Outdoor Classroom Day 2019

Happy Outdoor Classroom Day 2019!

On Outdoor Classroom Day we bring you ideas of how to get children outdoors in line with the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework guidelines.

Below are extracts from Reports, Papers and the Education Inspection Framework.

In 2014 the growing weight of evidence was finally recognised by Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education at the time, who stated that England was to become a “global leader” in teaching character, resilience and grit to pupils.

‘There is growing evidence that children’s social and emotional skills – their ability to respond to setbacks, work well with others, build relationships, manage emotions and cope with difficult situations – are associated with success at school, as well as positive outcomes in adulthood.’ (Education Endowment Foundation 2017 Report).

There are many different definitions however, probably one of the most compact and accessible definition of the terms ‘resilience’ and ‘character’ has been developed by ADEPIS (ADEPIS Report (March 2015) ‘Building Resilience and Character in young people’ as outlined below:

‘Resilience is the capacity of an individual to ‘bounce back’ from adverse experiences, and to manage positive resources and skills, such as ‘character’ and ‘grit’, that can allow minimising negative outcomes of adverse circumstances.’

‘Character is a set of capabilities (including application, self-direction, self -regulation, and empathy) and soft skills that allow people to achieve their potential.’

The ability to manage setbacks and build on them, seeing them in a positive light that young people can learn from is essential. As Einstein noted ‘Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure, it just means you have not succeeded yet’.

There is compelling evidence built up over many years that children and young people thrive through learning and engaging outside the classroom.

In September 2019 OFSTED introduced the Education Inspection Framework (EIF) which is built around the ‘connectedness’ of the curriculum. Assessors will focus on quality of education with the curriculum extending beyond the academic to include broader development such as: personal development, behaviour and attitudes, character and cultural capital. This presents an opportunity to extend into the outdoors!

Below are some key notes taken directly from the OFSTED EIF:

Q: How can development of character/personal development be supported in schools?

Personal development:
28. Inspectors will make a judgement on the personal development of learners by evaluating the extent to which:

The curriculum extends beyond the academic, technical or vocational. It provides for learners’ broader development, enabling them to develop and discover their interests and talents.
The curriculum and the provider’s wider work support learners to develop their character – including their resilience, confidence and independence – and help them know how to keep physically and mentally healthy.

Children can be supported in building resilience, confidence, independence and in knowing how to keep physically and mentally healthy.

The foundation of our work here at Circle of Life Rediscovery is built on the above qualities. Everything we do is based in nature.

Inspectors will make a judgement on behaviour and attitudes, including the extent to which:

‘Learners’ attitudes to their education or training are positive. They are committed to their learning, know how to study effectively and do so, are resilient to setbacks and take pride in their achievements’.

Q: What is Cultural Capital?
Early Years Inspection handbook p16:

Cultural capital
140. Inspectors will evaluate how well leaders ensure that the curriculum they use or create enhances the experiences and opportunities available to children, particularly the most disadvantaged. Some children arrive at an early years settings with poorer experiences than others, in their learning and play. What a setting does, through its curriculum and interactions with practitioners, potentially makes all the difference for children. It is the role of the setting to ensure that children experience the awe and wonder of the world in which they live, through the seven areas of learning.

We know that outdoor learning experiences can improve a young person’s feeling of well-being. A meta-analysis of 96 studies (see Report) shows that there are significant improvements in independence, confidence, self-efficacy, self-understanding, assertiveness, internal focus of control and decision making as a result of outdoor adventure programmes.

What we see every day: Learning in a natural environment has a high positive impact on a child’s behaviour. This is linked to the quality of facilitation.

Key approaches in the outdoors enable:

Child led learning – allows children to discover interests in their own time and at their own pace. Intrinsic motivation and sense of agency is also developed.
Learning in nature – hands on learning with a range of natural materials to encompass all learning types including kinaesthetic learners, e.g. clay, sticks, stones. Nature as metaphor and deep investigation.
Physical health – wider range of movement in the outdoors such as, climbing, running, crawling, jumping and proprioception. Woodlands naturally provide logs, trees, hills, ditches, stumps which promote movement.
Mental health – research has shown being in the outdoors reduces stress. The community of learners provides a safe, emotionally literate, welcoming atmosphere.
Building resilience, confidence and independence – regular experiences in the outdoors provide opportunities for children to take supported risks at their own pace and to build on their abilities thus increasing confidence and self esteem.

Download the full document here: ‘Character and Resilience and the Outdoors’

Would you like us to build you an outdoor classroom? Visit our website for details!

Enjoy your Outdoor Classroom Day – we hope you manage to get outside today!

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

We provide exciting and highly beneficial nature-centred learning and therapeutic experiences for young people, adults, and families in Sussex woodlands, along with innovative continuing professional development for the health, well being and teaching professionals who are supporting them.

Follow us to stay in touch and find out about our events, training, CPD’s and family days:

Forest Bathing in East Sussex

Forest Bathing: Retreat into Nature

Forest Bathing is an enjoyable and restorative practice which involves connecting with nature for health and well-being.

With its roots in Japan, Forest Bathing is a gentle and restorative practice which involves bathing our senses and our whole being in the atmosphere of the forest. It brings together the beauty, healing and wisdom of nature with simple ‘invitations’ which facilitate deep relaxation and connection to both self and the natural world.

Forest Bathing is a powerful and pleasurable way to re-set the nervous system with benefits lasting long beyond the session.

Sessions include gentle walking, sitting meditations and ‘invitations’ which are simple, guided practices to help you connect more deeply with yourself and nature.

Research shows that Forest Bathing helps to:

Reduce stress and anxiety
Lower cortisol levels
Reduce blood pressure
Lower heart rate
Boost immune system function
Improve empathy
Stimulate creative thinking

Forest Bathing in East Sussex – Relax, restore, receive

Join us on 9th November and/or 8th February for a gentle and nurturing day combining:

Valuable self-care tools
Forest Bathing
Nature Connection
Time around the fire

Date: Saturday November 9th and/or Saturday 8th February 2020.
Time: 11am – 3pm.
Location: Mill Woods, near Laughton, East Sussex.
Facilitators: Marina Robb, Circle of Life Rediscovery Director and Claire de Boursac, Nature as Nurture Director, Nature well-being practitioner, Humanistic Psychotherapist (BACP) and Walk for Health leader.
Cost: £65.00 per day (you are welcome to attend either or both days)
How to book: Please complete our online booking form where you will also find payment details.

During this mini-retreat, we will enter the darker half of the year receiving nature’s wisdom and support.

Like the animals, we will gather up what we need to nurture and restore us.

Further information can be found on our website.

Further details about Forest Bathing:

Does it involve swimming?
No. The sometimes confusing name is a translation from the Japanese ‘Shinrin Yoku’. We remain fully clothed (with option to go barefoot) and bathe in the atmosphere of the forest.

Do I need any experience?
No. You’ll be guided through everything.

Do I need any special equipment or clothing?
No. You’ll need to wear comfortable clothing suitable for the weather and footwear that can manage uneven ground. As it’s a slow-paced session I suggest bringing an extra layer to be on the safe side. Seating pads are provided for sitting meditations.

Do I need to be fit?
Forest Bathing is a slow-paced walk with some in-situ meditations. It is not a hike. You will need to be fit enough to be outdoors for the session length. There are periods when we are standing still and if this is uncomfortable for you there’s always the option to lean against a tree or sit on the ground. If you have any concerns about health and fitness drop me a line.

Do you forest bathe in all weather?
Almost. Part of the aim and also part of the joy of forest bathing is to engage in nature in her fullness. The woods are rather magical in the rain. Sessions will not run if it’s dangerous to do so – for example in high winds or thunder storms.

Is this a summer only activity?
Sessions run year-round. One of the joys of forest bathing is to witness the changing of the seasons and notice the beauty in all.

Is the session accessible?
It will depend on the session and the route. Please contact us to check. As we are often off the beaten track in the woods, with uneven ground the routes may not be suitable for wheelchair access.

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

Circle of Life Rediscovery provides exciting and highly beneficial nature-centred learning and therapeutic experiences for young people, adults, and families in Sussex woodlands, along with innovative continuing professional development for the health, well being and teaching professionals who are supporting them.

Tel: 01273 814226.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
www.circleofliferediscovery.com
info@circleofliferediscovery.com

Forest Kindergarten

Breathing Life into Literacy

By Louise Hack

Education and lives have changed hugely over the last 50 years. We now live in a fast world- fast food, fast internet access, firing off a quick email to numerous people and flicking between many screens. Our brains have developed into high speed trains which somehow are able to cope with constant quick episodes of conversation, information and interactions without moving from the comfort of our seats.

Education seems to mirror this more and more and there is an ever- increasing rush to put pen to paper, be still, write at length, test and assess with less and less time to connect, explore and wonder. However, when you strip it right back learning is a process and a messy one at that! We need to consider the core elements of learning and surely the rights of the child and we need to put them at the heart of our teaching.

They must therefore include the following:

Making connections (people, nature)
Active play and learning (time, space, following own interests and fascinations)
Exploration
Developing self-emotions, confidence, resilience, problem solving and independence

And what better place to enhance and develop these areas? Yes you’ve got it – the
outdoors!

I believe that moving literacy into the outdoor environment inspires children,
stimulates their imagination, makes sense of the world around them that they will
ultimately be reading and writing about. In this article, we are going to explore how to integrate literacy into nature by using the big outdoor classroom.

So…. get ready, lift yourselves up from your desks, pull on your waterproofs and be
prepared to get your hands dirty as you open the doors to literacy learning beyond
the classroom walls. Go forth… explore, discover and wonder and I guarantee you
will notice significant changes with engagement, energy, ownership and emotional
involvement- both yours and the children you teach..

Rituals and personal stories – on a recent Forest Kindergarten training event with
Juliet Robertson we discussed the importance of rituals in play and behaviour.
Rituals can create order and help us to create sense to our world. All animals seek
rituals and even my gorgeous but slightly anxious Ozzy dog seeks familiar and
ordered events on his walks and wanderings. I have learnt to follow his lead – who
am I to try and avoid one of the sniffed but much loved bunny holes!

As a child rituals were an important part of my world and I still remember them fondly from the chants we used to say as we crossed bridges to school to the gentle shake of a low lying branch to wish the old tree a good day. Rituals are repetitive, help children to feel secure, tune them into their environment and aid transitions. Rituals help to form personal histories and stories which in turn aids storytelling. So when out and about with little ones – look around you and consider how you can create stories with the places you visit regularly. Tune in with your world – really look and explore. Children will never forget all the little things.

Creating characters – creating characters or woodland creatures is a lovely activity for young children to do quite early on using the natural materials that they find.

It can help them to feel safe to have a little creature that lives in the woods who they come to find each week and someone that they can have adventures with. It can also help to develop empathy, friendship and relationships.

By creating a character hands on, they can start to develop the descriptive language whilst in the moment of making for example “it has a bumpy, pointy head and soft, smooth skin.” It is much easier to describe when you are creating something hands on rather than looking at a 2D picture of a character from a book. In addition to this you can now create the characters story.

Storytelling – Storytelling connects. It connects us to our past, to each other, our families and our world. Here are two examples of ways to unravel stories with young children:

Story small worlds – try creating a natural story world

*You could create a place for your creature to live in. Does it live in a dark cave? Does it like to live up high or underground? Is your character shy or does it like to have lots of people to live nearby?

*Or retell a story using a story map that you have made- track a story adventure by creating the journey from start to finish.

Story sticks – This is a great activity and one of my favourites for creating a story journey. When out for a long walk, collect a stick about the length of your lower arm and take some elastic bands or string with you. Wrap the elastic bands/ string around the stick and as you enjoy your walk, your children can collect treasures and attach them with the elastic bands. This is a great activity for encouraging children to become inquisitive about the world around them, it helps them to tune in and explore and REALLY look at what’s beneath their feet. At the end they could make up a story using their collected treasures to remember the steps they have taken on their journey. Alternatively, this stick can become… hmmm… a chance to inspire their imagination!

Describing our world – we can have high expectations that all children will be able
to describe the world around them. But how can anyone truly describe a scene
unless they have experienced it first hand? Multi-sensory experiences aid the brain
to connect and engage which as a result associates a meaning and an emotional
connection. Therefore, if you want someone to use descriptive language in a story,
poem or passage to describe, for example, the thundering rain or windy weather,
then they need to experience it first-hand not just through a picture. They need to
feel the wind on their skin, feel a sense of cold, have their hair whip around their
face, feel the air almost knocked out of them and even struggle to walk into the wind.

Learning by doing is exciting, it allows us to create meaning. When you next have a
snowy or windy day then yes, by all means think about safety but also open your
eyes to the fact that this may be a child’s first experience of such an event. A year or so ago when we had our last ‘big’ snow shower, I took a class of Reception aged
children outside to experience snow. They had never experienced this other than
through watching TV, Frozen the movie in reality. After a little while of exploring, they were telling me how cold they were, how the snow had turned hard and that it wasn’t soft anymore. Children need to discover, see things change before their eyes to encourage vocabulary and the depth to write about subjects in the future.

Tuning in and listening – early phonics

In a previous job role as a consultant, I worked in a variety of different Early Years settings focusing on the very early years of literacy. One of the most significant outcomes of some research that I was involved in, was around the decline of ability to filter sounds due to increased environmental noise e.g. babies finding it hard to tune into their mothers voice or a toddler hearing a set of keys fall to the floor.

It is hugely important that we build in time to ‘really’ listen to what sounds are around us. Noise is a part of our lives and so much so that during a recent remote holiday to Devon it almost hurt my ears when there was a lack of sound!

In the outdoors there is a cacophony of different sounds – some natural and some man made. The difference to tuning into them outdoors rather than indoors is that the sounds are not so strong and overpowering because there is more open space for sound to travel around. Nature has a rich orchestra and is a great way of allowing children the time to sit quietly and record either by pictures or marks on a page the different natural sounds/ conversations they hear. You will be surprised that when you really ‘tune in’ how many different sounds you can hear.

In addition to this, allowing children to have the time to understand that everything can make a different sound – one stone dropping into a cool pool will not sound the same as another. Everything is different and unique – so catch your breath and relish this time.

Books to support literacy learning outdoors (some of my favourites):

Stanley’s Stick – Neal Layton
The listening walk – Paul Showers
Leaf Man –
We’re going on a leaf hunt – Steve Metzger
Mud – Mary Lyn Ray
Snail Trail – Ruth Brown
Yucky Worms – Vivian French
Wild – Emily Hughes
Bog Baby – Jennie Willis
Into the Forest – Anthony Browne
Tree: seasons come and seasons go – Patricia Hegarty (Bee and Moon books also
by the same author)
Leaf – Sandra Dieckmann

So finally…

Outdoor experiences allow us to breathe… the pace slows and we start to respond to the natural rhythms around us. The outdoors allows us to connect and deepen our sensory experiences which help to make meaning to the world in which we live. We develop our talk, negotiation/ problem solving skills and tune into the natural environment.

We can develop an abundance of language and we can also develop our personal histories/ stories in a playful way. The outdoors allows us to develop the link and connection between ourselves, our adventures and stories.

So lets breathe the outdoors into our literacy learning and inspire and engage our children with many different skills whilst they play and explore.

Louise Hack, Whoosh Learning Director, Educational Consultant & Circle of Life Rediscovery Trainer.

Find out more about our upcoming Forest Kindergarten Training:

FOREST KINDERGARTEN ‘OPENING UP THE OUTDOORS’ TRAINING

A two day introductory course based on the Scottish Forest Kindergarten Model.

Key Overview:
Forest Kindergarten is modelled on a Forest School approach and is based around child-centred learning through play in the Early Years. Forest Kindergartens offer young children frequent visits and regular play opportunities in a local, natural setting all year round – this could be a woodland, park or even a beach!

The aim of this two-day training is to develop Early Years practitioners’ skills to enable and empower them to make regular visits to a local green space/woodland.

Date: 18th October & 4th November 2019.
Facilitators: Marina Robb, Nikki McKnight, Louise Hack, Vicky Tideswell & Lucy Collins.
Location: Mill Woods, near Laughton, East Sussex.
Time: 09.00 – 16.30.
Cost: £100.
Booking: Please book online.

Key Content:

How to prepare both yourselves as practitioners and your young children to go to a green space.
Setting up a suitable site and setting boundaries with children.
Preparing for risks (risk benefit model).
Research on the benefits of playing and learning outdoors.
Games and songs to support children with the routines of regular visits to a green space.

Please visit the website for full details.

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

Deepening Nature Connection beyond Nature Contact – Earthwalks and Nature Connection

Earthwalks and Nature Connection

By Jon Cree

“Come forth into the light of things. Let nature be your teacher”
William Wordsworth (The Major Works)

“Surely any outdoor learning is a good thing and is creating nature connection, at least we’re getting them out there, nature teaches all the time”.

This is a mantra I often hear from outdoor and indeed environmental educators.

Having been involved in the EE (environmental education) /OE (outdoor education) movement for 40 years, I know this is not necessarily the case. In fact done badly, and without a congruent value system that dictates an educators practice, it can create disconnection from the natural world and the very ecological systems on which we all depend for sustenance and beauty.

Is the recent upsurge of the nature “connection” movement a good thing regarding the long term relationship with our planet? When we read and experience the breaking of ecological systems, as evidenced by the latest IPCC reports on climate change, the latest statistics coming from the amazon, where soya production is increasing the rate rain forest destruction due to our meat eating habits – I fear we have failed in our attempts to build connection and relationship to the planet in the contemporary EE/OE movement.

In this short article I would like to explore what we mean by nature connection, and raise questions about practises, such as Earthwalks, that embody this that could lead to regenerative systems.

So what do we mean by nature connection? For me it is about a continuous relationship with the natural world and it’s ecological systems, i.e, the planet itself. It is about the improvised duet between our animal body and the fluid breathing land which we inhabit – a participatory relationship. There is an active dialogue with all life – between the human and the non human, between the inner mind and the outer world.

Steve van Matre, author of ‘Earthwalks – an alternative nature experience’, recently wrote; “…this (environmental education) is not a matter of planting seeds. That’s what most everyone in our field claims they are doing, but without careful cultivation, most of the intended growth withers and dies. It is choked out by other desires and demands on learners lives………most seeds did not and don’t make it”

Relationship takes time, effort and cultivation – it is not a one off field trip or a momentary wow atop a mountain or deep in a bluebell blooming wood.

What nature connection is really about, is rich first hand contact with the natural world that engenders reverence, respect, kinship, joy AND, importantly, love and understanding. A key to cultivating these emotions is a deep ‘knowing’ of the ways the ecological processes of the planet operate and how we as humans are part and parcel of it all.

Nature connection is reciprocal…indeed all relationships depend on reciprocity and that can only happen when we humans recognise how we are fed physically as well as emotionally by the natural world.

Steve van Matre goes on to say; “…in a loving relationship there are three entities; two people plus the relationship itself…”

I take from this that for both people to gain from this they have to sacrifice in the
relationship. In our relationship with the natural world we have taken the relationship for granted and not sacrificed enough and now the natural world is kicking back in the many environmental ways it only knows how to kick back (rising temperatures, surging methane, species loss etc).

Developing this relationship and knowing what to sacrifice takes intentional time. When we are open to it and know the workings we can see ourselves as part of this vast interconnected web and really connect rather than have that all too brief in-comprehensive contact that is often equated to connection. What, as Van Matre states, we need to do is to “sharpen our senses and open our minds…letting nature flow into us and to really deepen our understandings in order to ‘give back’ rather than take”.

Sustainable development has often been construed as something that can help human growth, and make meaning for ourselves. However after thirty years of sustainable development speak we are in a worse situation and the term has meant, in the end, more growth – we need new language and dialogue.

As Herbert Girardet has said we now need ‘regeneration’ not ‘development’.

Just having nature contact does not necessarily enable learners formulate a deep integral meaning of what our true ecology is which can then enable a regeneration of our planetary systems and ourselves. It does not necessarily help us understand the basic energy flows and material cycles – how sunlight flows into our veins to enable our ancient friend carbon to move and connect all living beings on the planet.

How do we then enable the deeper connection that is required to restore and regenerate the ecological systems that are currently at tipping points? I fear that much EE misses the reciprocity, the giving back to the cycles of life (AIR, WATER and SOIL), the giving of gratitude to the natural world, when taking children and learners into the woods.

If we are to have true connection we need to get off the paths and develop rich close contact with the natural world – it is more than a view from a mountain top or momentarily ‘seeing’ the bluebell wood. Earthwalks are defined as “a light, refreshing touch of nature that focuses on reawakening individual senses and sharpening perceptions fostering joy, kinship, reverence and love for the earth and it’s life”.

This multi-sensory walk that has a ‘flow’ to it encourages new perspectives; viewing a log from the perspective of a small creature, tracing our own ‘veins’ and seeing how they are reflected in the patterning in a tree or leaf veins, taking off shoes and socks in reverence to nature and, without the use of sight, revelling in the reverence for natures grandeur and ‘ordinary’; finishing with genuine gratitude.

In the new Earthwalk book there are many experiences that can be woven to take people to a deeper place of ‘contact’ with nature that encourages ‘connection’. When you combine the joy, kinship, reverence and love, that are fostered in an Earthwalk with a deeper understanding of the ecological system we are ‘experiencing’ then we can encourage a deeper ‘gut and body’ felt connection. A multi-sensory approach to nature connection is essential and Earthwalks are one way of starting to reinvigorate.

I leave you with four questions about nature connection to intentionally and mindfully consider when looking at this deeper connection question;

What does constitute deeper nature connection practise where we can rewire and really understand the workings of the planet?
What routines do we have to embody to realise a regenerative relationship and not see nature as a separate entity – as an IT, but as a whole where there is a unity that can regenerate?
How do we gain new perspectives through daily routines?
What sacrifices do we have to make for the natural world in order to reinvigorate dynamic restorative ecological systems that can include the young whippersnapper – ‘human’?

In the end it is not just going out into nature, making contact and knowing what it can do for us in terms of learning and development, we need to feel this two way relationship between ourselves and animate natural world. Nature connection, as opposed to nature contact, is about letting nature into our everyday lives and making US and IT a WE, fulfilled and integral.

Earthwalks with Jon Cree

If you want to know more about Earthwalks, in particular how to facilitate these dynamic experiences do consider attending the leading Earthwalks workshop with myself and Circle of Life Rediscovery on 23rd November 2019:

What you will gain:

An introduction to earth education and where Earthwalks ‘fit’ in our programmes
A chance to plan and review your own Earthwalk
Experience two different Earthwalks
In-depth analysis on leadership, mechanics, and flow of an Earthwalk
Tools and confidence to lead Earthwalks
An update on earth education developments

Please visit the website for more details.

Date: 23rd November 2019.
Lead Facilitator: Jon Cree.
Cost: £95.00.
Location: Parkwood Campsite, Poynings, East Sussex.
Time: 09.00 – 17.00.
Booking: Please book online here.

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

Listen to the Earth Speak

A year long course for women: our wisdom, connection, nourishment and belonging visualised and celebrated.

Led by Marina Robb and Eleanor Darley

Listen to the Earth speak. Meeting by the fire, in the woods, listening and tending to our well-being, deep in connection, ceremony, plant knowledge, ceremonial practices, laughter and reflection.

This offering is a year course to energise, nourish and celebrate you as a woman; acknowledging your physical and natural connection to the Earth, nature’s rhythms, your wider community, kinships and culture. It will offer the support to build confidence, belonging and vitality of being.

There are many ways of understanding how connected we are to nature and our relationship as women to natural cycles. It is very easy in the modern, externally focused world to forget that our well-being comes from knowing our internal landscapes, and how the external and internal influence each other.

Linking the small and large perspective with the larger forces were and are often explained through show a map in the form of a wheel or circle. All the while, we know that we can only see a small part of ‘reality’. The most common maps place the earth & humans on the earth in the centre, where from our perspective the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. The influence of the sun on life is fundamental, without which life as we know it could have never evolved or exist.

Our menstrual cycles really affect how we as women feel and following our cycles can hugely help us to harness the different qualities through the month.

As an introduction, the following moon wheel enables us to see how our internal cycle links to the qualities of the seasons and phases of the moon. We can use this to apply how we may feel during a day, month or season. Whilst the sun and moon appear to move from East to West from our human perspective, in actual fact the earth, moon and even the sun (albeit at different speeds) are moving anti-clockwise from West to East!

MOON WHEEL DIAGRAM – Your Inner Seasons

Your menstrual cycle awareness, ‘the act of knowing and valuing your unique cyclical pattern of energy and mood throughout the menstrual month, paying attention to where you are in your cycle at any one time, respecting your feelings and energy levels, working with and within the changing energies, leveraging this as a life management and facilitation tool’ (see A Pope & S. Wurlitzer, Red School) is a key part of knowing ourselves. When used well this awareness and knowledge lead us to an increase in health and well-being.

I am now peri-menopausal and moving towards my menopause. I know that understanding my internal seasons and moving into this new phase is also part of a natural continuum and stepping into another experience. I am certainly not alone, and have many wise women’s support ahead of me.

“Women are the archetypal anchors for the power of the feminine, and when we reclaim our feminine power – by restoring our ways and practices – we integrate the power of the feminine into our lives and back onto the planet” (ibid).

Tell your story so the story doesn’t tell you.

Marina Robb – Director, Circle of Life Rediscovery CIC.

Listen to the Earth Speak – Course detail:

Please download our flyer to share with others.

More information: Please visit our website to find out more.
Location of course: Mill Woods, off Park Lane in Laughton, East Sussex, BN8 6BP.
Fee: £995 for the year course.
Who should attend: open to all women over the age of 21 years.
How to book: please complete our online booking form.

While this is not therapy, we will be working therapeutically in some of the work we facilitate. On deciding whether this gathering of women is right for you we would love to hear from you by email, or phone call (01273 814226) so we can have a conversation, and welcome you with whatever you bring.

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

Family Wild Days Out

I used to find the school holidays quite a stressful time.

Looking for interesting things to do and places to go, budgeting for the costs of parking and cafe stops and endless snacks, organising play dates and holiday clubs.

Searching for a place where children could be free to play; without the demand of spending more money and without the overwhelming stress of noise, and the sensory intensity akin to that of going to a town centre, Monkey Bizness or squeezing into public play parks.

I’m sure I’ve found it now. Its called the Family Wild Days Out.

“Somewhere close by in a deep green wood..families played together and all was good.”

A mere stone’s throw out of the city is a place where parents/carers and their children can spend a whole day hanging out together in a local community woodland.

And yet the Family Wild Day Out is no ordinary ‘hanging out’. This is a hands-on family day.

It provides the places to run and play freely, the opportunity to learn a myriad of outdoor skills, such as making fires, cooking, foraging, using woodland tools and making shelters, all blended together with seasonal crafts and games.

Within this space something quite magical also happens; families forget about the ‘pull’ from the outside world and momentarily drop deeply into the ways of playing and exploring together, where time loses its meaning and the hours seem to have passed by so easily and effortlessly.

The days offer a place to reconnect, to share in the joys of the fires first spark and the pride of creating something together that will hold the memories of the day when you finally leave.

So if you are ‘outdoorsy’ types and want to try something different together, then this could be a day for you. Yes its experiential, yes you will need to come prepared for all weathers, and yes there are toilets..(in case you are wondering about that).

“All was quiet in the deep green wood, fun was had by all, and all was good.”

– Charlie Irving

If you would like to join us on one of our Family Wild Days Out the dates are:

31st July, 22nd August and 2nd September 2019.

Time: 10am – 2pm.
Location: Mill Woods, near Laughton, East Sussex. You can read about our beautiful woodland site here.
Cost: £8 per person – for both adults and children. Babies in arms FREE. Our site is buggy friendly, there are toilets and sheltered areas.
How to book: Please book online for the day you wish to attend.

If you have any questions please send an email or call 01273 814226.

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

Why is nature so valuable for us therapeutically and what can it teach us?

An Interview with Ian Siddons Heginworth

Ian Siddons Heginworth has a wealth of experience as a Drama and Art Therapist. He is a leading Ecopsychology practitioner and Environmental Arts therapist working in the West country for Devon Health Authority. Ian will be in East Sussex in September this year running the workshop – Exploring the Natural World and The Feeling Self. Please see below for details.

1. Why is nature so valuable for us therapeutically?

Nature is our natural habitat so when we go into nature we immediately encounter our natural selves. Even the idea of going into nature is an illusion because we are nature, so when we walk into the woods we simply become part of the woods. Our natural self is entwined within a complex web of living and sentient connections and is immensely larger than our egoic self. Therapy is about developing a profound and ever deepening relationship with self so to do this in nature is to do it in context, both in time (through reconnection to the turning year) and space (through reconnection to the other-than-human and to natural locations and materials).

2. What can nature teach us about ourselves?

Nature offers us a rich and complex palate of metaphors, sensual forms rich in colour, shape, texture, meaning, life and death, that transcend spoken language and give shape and substance to our feeling reality. Nature also has an agenda of her own, guiding us constantly into synchronistic encounter with otherwise hidden aspects of ourselves, reflected back to us in her mysteries. She is the wisest of teachers and once we have opened our hearts to her and learned her language, she never ceases to guide us.

3. How does your practice as an environmental art therapist support others in their healing process?

Environmental arts therapy works in relationship to nature to help people move closer to feeling. By finding or making aspects of the feeling self in nature we take that which was hidden within and manifest it outwardly so at last we can interact with it, have a a dialogue with it, transform it, fight and destroy it, or honour and cherish it. That which was profaned can be made sacred, that which was neglected can be loved. Shame can be turned into anger, confusion into direction, impotence into power. All that was stuck is shaken free and begins to flow, and everything begins to change.

4. You wrote a wonderful book, linking the trees to our own psychological journey – what underpins the link between the trees and our own psychology?

The trees in the Celtic Ogham tree calendar offer metaphors that describe the turning of the year, both outwardly and inwardly. As we feel into these, recognising the deep and enduring resonance between all that is unfolding in the natural world around us and all that is unfolding at the same time within, we remember who and what we are. Suddenly all that appeared disfunctional and askew in our lives is seen as part of an unfolding natural process that is so much bigger than ourselves, with an agenda that we can only guess at. Our wounding becomes the path to our enrichment and our empowerment.

5. What will we experience on your upcoming workshop in September? Why is the Ivy known as the Suffocating Ivy?

Ivy can choke, suffocate and overwhelm whatever tree it grows upon and in this way mirrors all that blocks our path and seeks to overwhelm us as we return from the Summerlands in September. As we spiral back into ourselves we meet the shadow that awaits us there and this can manifest both inwardly and outwardly as we become stuck and held fast, like flies in a web. In the workshop we will explore these metaphors and seek ways in which to break free from the ivy block and bring the shadow into consciousness.

6. How does nature mirror us emotionally? How does Art and Creativity facilitate this – why does it work so well?

Nature mirrors us emotionally because we are nature. Nature speaks in metaphor, the language of feeling and so whenever we return to our natural place in nature we meet our feeling selves reflected back to us. Our physical separation from nature simply mirrors our apparent separation from self. Art and creativity also speaks in the language of metaphor and so acts as a translator for our intellectual minds until they remember how to do it for themselves, by listening to the feeling heart. As people steep themselves deeper into this process over time they usually find themselves making less and less art and just recognising themselves in whatever they find.

7. How does this work link to improving the wider community’s relationship to nature and safeguarding if for the future?

This work builds a deep and enduring relationship between soul and soil. Such an intimacy with the natural world is both reciprocal and inherently protective. We will not harm what we love, especially when we feel how much it loves us. The current paradigm places us outside of nature so we see ourselves as its destroyer, a cancer in its body, a parasite bringing the natural world to its knees. But once we see ourselves as nature herself then we can become the self regulating mechanism that the Earth most needs at his time. Human consciousness can prove itself to be the cutting edge of ecological recovery and healing.

Ian Siddons Heginwoth is widely recognised for the Wild Things programme he created and facilitates with young people who are struggling to cope. His understanding of the power of Mother Nature to heal, calm and inspire was born from his own childhood experience.

Ian will be in East Sussex in September, running the following 2 day workshop:

Exploring the Natural World & The Feeling Self – 21st & 22nd September 2019.

‘Suffocating Ivy’ – This training will apply the therapeutic use of natural materials, natural locations, natural themes and natural cycles.

As the solar push of summer comes to an end and the season turns, we recoil back into ourselves with the onset of Autumn. As we spiral inwards we meet the shadows that await us there. In Celtic tradition the ivy was the most powerful of trees for it could pull down a castle wall, block a path or choke the mighty oak. When we meet an ancient ivy we do not just meet the plant but something lost and suffocated within. In this workshop we explore our own ivy blocks, to reveal and resurrect the repressed and neglected aspects of the self.

Date: 21st & 22nd September 2019
Lead Facilitator: Ian Siddons Heginworth
Where: Mill Woods, East Sussex
Time: 09.30 – 17.00
Cost: £175.00
Booking: Please CLICK HERE to complete our online booking form where you will also find payment details or visit the website for more details.

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

Forest School Sessions with Nursery Children

Forest School Sessions

Forest School sessions are an innovative educational approach that focuses on the ‘processes of learning’ rather than ‘content transfer’.

Forest School is play based, with child led learning at its centre, taking place regularly in an outdoor setting.

Forest School sessions provide a place for the child’s spark of creativity to be ignited within a rich, ever changing and limitless learning environment, naturally stimulating the development of motor skills, speech and language, utilising the senses of touch, hearing, sight and smell.

There are no buildings, no desks, no bells signalling break time and no prescribed learning outcomes. Instead they move, explore, discover, wonder and use their own imaginations.

It is a place for children to communicate, cooperate, problem solve, takes risks, build and construct; and if educators and supervisors are able to step outside the box of over planning and venture into the exciting territory of the unexpected, unplanned and unlimited, the full potentiality of children will naturally begin to thrive.

Outdoor Learning and Forest School sessions are about connecting with the natural world where children can lead and direct their own learning at their own pace and in their own time.

“The very skilled educator knows when to offer an insight, a question, or materials to support the child’s learning, but more importantly knows when to get out of the way.” – Jon Cree.

A typical day with Nursery children at Forest School..

Coming together in a circle is the usual starting point for the session. Taking a moment to ‘arrive’ in the space and breathe. How are we feeling? What is happening in the natural world around us? What have you noticed on the way here?

Perhaps someone saw something on the way into the woods – an animal track, a flower, a feather, a magical stick!

We follow curiosity straight into enquiry, wonder, stories, play and identification.

“What is it? I’ve never seen that before.” “Where did it come from?”

A game begins! Wolf and Deer running through the bracken and hiding behind the trees! Who will be caught and who is the catcher? Who is the Prey and who is the Predator?

Playing cooperatively and collaboratively. Leading us naturally into more learning about the animals within the game and how they interact with one another – such as the nature of animals hunting.

“How did it feel to be the wolf? How does a pack of wolves hunt?”

“It was exciting chasing the deer.” “We caught the deer when we worked together”.

“Why is my heart beating so fast?”

Unsupervised and non-directed spaces of free play are usually the time when a child’s natural curiosities for more opportunities to explore, discover new boundaries and take risks are readily available to those who are seeking them.

So it’s off to the river. “Who knows the way? Let’s go!”

“I like the noise when I jump into the river.” “Look at how dirty my hands are.”

A few pieces of equipment available is just enough to inspire a new game, a new skill.

“Let’s build a Dam!” “Where the Mallet? I want to build a House!” Two children precariously slipping down the river bank; shall I help them? “I’ll help you, take this rope and I’ll pull you up.”

(No need, they have it covered.)

“1,2,3,4,5…five buckets of leaves in the river..let’s keep going..6,7,8..”

Space for food and drinks are an important time for us to come together. Often stories around what has happened that morning already will be filled will differing perspectives and experiences.

”There were slugs underneath that log, why are they living there?” “That was fun.”

Playing alone or in natural groupings are observed as indicators to the differing learning styles and preferences within the group.

“I liked making my own house.” “We made a camp together, look at what we did!”

Pride and self reflection gaining its own momentum.

Sawing? Who wants to have a go at making a fire?

A more focused activity can happen now as children are ‘ready and receptive’.

Learning about safety, control and focus to try a new skill.

Working together to use a Bowsaw or making sparks on cotton wool. “Be careful!”

“Can we toast marshmallows this week?”

Returning to the circle at the end to reflect and share.

Inspirations, discoveries, new skills and stories are all ripe to be picked, eaten and enjoyed by all of us. “We made a mud cake together, we found lots of different types of soil to make the pie with, how come there are so many?”

Natural curiosities are things to celebrate as much as possible, who knows where they will lead?

“I didn’t know I was good at sawing; I would like to do more sawing to make a car next time.”

What did we see? Who remembers the noise of the Woodpecker?

“Is it finished already?”

“Can we do this again tomorrow?”

Defenders of play, and protector’s of fantasy, wonder and awe. Our job is done for today..until next time.

By Charlie Irving, Circle of Life Rediscovery – Woodland Facilitator.

“The nursery children love Forest School. We trialled a 10 week programme with Circle of Life Rediscovery at their beautiful woodland site in the heart of Sussex and the outcome more than exceeded our expectations. Since then we have been going back every year. The children are always so excited to go back to the forest every week, running down the path!” Anita Hotton, Pumpkin Patch Nursery.

Forest School Sessions at your setting.

If you are interested in Forest School Sessions at your nursery or school then please contact us by email or phone 01273 814226. Sessions can take place at your setting or at our woodland site near Laughton, East Sussex.

Forest School Training Level 3

If you would like to train your staff, we offer unique training at our woodland site and at Parkwood campsite near Brighton. If you have a group we can also offer bespoke training.

2019/20 Course dates:

Part 1: 21 & 22nd November 2019 at Mill Woods and 25th, 26th, 27th November 2019 at Parkwood Campsite.
Part 2: 27th, 28th February 2020 at Parkwood Campsite and 2nd, 3rd March 2020 at Mill Woods.

Approved by the Forest School Association and awarded by the Open College Network West Midlands, this Level 3 Certificate provides the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to prepare learners for employment as a Forest School Leader.

The training will combine key principles of Forest School with best practice from Environment and Nature Education, child development, the world of play (wild, free and therapeutic play) delivered by our professional team who have many years experience.

Circle of Life Training are now providing online learning resources to supplement this in-depth direct training. These documents are laid out in an easy to understand format that link to the Forest School Units. We also supply useful video material, links to best practice, a student upload to share valuable resources and the option to download resources for you to keep.

Please visit our website to find out more or call us on 01273 814226.

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

Outdoor Classroom Day – The Power of the Outdoors

Outdoor Classroom Day Blog by Jon Cree

Communing with another – a ceremonial transformation. Encounters with a nettle.

This week I experienced a palpable shift in one of the teachers on a workshop I was facilitating – let’s call her Jane (real name left out for anonymity). The workshop entitled “lost words”, is based on the book by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, that seems to have swept up the country’s schools in its magic. It involves facilitating teacher’s sensory observation of non human beings then representing these encounters through various sketching and poetry techniques to rediscover the meaning of the name for said ‘being’.

What I witnessed in this teacher was more than something to do with rediscovering the meaning of adder, otter, kingfisher and willow – it was a shift where the inner and outer worlds met.

At the start of the day there was a distinct reluctance, indeed possibly belligerence, to ‘open up’ the heart to the possibilities of what might come if you just ‘be’ with other ‘more the human’ beings. There seemed to be resistance to allowing the inner and outer worlds collide…”what I can’t take my pen and paper to my sit spot?” was a retort.

On returning from said sit spot a shift had already happened and the shackles of culture started to slip away. Rules of poetry were there to be broken, and with the aid of the words ringing on the Guernsey winds of the likes of poets such as David Whyte, Ted Hughes and Mary Oliver you could see said teacher’s shoulders dropping and a sparkle and smile spreading across her face…Jane was definitely letting down her guard. After some working with senses and words, sketching exercises that emphasised a playful sensory integration of subject and paper, in her case this was flint and paper (I always feel rocks have so much to tell us), there started to be a melding of natural world awareness and expression.

Then came the big occasion of the day – 90 minutes of sitting with one being, in her case a nettle. Jane approached her subject as advised in a mindful slow yet playful way, observing from all angles and finding just the right spot and body distance to give both beings respect yet intimacy. I watched and witnessed a rushing at this point to distil the essence of nettle in sketch and rubbing, and then something extraordinary happened in this seemingly ordinary space.

Her words started to flow – she had exclaimed at the start of the day that she hated poetry (she is a leader in literacy in her school!) and there was a moment where she sat in ceremony celebrating this resilient yet vulnerable ‘being’ – she literally performed her own small ceremony for said nettle. It was as if Jane had entered her own mytho-poetic world where the inner and outer had collided…her soul and psyche had entered the nettle kingdom.

I know this sounds somewhat far fetched for to get to this stage can sometimes take years and many vision quests, but I was certain in just 5 and a half hours she had entered into a ceremonial conversation with the world…the words were flowing. It was a beautiful moment to witness she was participating fully in the world from which we all come from – not the technological but the natural. I couldn’t but help myself from going over to sit beside Jane and she willingly showed me her sketchbook, made that morning, and the words that just kept coming…she had entered into a deep caring relationship with the nettle.

Some may say that this was nothing other than the keen observation and spending time with another being that provoked the words, i.e time for ‘contact’. But I am certain this was down to an opening of heart and the imaginal whispers of the nettle that created an almost sacred space in which Jane could, in her own soft way, make this a ceremonial instance to cement said ‘connection’ rather than ‘contact’.

My words may seem grandiose and exaggerated but I am certain, indeed we know from cultures of the past and present, that ceremony deepens relationship.

I came away feeling that we need to allow our learners more time with the non human and celebrate the ensuing relationship in some form of respectful way with a mixture of ‘gravitas’ and ‘levitas’.

Working with Young People with Challenging Behaviour, in the Outdoors – 3 day course with Jon Cree.
Optional Level 3 Accreditation available.

This course is aimed at any educator who feels they want to engage and work with students in the outdoors who may be reluctant learners (of any age).

This course will delve into:

What challenges us as leaders in the outdoors
Theory on challenging behaviour
Up-to-date neural research; triggers and causes for challenging behaviour
Ways of dealing with ‘real life’ scenarios in the outdoors
De-escalation
How to transfer outdoor strategies into an indoor and other settings – including looking at the validity of sanctions and rewards.
Reviewing your own policies

Date: 17th, 18th & 19th June 2019 at Mill Woods, near Laughton, East Sussex OR 20th, 21st & 22nd November 2019 at Parkwood Campsite, Poynings, East Sussex.
Lead Facilitator: Jon Cree
Cost: £325 for the 3 day course, £55 for the Accreditation (optional). This Level 3 West Midlands Open College Network Accredited Course.
Time: 09.00 – 17.00.
Booking: Please book online here for the June course or online here for the November course.
More information: please visit the website.

Transforming education, health and family through nature

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Mental Health Awareness Week

Young Nature Leaders Initiative – Mental Health Awareness Week

It’s been an incredible journey on the Young Nature Leaders Initiative course with Circle of Life Rediscovery. Spending a day out in the woods each month has been a wonderful and grounding experience and it has given me a tranquil space to feel connected to nature.

If I was ever feeling stressed or anxious before the session, that was eased once I got to the woods as we always took some quiet time to listen to the sounds of the forest, relax and connect with our senses. This, along with the amazingly supportive facilitators helped everyone feel ready to engage and learn. We learned everything through practical experience making it so much more meaningful and memorable.

We met each month in the woods whatever the weather! From November to April, we experienced the woods through different seasons and what the seasons had to bring. From fire lighting to woodland cooking, using tools to make animals from wood, charcoal pencils and picture frames, plant identification, nature games and woodland management, we have learnt so many new skills that we can apply to our future work.

The course has opened up new options for me and my future. It has taught me so many new skills as well as teaching me how to share those skills with children and adults.

I have now gained a Forest School Level 2 qualification. Being able to share this knowledge and help others find the fulfilment I have found in Forest School is really important to me and I hope to continue to do this. Since starting the course I have been volunteering at two Forest Schools which has allowed me to put my new skills into practice and has consolidated my desire to pursue outdoor learning as a career.

Having felt a bit lost a few years ago, my life didn’t really have any direction. There are so many pressures around us to look a certain way, feel a certain way and act a certain way. This course has enabled me to meet new people who perhaps feel the same and have taught me to be myself and accept myself – it’s a magical feeling and being in the woods only accentuates this. I feel excited about the future and my options.

Mental Health Awareness Week

If anyone reading this feels they are struggling, I would encourage you to share your problems and talk, take a walk in the woods, lie on the grass and feel the sun on your face. There are people out there who care and who can offer support. Never feel alone.

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

We want to thank the Ernest Cook Trust for providing a key grant to enable our Young Nature Leaders training to happen. If you would like to make a donation to our funded work or find out about our funded programmes please contact us.

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Happy Outdoor Classroom Day 2019!

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

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Forest Bathing: Retreat into Nature

Forest Bathing in East Sussex – Relax, restore, receive

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Breathing Life into Literacy

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Earthwalks and Nature Connection

Earthwalks with Jon Cree

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A year long course for women: our wisdom, connection, nourishment and belonging visualised and celebrated.

MOON WHEEL DIAGRAM – Your Inner Seasons

Listen to the Earth Speak – Course detail:

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Transforming education, health and family through nature.

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An Interview with Ian Siddons Heginworth

1. Why is nature so valuable for us therapeutically?

2. What can nature teach us about ourselves?

3. How does your practice as an environmental art therapist support others in their healing process?

4. You wrote a wonderful book, linking the trees to our own psychological journey – what underpins the link between the trees and our own psychology?

5. What will we experience on your upcoming workshop in September? Why is the Ivy known as the Suffocating Ivy?

6. How does nature mirror us emotionally? How does Art and Creativity facilitate this – why does it work so well?

7. How does this work link to improving the wider community’s relationship to nature and safeguarding if for the future?

Exploring the Natural World & The Feeling Self – 21st & 22nd September 2019.

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

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Forest School Sessions

A typical day with Nursery children at Forest School..

Forest School Sessions at your setting.

Forest School Training Level 3

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

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Outdoor Classroom Day Blog by Jon Cree

Communing with another – a ceremonial transformation. Encounters with a nettle.

Working with Young People with Challenging Behaviour, in the Outdoors – 3 day course with Jon Cree. Optional Level 3 Accreditation available.

Transforming education, health and family through nature

Share this:

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Young Nature Leaders Initiative – Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week

Transforming education, health and family through nature.

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Working with Young People with Challenging Behaviour, in the Outdoors – 3 day course with Jon Cree.
Optional Level 3 Accreditation available.