This week I thought it would be useful for you to know Grass Roots Muddy Boots plans and the continued collaboration with TreeTops Forest School going forward. I have had quite a few parents asking when we will re-start the groups we ran "pre-lockdown". The answer is, as soon as possible. There are a few hoops that Siobhan and I have had to jump through, the first being permission from the land owners of our Cawood and Arkendale woodland sites.
Arkendale, Knaresborough (Bluebell Wood) was fairly straight forward because it is privately owned by a family who are really keen to promote the Forest School ethos and couldn't be happier to see it used by local children playing freely. This site is actually quite a long way from my house in Wakefield but I have a strong connection with Knaresborough as it was my home town until I was 18 so I like to keep the Forest School flag flying here. We have moved our camp position within the woods this year, to an area with more features; it has a stream which fills in winter, a great den building area, which is far enough away to be out of the site of adults and a holly bush that is like Aladdin's cave once inside. The children have tree climbed, made a see-saw and a den in here. It made a great base camp for our holiday club and the plan is to return here in the October holiday. We are going to replicate the winning formula from Summer. The rules of engagement for this were that children worked in week long bubbles. Put simply they played with the same group of children for the week. Children came for different combinations of days but initially everyone had to book a minimum of three days. This was a Covid-19 requirement in order to find the right balance between having enough children to make it financially viable and not exceeding 15 children per session. This has worked well from a business point of view but also has really suited the children who have definitely proven that regular Forest School has significant benefits for children as opposed to one off days. It makes sense when you think about us as adults going on a 2 or 3 day course, by day 2 you are settling in and can start deepening relationships, applying what you have learnt so far and refining plans. Children are just the same and I do think it is far too often that we rush children to the next thing before they have laid down some firm foundations.
Cawood, Leeds/Selby (Bishop Wood) Forestry England gave us permission to do our Holiday clubs in groups of 15...only just before we started !! This was a little close to the wire but we did have a plan B. Forestry England have been great with us through Covid-19 and have done all they can to get us back in the woods as soon as possible. They even built us a car park through the gated entrance, that we were all locked out of this week but that's another story! We have used the same formula here and so far the same seems to be happening; the children are settled and happy playing freely and dipping in and out of the adult led activities; tie dye, primitive weapons, clay bowls etc. Once children are used to the routine they get dropped off, run straight into camp, drop their bag off in the designated area, wash their hands and start playing. We don't need to go through the boundaries, toilet, fire safety etc because they have heard it already and know what they are doing. This is a great example of children being allowed to get on and learn through play, at the entry level they are at and with whomever they choose. The children have absolutely loved the freedom of not social distancing as they are part of the same bubble. Joe said 'it feels like the virus has gone here'. We have asked the children not to share hammocks as an activity that they could be in close contact for longer than 15 minutes, the exception being if you are from the same household. The fact that we have made the age range from 5-12 years has worked well in terms of having an increase in the number of siblings who have booked on and therefore reducing the bubble further in terms of number of households.
In the past, everyone has had to come round the site every session to listen to the same talk that some have heard already and know so it's no wonder they glaze over. It is now far more streamline and those who know the rules and want to show others take the new ones for a tour around the camp. This gives children a sense of responsibility, lets them know that we trust them and reinforces the safety rules... everyone's a winner! Children would far rather listen to each other than us, we have to leave our ego at the Forest School door and accept this. I look back at my teaching career and wonder why I was so surprised that the children were confused and then I realised that I was talking way too much, giving too many instructions and thinking that they would understand something first time, without any practice! But then I was still learning too! My point is that we have seen an incredible change in these children in a matter of days. They know the expectations and that they will
not be changed, that the adults will respect them and in return they respect us. I think it may be helpful to explain what is meant by mutual respect through an example; I try to listen to what a child has to say from start to finish without interrupting. Quite often they have got a lot to say because they are feeling upset or frustrated so it is important to let them have that air-time. Then I try to make sense of what they are telling me. I metaphorically step into their shoes and try hard to think how it must have made them feel. If you do this, 9 times out of 10 children make perfect sense and by showing this level of understanding children feel respected, as they should. Even if I am in the middle of a task I am increasingly telling myself that this can wait, I can come back to it but I can't come back to this specific moment when a child wants to desperately tell me something. I do think if you listen well to recounts of happy times, worries, complaints, reports of unfairness etc it brings it's own rewards of building up the context of a child to know what makes them tick which can help solve other problems like; who pushed who and why. I digress... back to plans at Bishop Wood. We plan to return to Bishop Wood for the October Holiday club offering three days of Forest School on the same basis as the summer holiday club.
Families with Children who have Additional needs monthly sessions are due to re-start at the beginning of October. These are some of my favourite sessions because the families often have little respite from behaviour that is sometimes challenging so I feel like we are genuinely helping people who need it. I have had several families contact me over 'lockdown' to say they have really missed coming to the sessions. One of our regular families have been at home throughout 'lockdown' and now their little boy, who is autistic, feels anxious about going out so they are trying to introduce familiar places like Forest School to improve his confidence. The sessions are aimed at the family as a whole, siblings are encouraged to play freely and for themselves instead of having to put their needs aside to accommodate their brother or sister. Adults can relax and talk to like minded parents without feeling any stress or shame from others about the way their child is behaving - nobody judges and nobody stares. Some may say the children are running wild.....and they would be right! Hooray! It is a relief for parents to find a place where their children can run and shout and choose freely without having a structure to conform in. The other reason I love these sessions is because the parents have a great attitude to life; they are used to things not going to plan and if something doesn't work out such as: dropped campfire food, the fire has been put out because a child thought it was the right thing to do, it pours with rain, they are running late.... it's all good - nobody judges, worse things happen and they just get on with it.
It is fast becoming a community and I hope we can continue to grow. So, any families out there who have children with additional needs, come and join us, we are really friendly and welcoming, we always have a camp fire, tool activities as well as free play. To give you some idea of the range of needs that children have who currently come to Forest School; most have Autistic Spectrum Disorders but we do also have children who have developmental delay and a child in a wheelchair. In terms of Covid-19 regulations we plan to run hour long sessions on a Sunday morning (10-11 and 11.15-12.15) every month up to December and then review it. We can have up to 30 people but have actually found that around 16 works best for this group of children. The cost is currently £4 each or £15 for a family ticket and we have been lucky enough to have a private sponsor for this event which may well change in December. A family have financially supported the event since it started about 18 months ago but this may be coming to an end at the end of the year. However, all is not lost. I am currently being helped by one of our families to apply for funding from elsewhere. I have never applied for funding before so am learning from the beginning so if anyone out there has any information that may be helpful please add it in the comments below and we can get a conversation started. Parents have commented about the huge benefits that these sessions have brought to their children. This is why, in the current climate, I am really keen to get them running again. Our first session is set for Sunday October 4th and we will have space for 16 people in each session.
We are also making our way back to The Little Friends of Roundhay Park, Leeds at the start of October. These will again be two morning sessions but with a maximum of 30 people. These sessions are aimed at families with toddling children up to 12 years of age. We will be focusing on a whole family activity such as a trail which families can access independently and a tool area activity. We will be demonstrating to adults and then those adults will be working with their children to make something to take home using natural materials. In all the family sessions mentioned we will be unable to use hammocks and low rope activities that we have had before and will be using trails and the natural resources that the woodland offers. Family bubbles will need to social distance from each other and tools will be cleaned between each person in order to mitigate the risk of spread of the virus.
In terms of schools I am very much waiting to see what happens in September, as I'm sure many of you are. I have planned a different strategy for going into schools which will mean I can become part of the school bubble for a week, therefore not risking the spread by visiting different schools on different days. I will be working with Kettlethorpe High School, Badsworth Primary and Kirk Smeaton Primary in Autumn term but do have some space for another school. I suspect schools are waiting to see themselves what will happen in September but it is only a few weeks away and I personally thought there would be a push for more outdoor learning. I am guessing that schools are feeling the pressure from the Government to get children to 'catch up'. I personally think that a lot of children will not need to catch up and will actually have had great home schooling meeting individual needs instead of a the needs of a class of 30 and we should congratulate parents for all their efforts instead of making them feel that their teaching hasn't impacted on their child. I did hear on the news that there are some children (and I can't remember the percentage) who haven't engaged with anything to do with school since the start of lock down. I completely agree that children have to become more focused on academic learning once they start to work toward GCSEs but pushing them to do this from 3 years old in primary school I believe is not the way to grow a love of life long learning or a successful person. In essence I really hope that primary age children aren't pushed academically at the expense of play and their own mental health.
To finish, I am throwing out there a plan so let me know what you think.... If for whatever reason school does not resume as normal, that is every day for every child, I am considering continuing Forest School provision 9-3pm, Monday -Friday. If for example schools choose one week on and one week off for some children then this type of provision would be useful to working parents as well as a great opportunity for children. This is just food for thought but would really welcome your views on this. Would you be interested? I hope you have found this of interest and you have got a feel for where we are with Covi-19 and where we are planning to go. All the sessions mentioned will be advertised via email updates, facebook and instagram so please subscribe or follow if you want to be in the loop. On that note can I gently encourage you to subscribe to this blog so it can find it's own way to your phone and we can stay in touch. Next week....I have some more news for you.. the exciting kind! All will be revealed!
Sally x
