Becoming a forest school leader
Since childhood, I’ve always loved the outdoors. I fondly remember visits to my grandparents’ farm to pick blackberries and feed alpacas, and spending weekends exploring caves and woodlands with my mum and brother. This love for the outdoors led to me living in the Alps for a few years before moving back and starting my career in childcare. After becoming an Early Years Teacher and becoming a part of the Snapdragons team I was offered an opportunity that I couldn’t have dreamed of before… becoming a Forest School leader!
One wet Thursday morning in September I set off to a woodland near Bristol to start my journey.
As we sat around an open fire, eating crumpets and introducing ourselves our trainer Jon detailed our seven practical sessions. The rain pattered on the shelter above us and the light wind flowed through the trees, almost singing as the trees danced along with it. We began by playing some games in the woodland like colour hunt, hide and seek, and even conkers! My favourite was when we were asked to find a quiet spot in the woods, listen to all the sounds around us and note them down however we wished. As I sat on a small rock, legs occasionally rustling the leaves below me the sun broke through the canopy of leaves. As it shone in wonderful patterns across the forest floor I knew I’d made the best decision ever in embarking on the forest school adventure.
Over the sessions that followed, we learned about using tools safely, how to light fires, an array of different knots, den building, tent building, and how to incorporate all of this in a safe and interesting way for the children we care for.
Then came the last day, and oh boy it was a wet one! I chose to make a mallet and a wooden mushroom for my tool use assessment and got to work perched on a pallet in the storm. I sat in the heavy rain as the sounds of laughter and chatter carried in the wind whipping around me. When I needed an extra pair of hands, one of the other people on the course came over to help me, we giggled at some stories we told each other, and worked together to finish our creations. It was only after, as the rain got even heavier that I realised I’d started getting puddles in my boots! But puddles aside… I moved back close to the group and the fire, and warmed up before hearing that I’d passed all of my assessments. Woohoo!
But with all great things, it was coming to an end. I took a moment and stood just under the shelter and looked out at the space I’d grown so fond of over the seven sessions, grateful for the opportunity I had been given.
Now I’m back to working at Snapdragons on a Thursday, excited to implement the skills I’ve learned, and continue with coursework and assessment sessions to complete my training. And aside from the practical skills I’ve learned about teaching forest school, I discovered some other things too.
I’ve spent a large portion of my life wandering around outside and this training has shown me that there is still so much to learn! I watch the fog lift from the ground up towards the sky and the gentle, quiet calm that comes with it. I see the light filter through the trees and paint the forest floor. I listen as the crunch of leaves tell me I’ve arrived. And I remember that from childhood and through our whole lives, how important it is to go out into nature. Climb a tree, run around, create art using fallen leaves, notice the bugs and the birds as they move around, spin in circles and fall into mud. On the best days and the worst, entering a woodland is like journeying into a different world, one in which I am transformed by the time I leave. And this is the message I hope to pass on to the children I am lucky enough to take on the forest school adventure!
“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.” - Henry David Thoreau.
