A Forest School Journey
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.
Back in 2017, I set up FG with my friend as a way of bringing a different kind of education to children where they were encouraged to follow their interests, build their self-esteem and problem-solving skills. I had just come out of mainstream teaching and was overwhelmed by the joy of stepping away from the classroom. I was also quite fearful of setting up and starting a new business.
We were incredibly lucky to be offered the chance of working with the pupils of Bourne Primary School in the September of 2017 and started our Parent and Toddler groups at this time too. By the end of our first year, we had a few more schools on our books and had built a wonderful community of parents and toddlers.
We continued to grow over the next few years until in 2020, as we all know, COVID19 made an appearance. This was a scary time for everyone, worrying about their loved one’s health and safety and for small businesses, including myself, being worried about whether we would be able to survive. Suddenly schools were shut, and all our Forest School sessions stopped. I have always been someone who needed a purpose in life and so when my work stopped, I felt lost. My husband could work from home; my children had their schoolwork to do; but I had nothing. No purpose. That’s when my daughter and I came up with the idea of trying out lots of things I had always wanted to do at Forest School but never had made the time for. We used our ‘daily walk’ to collect different items from our local marshes and tried out something new each day, letting what we found guide us. We filmed ourselves along the walk and later at home, trying out the idea or activity and every day we shared this with the online Forest School community. We experienced our own Forest School journey at a time when we needed nature to boost our mental wellbeing. It certainly did the job, giving us a purpose and something to look forward to doing each day. The thrill of trying to make something new that I’ve never made before or cook something that we had foraged was just what we needed. We found our purpose and fun outdoors, with nothing but our environment to engage, interest and entertain us. I now look back and despite the difficulties and challenges we all faced, remember this time fondly, as it was great to connect with my daughter, learning new things each day and spotting the changes in our outdoor environment as we walked the same route. An unexpected outcome was the following that we got on our social media amongst the Forest School community. It was great to be able to share these with our online friends, providing ideas for families and laughter along the way. However, I still get surprised and am so thankful when someone says that they watched us goof around on camera and that it brought some joy to them in a difficult time.
And so, we rode the wave of COVID in 2020 and thankfully came out the other side. The pandemic had a huge impact on everyone’s mental health and wellbeing, and we are still seeing the effects on the children we work with. More schools realised that the children in their schools needed support with their wellbeing and mental health, with many children experiencing anxiety related challenges. I have had my own difficulties with anxiety in my class teaching career and have experienced for myself how being outdoors can bring about huge positive change to my mental wellbeing. This has been an interest of mine and my colleagues and we have made this a focus of our continued reading, research, and professional development. I love being in the position to drive our development as a business and follow the interests we have. Over the last few years, I’ve been exceptionally lucky to find colleagues who share my passion for Forest School and feel as strongly as I do about the difference it can make to those who join us on the journey. Our combined vision has developed what we offer from being a great Forest School experience to a place where we have been trained in and are able to offer support using non-violent communication (NVC), needs understanding, Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) and Intensive Wellbeing Support in the Outdoors. Our understanding of child development, communication and wellbeing enable us to provide tailored support for the differing needs of the children we work with.
Six years on and we are now delivering weekly Forest School sessions at seven different schools, both Primary and Secondary, as well as providing a community Parent and Toddler group which supports preschool children and their families. I am surrounded by the most amazing and life-giving colleagues who fill my soul with joy and happiness everyday (even when it is raining!) and we know we are making a difference.
Take a look through our website to find out more about the Forever Green team and see what we have to offer to families and schools.