At Willow Lane we really value the importance of the outdoors in delivering a holistic education. We take our inspiration from the Forest School approach where creativity, risks, cooperation and reflection are highly important. In Forest School, the pedagogical approach is:
– to create stimulus for all learners
– to build a positive relationship with all learners
– to be responsive to their needs
– to help them understand their achievements
– to observe and guide them where appropriate
– to create an environment of a community of learners
At Willow Lane, we deliver this by
– planning sessions and activities,
– observing the interests and experiences of the learners
– tailoring the environment and activities in response the needs and interests of the learners
– scaffolding learning and activities to enable learners to achieve, be challenged, and develop holistically
– meeting the learner at the cusp of their experience and helping them on their learning journey through an eyes-on hands-off approach e.g. modelling the pedagogy for them, through methods like sportscasting, where you describe the problem that you are seeing in an objective neutral manner, reflecting for them, with curiosity, what we see.
Teachers are encouraged to facilitate activities that follow children’s interests and allow them to work together. We also have curriculum map of activities for teachers to use that either link to their learning in topics or fit with the seasonality of the sessions.
In terms of outcomes, aspects of the children’s development that will be positively impacted by our use of the wildlife area are:
– resilience
– confidence
– independence
– creativity
– emotional intelligence
– physical (both gross and fine motor skills)
– social e.g. interacting with peers,
– cognitive e.g. problem solving,
– linguistic e.g. explaining/teaching others, negotiating,
– emotional e.g. when navigating risks,
– spiritual e.g. when reflecting, connecting with the wider natural world, and caring for their environment.
In these outdoor sessions, children will not necessarily all be doing the same activity but will be accessing the outdoors at a point that is relevant for them. In a typical session you might see children:
Climbing trees, making potions, making mini-beast houses, making dens, playing imaginative role-play games, making sculptures, creating artwork with natural materials, finding a quiet place to observe the world around them. And many more!
Adult led activities might include: whole class scavenger hunts, story-telling, building obstacle courses, exploring the world using our senses, making swings, facilitating whole class games, delivering learning linked to the curriculum. Adults may also use tools and fire as the basis for activities but these would be planned in advance so that they would be risk assessed prior to taking place.
Forest SchoolS
