Month: January 2019

Joanne and I put together the LMAPs Business Case for the Breathing Space project for Durham police this week. I like the discipline of thinking about the value of the project and how we could evidence the benefits. It really sharpens your practice. Fingers crossed the funding is approved and we can start to recruit to the programme.

Joanne and I pitched to a multi-agency group of councillors and police for a project to run Forest Schools, today. The response was very favourable and we have been invited to complete a tender form. It has been a steep learning curve but the enthusiasm of the police has really built my confidence and determination to drive a different approach to learning opportunities for disaffected young people.

I spoke with Joanne Appleby, from Oases today and then hopped in the car and went over to visit her at the E.W.E. Centre. She introduced me to her colleague, Rio and we had a long and productive chat about a joint collaboration. Whilst our backgrounds are very different, our shared values soon emerged; a belief in the benefits of play, a commitment to a natural upbringing for children, a willingness to put curriculum in to the woods rather than keeping the two things apart.

As I left, we had a brief but thought provoking conversation about the power of “God” to help children overcome modern sources of anxiety such as bullying. We discussed the idea that children can take comfort from the final judgement and their own conscious decisions to save their own souls. I must remember this when I finally get round to writing my book on the transmission of culture in schools.

By the time I came home today, the roof had been stripped, felted and batoned out ready for the slates. I had a quick scramble up the scaffolding to take a look at the view from a new perspective. Once the roof is on, we can start to prepare the internal walls and floor ready for Forest sessions. Exciting times!

Dropped a tentative email out to a local Forest School practitioner this evening to see if there was scope to collaborate on a project. This seemed like the right thing to do if I am operating outside “my patch”. Hoping to hear something from them tomorrow.

I had a really enjoyable and informative conversation with an insurance broker at Birnbeck today. Tracy was knowledgeable, and friendly and talked me through all aspects of ensuring that participants are correctly insured against risk. It is amazing how much you can learn in a 20 minute chat! There are a couple of things I need to explore further, but it is great to know I am one step closer to being up and running.

I spent a few hours today reading and reviewing an interesting piece of research on the restorative impact of Forest Schools. You can read more on the About tab. Whilst I wasn’t convinced that the sample was sufficiently large or well-defined to be convincing, it led me to think about how I could show impact for participants. An emotions questionnaire is now on my To Do list.

Sat in bed this morning “tappy lapping”, on the website, my pedagogical approach. As I typed, a vision for how I want to use monitoring to evidence progress formed in my head and it gave me a real boost. Which absolutely underlines the power of planning as a tool for successful implementation.

I have been working hard this morning on my website portfolio and it is beginning to come together. I have written 3 policies, behaviour, sustainability, and equality and accessibility. All of them have made me think about what I am doing and why. I have set myself the objective of getting every policy on to a page. As a result, every word counts and I have had to think about what the core of each policy is so that each policy is readable but still meaningful.

I got up early this morning to do a recce of the Chopwell Wood outdoor classroom. Pulled on some warm clothes and set my satnav which made a 20 minute journey take 45 minutes! I parked in the main car park and followed the “Tree Trail” towards the classroom. Began to think about how the Tree Trail could be used as a resource. At the end of the trail, I located the road leading to the classroom. I was surprised to find it is an actual building. A lovely volunteer from Friends of Chopwell Woods let me in and showed me round. I then did a tour of the nearby nature trail. There is a small circle with log bench seats. I need to check that fires can be lit here. On the trail itself there are some wonderful ceramic sculptures. More importantly the wood is full of fallen wood, mosses, pine cones and other great resources for play. The site is gently sloping and a bit crowded underfoot. I reflected on how my evaluation of the wood had already changed thanks to the Forest Skills course. Then I thought about it and realised that the first question I need to ask myself is “Is this a great place to play?” The rest is about the way I manage the risks and set the boundaries for that play to take place. I think about my own childhood and the parenting style I adopted with my own kids. There is much that I can draw on to find an authentic ethos to Tyggwhistle.