Enabling Environments: Forest Schools, Part 1: Location, location

Every practitioner can envisage their perfect piece of woodland for their Forest School: safe, warm, fun, with dappled sunlight, a deer in the distance and a rabbit eating dandelions - the perfect place for children to jump and climb, run and laugh, to flourish and grow. So, what should your piece of woodland look like? How do you find your perfect patch, and where do you have to compromise?

The starting point for finding a piece of woodland that is right for you is to establish what kind of Forest School programme you plan to run. The following ten questions will help you formulate your plans and assess the suitability and potential of a piece of land once you start visiting sites:

• 1. How old are the children you are planning to take to the woodland?
• 2. How many children will be attending each session?
• 3. How often will you be visiting the woodland?
• 4. How long will sessions last? (Two, four, six hours?)
• 5. How long will the programme last? (Seasonal or all year round?)
• 6. How will you and the children get to the woodland? (Dropped off by parents, on foot, by minibus or local transport? If on foot, how long do you want the walk to be: to the wood, and from the entrance to the forest school site?)
• 7. Will the site be permanent (with, for example, a group shelter and fire area) or temporary (in which case you will have to transport any equipment to and from the site at every session)?
• 8. What type of programme are you planning? (Self-directed play and learning throughout, guided learning to develop certain areas such as gross and fine motor skills? This will determine the need for resources and what kind of resources you need to fulfil your programme over all goals).
• 9. What resources do you require the woodland to have for the children (eg, if you will be having fires in the winter because is cold, is there enough dead wood to cater for this? If making natural shelters is a possibility, are there enough resources?)
• 10. Do you require additional features to the woodland, such as a secure fence, or is a more open access arrangement suitable?

LOCATIONS AND LANDOWNERS

The location of your setting will determine some features of the woodland available to you - for example:

• - site - rural or urban
• - bedrock and soil types, which will enable certain plants and trees to grow
• - type of woodland - broadleaf or coniferous
• - species mix
• - accessibility - by foot or transport
• - access - private, or with public access
• - landowner - private, public sector, or charities and trusts.

Urban woodland is more likely to be publicly owned, while rural woodland is likely to belong to owners of farms, small-holdings or estates, although churches, scouting associations and National Parks Authority may also be possible owners. The type of landowner may also affect your access times and fees.

When looking for land, approach your council - every local authority, regardless of location, has a countryside department, and your area may have a specific or integrated woodland department employing rangers and/or community foresters. You may also be lucky enough to have a national park nearby, National Trust land or a nature reserve managed by the Wildlife Trust or other organisations.

But there's nothing to beat simply getting out a map of the local area, identifying wooded areas within your agreed radius and driving around to take a 'ringside' look. Then, contact the owner to explain your plan and gain permission to examine the woodland further.

SITE VISITS

Walking through the wood will give you a feel for whether it is 'right' for the children in your setting and the programme you have in mind. But take plenty of time to look around, to see, listen, smell and feel. The aesthetics of a wood are very important to a Forest School programme and are conducive to a positive learning environment.

• - Is the woodland magnificent? Does it have visual variations in textures, layers of flora, variety of species?
• - Will the bright greens of newly emerging leaves and shoots in the springtime contrast to the feel in summer and the smell of autumn, with damp soil and a coppery blanket of leaves in which to hide and seek, and make and throw? Will there be the dark bareness of the soil as the grass, bracken and other plants die and fungi emerge? Will a hush descend over the woodland on snowy and frosty days? Will there still be deep contrasts in colour, with evergreens, holly, yew or spruces?
• - Can birds be heard in the canopy, the shrub or the field layers? What are the visible signs of wildlife - badgers, foxes, deer, rabbits and mice or squirrels?

More urban, and some rural, areas will often lack such richness. They might be a small piece of council-owned scrubland, disused railway sidings, a wooded bank near a park, woodland surrounded by main roads, a bramble patch with a few sycamores on a reclaimed pit site and strewn with rubbish. But litter can be cleared and challenges overcome (see box). Such environments can still add value to children's experience.

The diversity of the plants and creatures of all shapes and sizes will intrigue and inspire your children as they explore and become familiar with the area, and determine their own learning paths. And when you do finally find your 'perfect' patch, be sure to ask the landowner all the right questions (see box).

CASE STUDY

'It was originally my intention to run our Forest Schools programme in the nursery grounds and surrounding public parks, as many settings do very successfully,' says David Green, owner of Alphabet House Day Nursery, Long Eaton, Nottingham. 'However, after observing several Forest Schools sessions run by other Derbyshire nurseries (which I advise you all to do), I was inspired to find a magical and inspirational place for our children to play and learn ... a woodland.'

Criteria

Mr Green says, 'I compiled a list of criteria for my ideal Forest Schools site. These were:

• - Maximum of ten minutes' walk or drive away. (The journey from 'urban' to 'rural' is all part of the Forest Schools experience).
• - A site free from problems of security, vandalism, animal mess or alcohol and drugs. (These can be an issue with some public sites).
• - An interesting site with a range of trees, plants and animal life.
• - Area for a fire pit. (Some sites prohibit fires, though they may agree to them after you have developed a relationship with the landowner).
• - Sustainable source of wood for den making, environmental art, etc.

Finding the site

'Finding the site was a very simple process. Using an Ordnance Survey map, we pinpointed all the woodland in our area, private and public, then got in the car and drove round to find which areas were suitable for our Forest Schools sessions. (It was shocking to see what a small amount of woodland/wild places is left in our area!)

'The first site we found was on private farmland, so I just knocked on the farmer's door and asked if we could use his wood and he said yes!

'It is important to be able to explain to a landowner what a Forest School is and how it can benefit children. We put together an information pack for all the landowners we intended to approach.

'I've since worked with the County Land and Business Association to promote the use of farmland for educational and Forest Schools use. Many farms have unused/unmanaged woodland on their sites. Many landowners see Forest Schools programmes as a relatively low-impact way of making a positive contribution to the local community and are willing to work in partnership with schools and nurseries to give them access to their land. There are also financial benefits for them too!'

CONCLUSION

Some settings may be lucky enough to have a superb woodland at the back of their grounds, while others may face a bus journey to access a small piece of land that is surrounded by high-rise blocks of flats and needs to be cleared of rubbish before every session. But every woodland is packed with a life of its own, and the treasures that children hold in their hearts as a result of being free to explore those wonders will make your own journey a pleasure and an inspiration.

Sarah Blackwell has been developing Forest Schools programmes in both rural and urban settings for ten years and now runs Archimedes Training, which is providing Forest Schools training in Wales, England and Scotland as well as to international students from Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Europe. www.forestschools.com

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

The health and well-being of the woodland is as important as that of the children at Forest Schools. So, be responsible - observe, evaluate and monitor the positive environmental impacts as well as the emotional and social ones. To do this:

• 1. Identify the programme (children's ages, length of stay, learning intentions, etc)
• 2. Identify the woodland site
• 3. Choose parameters to observe (for example, soil; flora - trees, shrubs, field level plants and flowers, fungi, mosses; fauna; local people; noise; archaeological features; water)
• 4. Find recent surveys of these
• 5. Observe them on the site
• 6. Evaluate their conditions, abundance, rarity, robustness and inter-relationships with other aspects that you have identified for analysis
• 7. Assess whether your programme will damage or enhance any of these parameters in general, or in a specific area (such as bluebells in springtime)
• 8. Assess whether the positive impacts of your Forest School will outweigh any negative impacts (You will then need to decide whether to continue with the programme in this woodland or look for another site)
• 9. If yes, how will you monitor the impact of simply being there and then all the different activities that may occur during your programme (for example, collecting natural material, hiding and seeking, fires and cooking, trampling footpaths, using green wood)? Archimedes offers an EIA form on its course or through consultancy which enables you to score the impact for each activity, positive or negative, in the short, medium and long term, and a daily Risk Assessment Form for recording and monitoring any impact.
• 10. Decide what mitigating measures you will put in place. For example, will you plant new seedlings, create ponds, ensure deadwood is always available for the minibeasts and birds?

CHALLENGES

Transport costs and availability

This is the biggest problem facing Forest School programmes. Many settings cannot afford minibuses. Using staff cars has insurance implications, and many staff don't want muddy boots all over their vehicles.

Working in partnership with the woodland owner

You must respect the fact that you are on someone else's land, as you are bringing your children to play in their back garden. Keep them informed of what you are doing each session. Don't remove or cut down anything without their consent. Remember that they are a source of knowledge too and can tell you lots about the plants and animals to be found in the woods.

Working in partnership with parents

It's important to get parents on board with your plans. Explain what Forest Schools is all about by holding a parents' evening and sending home information packs.

Insurance

Early years settings will have insurance to cover them taking children off the nursery site on trips. However, if you take the children off site on a regular basis to access Forest School sessions, you will need to inform your insurer and take advice. This goes for your landowner, too, who will need to take legal advice. The County Land and Business Association will be able to advise you on these matters. (This will also be covered in more detail in a later part of the series).

Risk assessment

Both landowner and setting will have to produce independent risk assessment and work together on all issues that arise from these.

Environmental impact report

It's important that you assess the impact your Forest Schools sessions will have on the woodland that you are using, including its wildlife. Some sites may already have an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Management Plan. If not, then you can undertake them yourself, or if you don't feel confident enough, you can commission an independent report, which need not cost a lot (see box.)

TEN QUESTIONS TO ASK A LANDOWNER

• 1. Is there a management plan for the woodland?
• 2. Is the woodland used for any other purpose (for example, shooting)?
• 3. Is there a designation on the woodland (for example, Site of Special Scientific Interest or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty?
• 4. Is there a species list for the site and any rare types of flora or fauna?
• 5. Are there any restrictions on using any area of the woodlands at any time of the year? (For example, is it abundant with bluebells during the spring?)
• 6. Does the landowner have public liability insurance for use of the site?
• 7. Who will be responsible for essential safety work and management of the woodland?
• 8. Are resources, green wood and dead wood available, and can you access them?
• 9. Are there any archaeological features on the site?
• 10. How much will you charge to use the site and will it be per person, per week, or per year? 
  

CONTACT INFORMATION

• www.forestschools.com, for general information on Forest Schools
•  Archimedes Training, the Forest Schools Training Centre of Excellence(r), www.archimedes-training.co.uk, tel: 0114 2855534
• Forest Education Initiative, www.foresteducation.org.