Guest Blog from Lynne, a participant on Circle of Life Rediscovery’s most recent Forest School Level 3 Training.
Mixed feelings swirling around after finishing the practical and theory sessions on Circle of Life Rediscovery’s Level 3 Forest school training.
I’m sitting in an office longing to be back in the woods, making rope swings, playing wild and crazy games, poking through owl pellets for skulls and hip bones, learning about the importance of play and movement on brain development. I want to be marvelling at tree tapping, leaf printing and clamp kiln making, singing harmonious community songs as we go. I miss creating fire and using a bow saw and being reminded how to use a very sharp knife safely to make buttons and jewellery and mobiles out of wood. I yearn to drink tea made from fresh nettles, poured from an enormous kettle which has been hissing on the village fire, warming my body after rolling around in mud and leaves tracking and hiding and learning camouflage. To have that feeling of being sense-alert and free and natural.
I’m sad to have finished the course – it’s been an inspiring and wonderful journey since October through different seasons, all of us growing through the long winter and now blossoming and springing into new life as more confident practitioners, with our baskets brimming with the sumptuous fruits of our learning.
It was hard to leave the woodland, leave the group, knowing we have created an unbreakable circle.
Still – here I am, excitedly discussing my plans for running sessions with anyone who will stand still long enough! Already have been out taking site photos in the secret garden at Emmaus, had a chat with a colleague about running sessions for families, arranged a meeting with Wild Play to generate ideas. So – glancing around the office, staring at the laptop and the paperwork and the sunshine outside the window, there’s an inner child in me bursting to scream aloud “I’m a Forest School leader GET ME OUTTA HERE!”
– Lynne