We often talk about the Forest School journey that our groups of children and families go on, but Forever Green has been on quite a journey itself. It’s now 2023 and so much has happened at Forever Green Forest School since its conception in 2017.

One of the essential elements of Forest School is that it is child led and our role as adults is to support the enquiry and interests of the children who attend our sessions.

Over the years we have worked with children, it is very clear to me that there are numerous benefits of the Forest School approach to childhood development and emotional well being.

At this time of year, we get a lot of comments from our friends, families and clients about the weather: “Bet you can’t wait for the Summer,” or, “It’s not very nice out there today,” or, “Bet you wish you were working inside today in the warm.”

But the truth is, I love working outside.

Children should be seen and not heard.

Those mean old Victorians, not letting children be children. Silencing the youth with their moral preserving, stiff upper lip, attempting to impress high society ways. Thank heavens things have changed. Only, wait. Have things really changed?

"There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes," is a motto that is used at Forest School, but on Wednesday, when heavy rain was forecast for the whole afternoon, we wondered whether our tarp shelter would be enough to keep our group of children (and their class teacher) happy and warm enough to enjoy their session fully.

I have very fond memories of reading Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak as a child and as a mother myself to my two children, so it seemed a great book to use as a launch pad for a session we ran recently with our enthusiastic parent and toddler group. I love sharing books together and feel sitting under a tarp in the woods is a great place to listen and experience the story with others.

Creating and developing the school sites that we work on is really important to Forever Green.

Although Forest School can take place anywhere, developing a natural environment where wildlife and imaginations can thrive and develop is quite magical to be part of.