Forest School at Broomhill

Must we always teach our children with books? Let them look at the stars and the mountains above. Let them look at the trees and the flowers on Earth. Then they will begin to think, and to think is the beginning of a real education.’  – David Polis

‘Learning beyond the classroom’ is so important to us at Broomhill and a great place to develop this is through our Forest School sessions.

The Forest School Vision

A Forest School is a long-term outdoor education process that is holistic and learner-led. It allows children to develop themselves through healthy engagement with risk, problem-solving and self-discovery, all within a natural environment in a hands-on and thoughtful manner. All forms of outdoor education are valuable, but Forest Schools have their own philosophies and ethos that benefit children in unique ways.

Forest Schools are delivered through several regular sessions over an extended period of time – ideally weekly over at least a year, to incorporate different seasons. Many Forest Schools are aimed at primary school age children, pre-schools and nurseries, but sessions are highly beneficial for teenagers as well.  Although some Forest Schools are stand-alone, some state and private schools may use funding to employ a Forest School practitioner to run sessions for their pupils throughout the year.

Forest School is an innovative educational approach to outdoor play and learning. The philosophy of Forest Schools is to encourage and inspire individuals of any age through positive, hands-on learning in a woodland environment. Children participate in engaging, motivating and achievable tasks helping develop their personal, social and emotional skills, including:

• confidence – communication skills
• raised self-esteem – problem solving
• independence – teamwork
• imagination – self-discovery

The vision of Forest School is to enable each participant to have the opportunity to develop themselves in an inquisitive manner and have a positive relationship with the natural world. Forest School places an emphasis on self-reflection, which equips learners with emotional and social skills that can stay with them into adulthood and permeate into other areas of their life.

What makes Forest School different to other forms of outdoor education – such as outward-bound days, general outdoor lessons, bushcraft workshops or groups such as scouts – is that practitioners adhere to principles which are agreed by the UK Forest School community.

Benefits of Forest Schools

The benefits of Forest School are linked to the long-term, regular sessions, and echo the holistic development aims in the six guiding principles. Research has shown that children can benefit in a multitude of ways ranging from confidence to social, emotional, intellectual, physical and language development (Murray & O’Brien, 2005).

Case studies have shown children can:

• Develop self-regulation skills.
• Cope with and learn from failure.
• Build resilience (the skill of coping with risk and failure).
• Gain a sense of achievement.
• Increase motivation and concentration.
• Improve problem solving.
• Expand their vocabulary and communication skills.
• Feel empowered and have new perspectives.
• Build positive relationships with adults and peers.
• Have overall improved wellbeing and mental health.

Forest School can increase a child’s confidence and self-esteem through exploration, problem solving, and being encouraged to learn how to assess and take appropriate risks depending on their environment. The use of learner-led outcomes means information is retained better and also generally increases curiosity and motivation to learn in general. This motivation can have a positive impact on attitude to learning in school.

Previously ‘quiet’ children have been shown to improve in their confidence and communication to work with others, and children who were initially un-cooperative learnt that sharing and working together had positive consequences – and increasingly did this (Murray & O’Brien, 2005). Sessions with mixed ages or year groups can allow interactions between older and younger children that  do not normally come into contact  – allowing opportunities for children to learn from and teach each other.

Learners also gain a respect for nature through many small interactions and noticing changes around them through the seasons. Providing students with an opportunity to appreciate the wider, natural world encourages a responsibility for nature conservation in later life.

Forest School Leaders at Broomhill

Mr Langford completed Level 3 Forest School Leaders course in 2016.  One of the first tasks he completed was to create a Forest School area on our school field that the children – across all year groups – access throughout the school year … come rain or shine!

We certainly don’t let the rain get in the way. Any excuse to make a wonderful, warming campfire with hot chocolate and marshmallows!

What Forest School is like at Broomhill

Although Forest School sessions are led by the children’s curiosity and interests, we also have a core Forest School curriculum that ensures progression throughout the school.  Mr Langford currently runs sessions throughout the year so that every year group has the opportunity to experience ‘learning beyond the classroom’.

Activities include:

• den / shelter building
• lighting fires
• group games
• knot tying
• tool work
• food preparation
• life skills – cooking, survival