Forest School Jo

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...