It was agreed in 2011 by the UK forest schools community
that there would be six principles outlining the ethos of forest schools.
Principle 1: Forest school needs to be done frequently in
woodland or a natural environment, observation and planning is a key part of
the review process.
Principle 2: The natural environment is used to build
relationships with the natural world and the learner.
Principle 3: The main focus is that the children will
benefit from an holistic development approach and will become resilient
learners who are also confident, independent and creative.
Principle 4: Forest school provides children the opportunity
to risk manage themselves as it’s an important part of development.
Principle 5: That qualified forest school teachers will
continuously develop their knowledge as practitioners.
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Source: https://pixabay.com/en/road-forest-trees-tree-trip-21205/
(2015)
This image is not subject to copyright.
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Principle 6: Forest school has a child centred approach,
this allows the children to create their own learning opportunities to enable
them to develop.
(Full principles and criteria for good practice, no date)
Forest school is an opportunity for children to access a
natural environment and use their innate play needs.
This is particularly important for children who have a lack
of natural or wooded areas in their community and who may struggle in a
conventional learning environment. Children who thrive in a classroom may
struggle in forest school as they may feel uncomfortable about not having
instruction from an adult. Regardless all children will learn beneficial skills
to support them in their development. This gives them the ability to create
their own play opportunities using resources they find in the environment
around them and to explore their creative and imaginative skills. Using natural
resources from the environment can also provide children with skills for life
in regards to recycling and looking after their community and their environment
around them.
(Gallagher and Davy, 2006, p.80-81)
Original post by Frankie
I am a big fan of FSL and totally agree with the principles. I am not qualified in FS teaching but take our children to a FS. I personally think it needs to be a compulsory part of the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input Sharon! It's great that you provide the children at your setting with a Forest School experience - what sort of activities do you partake in? Outdoor learning is so important to children's development - I agree!
ReplyDeleteCharlotte and the team!
Interesting blog - I wasn't aware this style of learning existed in the UK! Sounds like a great addition to general outdoor education/activities - building up confidence and being independent in a natural environment but, most importantly, learning! Do you think Forest School in a large group would prove difficult in terms of discipline and children's behaviour? Or would theses issues not be so prevalent in this kind of environment?
ReplyDeleteThank you Pauline, a lot of people aren't aware of UK Forest Schools so you're not alone! Are you aware of Danish forest schools? As the Early Years Sector works to a 1:8 ratio maximum, depending on age, large groups would have several practitioners accompanying them. A lot of the activities involved include learning how to be safe and that includes listening and behaving sensibly! OFSTED reports have also shown well disciplined children are common with Forest School settings.
DeleteThank you for your response, I hope you continue to read our blog to learn more about Forest School
Charlotte and the team!
Thanks for the reply! I'm just looking into the other blog posts now to find out a bit more. I heard about this concept being introduced around Europe a long time ago, I was just never sure about how effective the style was - it's interesting to see this reach the UK, I guess there are many benefits - indoor learning can be so restricting!
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