"I am currently a Forest school teacher for the secondary school St Dunstans, and the primary school St Bens. I work for the Glastonbury Trust, and we deliver forest school to other schools in the surrounding area. We are a team of forest school leaders and assistants that can do 'taster days' for schools wanting to discover what 'Forest school' is and how it will benefit their students. We also work in the local schools and have done for 2 years.
We mainly work with children with learning difficulties, as this is part of the forest school ethos. Anyone can benefit from forest school including adults, but children with more kinesthetic learning styles tend to have difficulty in school and learn better with more one to one, hands on learning. I think everyone learns well this way. Although some children are quite able to take on information from books and lectures, others are not. This may have to do with problems going on in the home, that compromises the child's ability to listen . Or they may just be more sensitive in general and so benefit from the quiet of the outdoors.
We have a 30 acre woodland where we bring our class out for the day. Usually between 5 and 13 adolescents. We teach basic woodcraft, fire making with fire steels, cooking on the fire, shelter building, team building and cooperation exercises. With always an ear out for when its a good time to share a circle where more personal stories can be shared.
I have a lot of previous experience of the outdoor lifestyle, and find that kids today know little or no basic crafts, have virtually no awareness of plants and tree types and seem to spend most of their time fending off negatives statements from each other. We attempt to break into their world with some suggestions of activities and lessons that involve nature."
Come along tonight to learn more about this wonderful way of teaching.