Forest School progress - Next event Monday 12th December 2016

Helena Broadbent

is an extremely experienced Forest School Teacher who practises in Delamere Forest. I am so grateful to Helena for coming on board and I cannot begin to tell you how brilliant she is, but the activities that Helena pulls from her extremely experienced head are amazing.  You need to come and join us to fully appreciate.

Neil Commins my loyal and enthusiastic partner in all things.  Neil is a trained childminder and incredibly inventive practitioner.  This is a little game that he invented called 'running down the hill really fast'  it was probably the best game ever!

Melanie Commins and Biscuit the dog

I have now finished the Forest School course that I was on and handed in the portfolio (extremely satisfying to finally finish it!).  As with any course I feel that it has aided to my deeper understanding and recognition of the child and how to make the most of their time with me.

Over the past few months since September we have taken a different approach to our regular Forest School meetings.  Creating a monthly event that is open to the community, but regularly practising on a weekly basis.

Helena has also come on board.  That has been an amazing change.  The activities are now pure forest school and we are setting up in the forest school way.  It is now a monthly class which has helped me out, as the weekly group although wonderful, was wiping me out for the rest of the week, and not helping with the childminding.

Other changes that happened Helena brings her daughter, I bring my puppy and all the children that we mind.  this could not be done without Neil's extra safe pair of hands and all that attend and add that extra pair of eyes or hands when you need them.

Forest school is a community in itself, bringing people together with a similar interest.  It has been great as we have seen the facilities and opportunities for Forest School grow throughout the schools in Marple.  Children are moving through the early years with access to what we have one in Etherow Park and onto school.  I feel that we can safely say that Forest School has arrived in Marple.

On my weekly excursions with Neil I have found that the children have become increasingly adventurous.  They are so able with their ability to walk quite long distances and focus when it comes to making and doing. They have really enjoyed cooking things from fish fingers (which we did in the BBQ area of Lyme park and homemade pumpkin soup in the woods.)  

Hopefully we can continue to bring a little bit of Forest School to Etherow Park and we are back on Monday 12th December with our rudolph activity heres a picture of what it could look like!

http://pin.it/1jzgub4

So hoping to see you then I will sign off now

Take care

Mel

Mini Rangers, Forest School and Ofsted! Bringing it all together.

With butterflies in my stomach and occasional wiggly worm I will attempt to reflect on the differences between what I have done in setting up Mini Rangers and dealing with the adventure of setting up a forest school.

I set up Mini Rangers through a keen interest in the effect of how outdoor learning could improve the outcomes for children in my setting.  This was before I had embarked on the Forest School course.  Much of my own knowledge was academic from the books I had bought and the experience of those around me.  I looked for a framework to devise activities from to begin with, I settled on a phonics framework.  My reasoning was simple, in the second Early Years Ofsted Report 2014 it was said:

‘The parents who teach, whether they realise they are doing it or not, give their children the greatest advantages from the very start. Teaching for small children is not blackboards and desks, it is counting bricks when building a tower, learning nursery rhymes and familiar songs, or gently coaching a child to put their own arms into their coat. The most successful early years providers, whoever they are, are focused on helping children to learn.’ (Ofsted 2014)

My aim was to bring this simplicity into a weekly group benefiting the community making it a low cost group that childminders could attend as well as parents, grandparents, mums and dads.  The idea was to support our community of teachers with ideas and respite in an outdoor setting.

It was stated in the annual Early Years Ofsted Report in July 2013 that children had been starting school lacking the ability to :-
To sit still and listen
To be aware of other children
To understand the word no and the borders it sets for behaviour
To understand the word stop and that such a phrase might be used to prevent danger
To be potty trained and able to go to the loo
To recognise their own name
To speak to an adult to ask for needs
To be able to take off their coat and put on shoes
To talk in sentences
To open and enjoy a book

So with this in mind I set about formulating a structure that would encourage children to become more self regulatory, but still with the loving and supporting hand of someone familiar.

I first started with the length of the session. I love being outdoors and can cope with being there for the entire day, every day.  This is not practical when dealing with the needs of young children.  It was important that the session should be short, but structured.  This was so that children could attend each week knowing there would be constants and so develop their own plans for arrival.

As I made plans for developing the area, I kept in mind the need for change, the environment and the impact of my plans.  The ease and the inclusion of the children.  I wanted the area to stay natural, but encourage more nature in.  This involved using logs from trees that had to be chopped down and developing seating for the sharing area.

I now understand that the difference between this and the forest school ethos is that we should leave no trace. This is okay if you are dipping into an area once in a while, but for prolonged use of the same area I feel that there are sacrifices that you make and there are certain advantages too which I will explain.  When I first found this area in Etherow Country Park it was a designated 'Education Area'.  Perfect in location for a group of mums with prams, wheelchair users, and anyone who may have a problem with walking through a woodland including wobbly two year olds.

It was a little difficult to access the wildlife though as all the banks were overgrown with brambles and nettles and the woodland path was covered in tree roots making it difficult to push a buggy through or walk if you are very young or very old.  Therefore I needed to view the area at the height and ability of a toddler. Bringing nature in included sourcing pallets to make a bug hotel.  Ensuring that no logs were removed from the area so that I would have plenty of hiding places for the woodlouse and worms I was planning on discovering with the children.  With the help of some volunteers I had two planters built.  I used some cut logs to create a log circle and I then designated areas for sharing and for a mud kitchen.  The area took on some of the character that I felt children would have more fun exploring.  I had also encouraged children to climb the banks using ropes and logs for stability, unfortunately this had to be stopped as the bank was the only thing stopping the reservoir from breaking through which is an example that I shared with the children of erosion and the damage we can do as humans.

Creating an area is very different from finding a woodland and I would not discover the difference until attending the forest school course and developing forest school sessions how different this would feel. I can't help feeling that my initial enthusiasm for this very exciting beginning was some what dampened by the forest school course as everything I had done had been about a passion for children to be able to explore safely, the difference in the forest school education is to find a place that children can explore once they understand the risks for themselves.

I feel that this is the crux of my disillusion when dealing with under 5's.  I think as adults we have a duty to prepare an environment that we can slowly introduce risks to.  The log circle created a danger that children would at first ask for their persons support for, but after a while start to navigate alone.  It was prepared in much the same way a tight rope walk is prepared between two trees, not exactly a natural occurrence but one that be managed and mastered through ones own perseverance.

I also created a Fire square which I would inform parents and children of how to manage a fire with so many people and children.  There would have to be boundaries and they would have to be clear enough for everyone to understand, see fire risk assessments.

When developing the Forest school with older children in mind, setting up an area was done in stages where I saw more danger from not establishing a boundary than from what would go on inside that boundary.  I could be more inventive with how I established that boundary and involve the children, who by now were steady enough on their feet to be able to avoid obstacles and jump over sensitive or developing areas. The boundary was marked by wool on a tree, the children recounted to me how they would acknowledge a piece of wool around a tree trunk as a boundary marker and a piece of wool hanging from a branch as a perimeter marking.

Using ropes and found wood I designated bits to be the tool area, an area not to be invaded without adult supervision, a fire area was not designated until the children wanted a snack and then we talked about where best to have a fire that would cause little impact to the environment.  The same rules to the fire are employed, but children are shown the respect position to safely interact with the fire. Although this is modeled to the under 5's they constantly needed to be reminded and frequently were expelled from the fire area.  The older children were able to light the fire and feed the fire whilst adhering to the safety requirements.

What I have not mentioned also was the ability to state a ratio requirement.  During the under 5 sessions adults and children were invited at their own discretion.  The forest school sessions were more rigid.  a maximum number of children were allowed 15, this meant that assessing their learning was a little easier as I would interact in different ways but on an individual basis with all of them.  During the under 5 sessions, I would rely on their supervising adult to let me know of any impact our sessions had.  This would vary entirely, but I was constantly vigilant that most of the under 5's enjoyed the story sharing time, the snack time where they engaged with the volunteer handing out the snack and drink.  I watched while they selected their activities which would mostly be playing with the pots and pans and spoons to make mud pies.  Children would occasionally embark on a den making experiment or construction of some kind.  On reflection I think I would introduce more group games to introduce the stop go type instruction based games that children need to play in a group setting.  Encouraging school readiness through these types of games fills me with an awkwardness fuelled by the thought of lack of purposeless that these games give me. I like a purpose. I know its a form of copy me a matching games on a large scale to encourage the elusive readiness.

Meanwhile in the Forest there was no shortage of games, in fact that was how the majority of the time was spent.  Setting up a base camp and then launching into a game of capture the flag or tig.  The children would come back when problems were afoot, someone wasn't playing by the rules or sabotaging someones base camp or just winning too much.  These social interactions could come with frustrations, but always with an urgency to sort them out.  When things got too fraught there was always the distraction of making snack.

It is unfair of me to compare the two as the under 5 group has been run for two years with many experiments into different activities and explorations into how they learn, whilst the primary aim in the forest was to have fun and be with others in a challenging environment.

I think that my aims for the two groups were different two, with the under 5's many are not attending any other group setting and are certainly not at school yet so part of them coming is get them ready for working in a large group .  The forest school has a different aim, to allow children to explore, challenge, learn what they want to learn, to respect others and work in a team.

Forest school is challenging there is no doubt, it has taught me the value of planning, working with a team getting the team to work with either me or an alpha child.  I look forward to going back to the forest with an even smaller ratio of children and enjoying it even more.

Forest school has added to the under 5's group in that I understand there are safety considerations to take on board when dealing with children under the age of 3, who maybe do not have the understanding of the dangers that exist. Two years on and I can see the value of the community presence of an outdoor group.  It is hard to manage it with my childminding duties, but really worthwhile.  The children who attend my setting benefit enormously from the large group, meeting others in the community  and exploring their boundaries.  I still feel that what they learn here they bring back to my setting and the experiences lend themselves to other visits that we do.  I also see the freedom that they have the ability to be loud, to throw things, to be dirty, to essentially have permission to do the things they need to do to grow and learn.  The pressure seems to be less when we are outdoors.

None of this would have been possible without the volunteers:
All of those at Jubilee PreSchool
Marina Griffin
Steve
Mark Howard
Sue Howard
Helena Broadhurst
and many more who attended and poured ideas into this on a weekly basis.

Come and hear about the mysteries of the woodland......

Mini Rangers is working in conjunction with Jubilee Pre school to bring to you some of the mysteries of the woodland.

I am privileged to be able to arrange a talk on aspects regarding the woodland around us. From how we play, to the care it takes to keep the woodland healthy and hopefully much much more. In order to bolster my own very superficial knowledge I am excited to say that we have an experienced forest school leader who currently holds sessions in Delemere forest.

We also have Brian Ashworth a Woodland Trust volunteer who is coming to talk about the things that we can do to keep our woodland spaces beautiful and healthy.

We also have local woodland owner Maz Simons who is going to come along and let you into a few of the secrets of managing a woodland.

Our wonderful hostess Janis Green owner of Jubilee Preschool will be allowing us to use her premises and is supplying us with coffee and biscuits.

So come join us on the 8th March 2016, 6pm at Jubilee Preschool, ,Marple Bridge, SK6 5EB Stockport.  

JUBILEE CHILDCARE Monday 1st February 2015

So we are back to once a week again.

This coming Monday we still have Steve and Marina, but I will be taking a back seat to this session and it will be run by Jubilee Childcare.

I know they have some pretty impressive plans that involve muddy prints etc, but to find out more you just have to turn up.

See you there x

Mel

Next Mini Rangers Session 25th January 2016

Freezing mornings, interminable grey skies, fog and bitter winds, but oh my the exhilaration of the outdoors! We talk about change especially now look at this picture from the summer:

and now the winter

This is our opportunity to introduce the process of change to the children.  Even more than this we start to recognise the impact we have as humans on the environment. This picture is from last winter, do you notice any changes this year?

To make the most out of winter it is important that we take into account what we are wearing?


Footwear
Children should wear either wellingtons or sturdy walking boots.  Two pairs of well fitting socks should be worn for extra warmth.  If children arewearing wellies in the snow, make sure hey fit snugly so thatthe snow can't get inside them.

Warm clothes
several thinner layers are warmer than one thick one and enable children running about to shed an outer layer without the risk of catching a chilld.  Tights wore under trousers are a good idea, as is a vest and long-sleeved shirt beneath a fleece and a coat.

Waterproofs
Come wind, rain or snow, a decent set of waterproofs will protect children from whatever the elements have in store.

Gloves/mittens
small children get miserable very quickly if their hands are too cold, yet given the chance they will want to play with ice and snow.  Gloves should be warm and waterproof.  Take along a could of extra pairs just in case.

Hats
Children should always wear a hat in cold weather ideally a balaclava or a hat with cosy flaps.


At our next sessions we will be looking at collecting more twigs and making twig sculptures.  We will also be looking at the changes to the trees during our walk into the woods.

Looking forward to seeing you soon

Mel

Here and now of Mini Rangers Starting Back on the 11th January

During the Christmas break I have been a busy Bee, Jubilee Pre School are going to be coming on board to organise every other session so that between us we can continue to run Mini Rangers every Monday morning.

I will let you know who is on and on which dates.

Last Term I embarked myself on a journey into Forest School tuition, it was really interesting and Mini Rangers gave us the space to try out different focuses from sound exploration to pre-writing skills such as scissor work and creating twig structures.  I want to built on these activities by encouraging more woodland explorations, more food prep and more stories.

Sometimes I have to scale down my ambitions depending on the volunteers I have, but a great proposal from Jubilee Childcare to organise every other session for the Mini Rangers will extend the possibilities and bring in some new ideas.

For my own sessions I would like to focus on educational elements that will encourage our mini rangers to look at ways of looking after our park as well as enjoying it.

I will be looking at ways of educating both myself and anyone else who is interested in more woodland care and understanding by asking the woodland trust to come and do a talk for us, please let me know if you are interested in this as I am hoping to arrange it for 6pm, children will be welcome, but not compulsory! Coffee and Biscuits will be served, the talk will be held a Jubliee Pre School.

So I will be back at Mini Rangers on the 11th January at 10 am for fun and exploration in the woods.

See you there.
  

Reflection on the new changes at Mini Rangers

Forest School techniques are all about giving children a purpose to learn.  Teaching knots that will tie up the shelter, using a peeler to prepare vegetables, a knife to whittle or a bow saw to chop wood.  It may seem far fetched when you look at your newly walking 1 year old to make the leap to them using a bow saw, but little by little and with staggered steps the idea is that by the time your child reaches the end of reception not only will they have mastered these skills, but they will be able to choose which tool goes with which job.

Learning for purpose have lead the changes at Mini Rangers.  Firstly we looked at snack time.  This was the perfect area to introduce different tools for food preparation to the children.  This is to encourage their competence and bring them a stage further towards our development goal of 'realising tools can be used for purpose' as an emerging skill to an expected skill of 'selecting tools and techniques needed to shape, assemble and join materials they are using.' and finally at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (End of reception year) children will be 'safely using and exploring a variety of materials, tools and techniques.' These same goals can be overlaid onto the camp fire activities where new tools and risk go hand in hand.  With our tool talks and respect positions and inviting children to come in to feed the fire we give purpose to these EYFS goals.

Trajectory schemas are seen by
'An interest in how objects and people move, and how children can affect the movement.  This schema can be seen in children's actions when they drop objects, jump, swing and Climb up and down repeatedly.'
So that Steep bank, that can only be climbed or slid down with no activity based at the top really feeds into the Trajectory schema.  This is why Schema's are so exciting to me, I have children who constantly throw food, toys or anything else I put on their high chair and the fact there is a relationship to that steep bank at Etherow is a really exciting observation.  Moving on from that we are also looking at the mastering of Physical Development here.  So from the emerging skill of 'climbing confidently and pulling themselves up' to the expected skill of 'moves freely with pleasure and confidence in a range of ways'  to the  exceeding skill of 'Negotiating space successfully and experimenting with different ways of moving.'  All this and to go with it the added bonus of seeing the characteristics of effective learning such as Active learning and motivation - being involved and concentrating, keeping trying, enjoying achieving what they set out to do.

'where skills are taught in isolation from the need to use them, there is  a risk that balance can be lost and the growth of independent and creative thinkers is limited' (Nutbrown, p50)

Sometimes the jargon of the EYFS can numb the sheer joy of the activity I mean children climbing that bank are not thinking of the muscle strengthening, the co-ordination of remaining balanced while engaging with a vertical slope or indeed how they will get down!  For each child the motivation may be unique to them - that is the question for you to ask!  Can you remember them dropping food and toys off their high chair, do they love to chase and catch bubbles, playing paper areoplanes? Observing the children each week climbing the bank it is irresistible.  It is great to see parents making that climb supporting their eager child.  Here I was being given a climbing lesson.

An experienced mini ranger is expertly showing me how she climbs the bank.

I wanted her to use the rope, but she uses her legs as her strength and support.

Here she humours me by holding the rope,

    This expert climber has her own style and she will climb the bank, but she will do it how she does it best and she is the expert in her own learning.  She has taken control and revels in it.  She shows a persistent interest and despite the effort and the struggle it takes to get to the top and then get down again, she continues to explore.  There is much to be learnt about the characteristics she shows at the moment  reveal her motivation for the task in hand.

Some children might use transporting as a means of understanding the world.  definition:
An interest in moving themselves around and in transporting objects.  Once they are mobile, babies and children begin to move objects and themselves from one place to another, using bags, bikes, trucks etc.  
I have discovered myself lately that when a child is compelled to transport it is often a good idea to take a bag on every journey.  Certainly down in the Education area at this time of year there is so much to transport and for good reason too.  I am going to be regularly taking children off to the woods with parents and carers to search out tinder and kindling, collect leaves and spot plant life.  If you recognise your child in this schema I am sure that child will come prepared for collecting anyway.

It is Vygotsky the Russian Psychologist who contributed to theory of children's thinking and Cathy Nutbrown explains that organised learning can often be traced back to the real experiences children have such as filling the washing machine, baking, gardening, writing postcards or birthday cards.  Tasks are categorised by what a child can do now and what a child can do with assistance Vygotsky identified the inter difference between this as the 'zone of proximal development'.

This is exciting because here we are talking about the importance of that close adult relationship that as a carer or parent we work towards building.  As Bowlby asserts
'As long as mothering is of high quality and is provided by figures who remain the same during the child's early life, then (at least four or five mother figures) multiple mothering need have no adverse affects'.(Bowlby J 1969/1982 attachment and loss: vol 1 Attachment. New Yorks Basic Books).

As parents it is not only important to give our child high quality interactive experiences when they are with us, but to ensure that these activities are continued in whichever high quality child care we choose.  I will say no more on this subject as I am of course inherently biased!

Mini Rangers share many of the same aims as Forest School such as

The use of a woodland setting  -  We are looking at children's freedoms within boundaries, innovative approaches to learning and strict safety routines.

A high adult to learner ratio - With the parent/carer taking the lead in the child's learning allowing the children to undertake tasks and play activities without exposing the children to undue risk of harm.

Learning can be linked I try to link whatever we are doing with the Early Years Foundation Stage.  As an Early Years Teacher this is my area of comfort and expertise.

Regular contact for the children - We run mini rangers, rain or shine throughout term time.  this ensures that we are allowing children to plan and enjoy the routine of mini rangers.

The most important people for the children at mini rangers are the mini ranger's parents.  It is your continued interest and wonder at their excellence that will drive the children forward on their quest for knowledge and skills.

This type of group is constantly evolving.  We rely on volunteers, so to some extent different volunteers bring in different expertise and that is fantastic.   I hope you all continue to enjoy Mini Rangers and the new ideas that come and evolve here.