Demonstrating the unique potential of Forest School
Taking full advantage of the school's versatile Forest School space, pupils in Year 2 got their hands dirty this week making bird feeders for the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch initiative.
Over the weekend, people up and down the country got involved in the 44th edition of the scheme, which allows ordinary people to take part in an important survey of avian wildlife and, by extension, biodiversity more broadly.
Participants are encouraged to spend an hour noting the birds that they can see in their garden and then share the information with the RSPB; last year, approximately 700,000 public participants spotted a grand total in excess of 11 million birds.
To support this important act of togetherness in defence of nature, Year 2 pupils took the opportunity to fashion bird feeders from a variety of colourful ingredients and install them in a now-familiar corner of their local environment, namely the Forest School.
This is the latest activity to demonstrate the immense potential of the Forest School to cultivate a close relationship between our children and the outdoor world, something that is threatened by modernity's growing preoccupation with urban and virtual spaces.
Visiting either the Forest or Coastal Schools on a weekly basis (as our Pre-School do at a minimum) not only allows children to discover more about the world around them, but also enables them to engage in a more imaginative form of play that promotes creativity and measured risk taking.
From the pioneering work of Friedrich Fröbel, inventor of the Kindergarten, to contemporary studies on outdoor play environments, research continues to champion the importance of children's access to freeform play in outdoor environments.
When the Forest School programme developed out of Scandinavia in the 1950s, it was designed to provide the optimum condition for the developments of important traits and characteristics including:
Self-awareness.
Self-regulation.
Intrinsic motivation.
Empathy.
Good social communication skills.
Independence.
A positive mental attitude, self-esteem and confidence.
A healthy respect for the natural environment.
Of course, beyond the theory, there is also the simple fact that Forest School is just good fun!
For this reason, Rydal Penrhos is delighted to retain the current Forest School when the Prep moves to Hunt House, allowing many generations of future Rydal Penrhos pupils to benefit from their own secure outdoor learning area.
We are sure that, just like our current Year 2s, they too will have exciting stories to share about the fun, learning and adventure!
