The original concept of Forest Schools came from Sweden,
they were first implemented there in the 1950’s, but are now used
worldwide.The philosophy behind it
believes that children's contact with nature and the natural world is a very
important factor in their development.
“A study done in Sweden over a 13 month period found that
children located in urban environments were much less happy than those
attending forest school kindergarten in a countryside environment. It appeared
the main reason was due to the larger range of choices present for play in nature,
children played for longer amounts of time, with less annoyance of each other
compared to the children of the city kindergarten.” http://www.forestschools.com/a-history/
"Before the urbanisation of the nineteenth century it
was not necessary to create formal links between education and the outdoor
environment. Children spent large amounts of time outdoors as part of normal
life, and the skills and knowledge acquired there were life skills often
related to the food economy, or for the privileged minority, leisure skills
(Heywood 2001:23,158)" (Knight,2009, p2)
The development of forest schools in the UK began around
1993 when teachers and students from Bridgewater, Somerset visited a Denmark on
an exchange visit. They were inspired by the emphasis on outdoor activities and
they brought their inspired visit back to the UK and shared their experiences.
They actually went on to set up their own forest school within their college
for children of students.
Outdoor learning is now being seen very much as a great
natural development of children, it addresses the holistic development of a child.
It also allows children to take risks and develop self-awareness,
self-confidence, empathy and social skills. Whilst in the forest children are
allowed to develop their own ideas, make decisions and solve problems. In the
forest children are developing at their own speed and are gaining awareness of
the outdoors and the environment.
"Being outdoors brings with it a new set of rules and
guide lines for children to adhere to, although it should be stressed that too
many rules will hinder the freedom and opportunities to explore that the
children so benefit from.” (Constable.K, 2012, P14)
Forest schools are a
useful, innovative and inspiring approach to learning to children of all ages
and abilities. They allow children to develop and improve communication skills,
self-awareness skills, empathy and independence. It also promotes a positive
mental attitude, confidence and self-esteem. Forest schools allow time for
social interaction and improving emotional intelligence, it also enables
learning about the environment. Forest schools are beneficial to children of
all ages, particularly early years, disabled children and children who may not
be succeeding in school.
Forest schools actually meet all of the requirements set out
by The Welsh Assembly Governments ‘Foundation Phase’, they can also actually
allow children to earn an OCN Level 1 in Basic Practical Forest School Skills.
This may be the only qualification some children get whilst at school.
"In addition, Forest School meets a variety of Government
Objectives for “Healthy Living”, “Every Child Matters”, and “Inclusion”.
Specifically, Forest School Programmes meet the following WAG strategies and
policies:
Activities that can take place during Forest school can
include:
Nest-building
Flower and tree challenges
Adventure books
Leaf identification tasks
Mini-beasts challenges
Language development–poems, stories etc.
Mud-tasks
Whittling
Den-making.
This video gives you an insight into how forest schools can
be implemented within Early Years:
Forest schools in my eyes are a great asset for every school
to include, children benefit in so many ways and still it stays within the
guidelines of The Foundation Phase and National Curriculum. I feel that forest
schools are very important within a child’s education and part of
self-development and awareness.
Please ask permission for using peoples photographs.Two on this site are mine.
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