F... is for Forest School

"Forest School is an inspirational process, that offers ALL learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees. Forest School is a specialised learning approach that sits within and compliments the wider context of outdoor and woodland education."     

Forest School Association (UK's professional body for representing & promoting forest school in the UK)

To continue with the Back to Basics series, we'll be looking at the concept of Forest School in this post. To start off with, let's set the scene with a brief look back; the Institute of Outdoor Learning has written two articles, giving a useful background to the movement. The first article discusses the early influences of outdoor learning, then gives an overview of the educational pioneers who were advocates of outdoor play and the development of a relationship with nature. The second article focuses on how forest schools have grown since 1993, the challenges faced by the movement and the impact these have had on the the future of forest schools.

If you are researching this topic, you'll be pleased to know that there is a great deal of research in this area; this literature review of outdoor learning gathers research in fieldwork and outdoor visits, outdoor adventure education and school grounds/community projects. A report  published by the Forestry Commission gives an evaluation of forest school in England and Wales and its impact on children of different ages. The Education Resource Information Center (ERIC) has a collection of articles freely available online. Don't forget the Library Portal page - Usearch and E-Resources. A search for 'outdoor learning' in the library catalogue will give many results for forest schools as well as adventure education.

There are a number of news articles that may be of interest, which also provide case studies of nurseries and schools adopting outdoor learning.

Outdoor Play

Over the past decade, a growing movement has been steadily campaigning for children's outdoor play. The 2006 report, 'Tackling Child Obesity – First Steps' highlighted the health benefits of free play and the NCB set out the need for safe play environments in the New Charter for Children's Play. The national charity, Play England, explored the possibilities for joint working between the health and play sectors in their policy briefing.

These key documents acted as a springboard for schemes that have appeared around the UK over the last few years such as the Street Play project and the annual Outdoor Play Week in the South East.

Following the success of the London-based Hackney Play Streets project, councils across the UK are being urged to invest in street play initiatives. The recently published project evaluation report discusses the reach of the programme, its potential impact on children, families and communities, its impact on traffic and its sustainability and prospects for growth. 

Project Wild Thing grew out of David Bond's concern for his children's lack of outdoor activity.

The Self-appointed 'Marketing Director for Nature' began his own campaign, in a bid to reconnect children with the outdoors

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