastered' them, we do them without a second thought.  We never had planned 'lessons' in tidying up, most of us started when we were small by putting things back in a toy box, hopefully as a game! Yes, it may have been a struggle once putting things away ceased to be fun, but we all understand the concept - even if we're not good at it! I appreciate there are factors surrounding something this' simple' which means even for us adults there is a vast scale of who does and doesn't do this well...! In education, we go through waves o...

The ice that kicked off the start of the year hasn't returned, but the thaw created sodden ground, and persistent rain has added to the mix. Mud is everywhere! Fighting it is impossible, so we work with it! Lets start with the obvious: Mud kitchens.  A staple of Forest Schools and many a playground. They come in all different sizes and shapes, from a bag of pots taken into a the wood or pans used in a dig pit, to beautiful kitchen replicas with all mod cons.  I've always found ANY table top works just as well as a kitchen 'design', and pallets stacked on top of each other, tied or nailed together, get as much use... or maybe more. Our established, slightly battered, and much loved mud kitchen (Top Pic) is well used, a little battered, but sturdy as it was built out of pallets. There are additions that have given it a prep table to work on, and a serving counter (Middle Pic), for taking orders and handing out McMud Burgers at McParkside, or lattes from cafes, and any so...

The beginning of this year sparkled into life with frosty mornings, white-dusted grass, low-hanging mist, crisp air and a new job! Having spent six years building Chartham Forest School up from basic provision to 3 developed sites, becoming training hosts, and providing sessions for the community, it was time to move on. So here I am at Parkside in Canterbury, a mere 30 minutes away, an weirdly, despite being much more of a city school, it's a place with much more actual woodland!  The school is ready to build their own reputation, and it's not from scratch. There was a very good FSL in place up until Summer 2025. The gap over the next 6 months took a toll, like any garden left untended, the result is a lot of tidying! So here we are, a fortnight into a new Forest School journey! The weather has thrown everything at us. Luckily, this corner of Kent missed the outskirts of the winds Storm Goretti battered the Channel and South West with, and the snow that has landed frequently h...

Part of the arrangement for volunteers is pretty much equal time off to time working. Which is always welcome! This year, the couple who are hosting us have extended the vacate date because they do not need the rooms back until next weekend. Work, family, and life commitments mean that we are all drifting back home on different dates, but most of us have an extended stay which we aim to enjoy as much as possible! Sadly, the first of our number, the wonderful Robyn had to leave on Saturday. We all had a very local day as although the storm had passed, the sea was still a little choppy and trips to other islands were not appealing! We all went to the Quay to see her off, if you'd like to see what activities she gets up to, please checkout Spread your Wings with Robyn  on Facebook. We are going to miss her smiley face and drive her nuts with WhatsApp photos of what she's missing!  After that the four remaining volunteers wandered over to the beach to watch her ferry depart. We re...

Many of you will have watched the David Attenborough TV series Wild Isle . A beautiful in-depth exploration of the British Isles and its surrounding seas. It made it clear that the wildlife, ecological balance, and therefore the life led on these islands is facing decimation. Within the school curriculum there are pockets of learning regarding ecosystems, flora, fauna, pollution, and sustainability, which aim to explain what they all are before the class move on to the next subject. However, the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and with the current predictions perhaps these lessons need to be a constant.  In Forest School we provide the opportunity for that theory to be seen in practice, week in and week out. Children are exploring and observing the natural world, encountering wildlife, watching life cycles and food chains play out, experiencing season changes, and are encouraged to support and preserve the environment they are in. Sadly, for most child...