Forest Schools is a child-centred inspirational learning process that offers opportunities to support children to learn about the natural world through play and exploration. Activities are designed to develop confidence and self-esteem through learner inspired hands-on experiences in a natural setting.
I was given the opportunity to do my Level 3 Forest School Leader training in 2020. I was so excited to have this opportunity – but before I could go on the course, Covid hit! It was some very long months of waiting for face-to-face courses to re-open. However, I was sent all the modules to complete the written coursework before the training re-opened.
When I opened the email, I thought ‘wow’, and could have cried! How can someone my age, who hated school, complete all this work? The coursework, research, the essays, what had I got myself into? I took a deep breath and decided to give it a go with a strong coffee! I began to realise I could do it and piece by piece I got through it. I am so glad I did as it was so interesting and so me! The things I learnt about myself were fantastic and I couldn’t wait to complete the face-to-face training and get teaching the children and staff at Spring Seesaw! Who knew how much could be learnt outside! It took quite a while to complete the written modules, and I had a few setbacks as some work was returned to me to redo, but I didn’t let it put me off. I was going to achieve this!
Then came the face-to-face outside training which was held in Slough. What an amazing experience! I was scared, nervous, and excited! Being so far away from home and not knowing anyone was scary, but, and I don’t know why, after a couple of hours I felt really at ease! It was amazing meeting new people who shared the same passion of outdoor learning as me! The trainer made us all feel at ease, and we got stuck straight in. By the end of course I rated it one of the best experiences I have had!
Once the training was completed, I was eager to get going and began to plan how to develop the outside space around the Nursery. The main difficulty was the shape, as the land surrounds the Nursery on three sides, none of which is very large. I decided to be ambitious and create my vision of an outdoor teaching area which would be enclosed by a fence and contain a seating area around the firepit and other activities. In a second area I wanted to have a covered ‘outdoor classroom’ and a growing area so that the children could still be outside despite the weather, and then a third area around the little pond. I decided, having discussed it with my manager, that we should pitch to ‘Dragons’ Den’ as this development would not only hugely benefit the children from one of the areas of high deprivation in Braintree (Essex) but would be a strong Unique Selling Point (USP) when marketing the Nursery.
I pitched to the five Dragons at the Den in October 2023 who turned out to be not as scary as their TV equivalents. After what felt like days, but it was only hours, I was told I had been successful and secured £6,000 for the project! It was now time to make it happen! Over the next 12 months we worked with volunteers, parents, friends and local businesses to turn my vision into reality.
Thank you, Dragons’ Den!
Take a look at some of the images below….
