A recent trainee on the level 3 Forest School Leader course explored their learning journey through the training session in the woods with the group and beyond. A key thing to emerge was the value of being with others outdoors in nature, making meaningful connections, sharing ideas and supporting each other.

We see this develop on every course with the group really coming together to create a learning community in quite a short space of time and this is so important. It supports people in not feeling isolated in developing their practice and offer but also in terms of the benefits to mental health and well-being while out on the sessions.

A recent student on our level 3 Forest School Leader training created a great overview of the internal and external factors that influence how children respond and behave in different situations at forest school as I previously posted.

Clearly​ Maslow's hierarchy of needs is at the root of much of this but there is also more subtlety in terms of how different activities, experiences and spaces can have an impact too. Although there may be common themes in groups all individuals respond differently at any given moment and being a leader is about having a dynamic and flexible approach that really does respond to the needs of individuals. The challenge often seems to be balancing the needs of individuals alongside the needs of the whole group.

The other factor we often forget is how much we as adults influence the group. After all we are a key part of the group and how we interact and support the group is key. It is easy to be too busy following all our plans and churning out activities rather than seeing what is going on with the group. Sometimes letting go of our plan and allowing the group to follow and develop their ideas can be the best thing we can offer as a leader.

An excellent student working on their portfolio for the level 3 Forest School leaders qualification recently explored some of the challenges that individuals may have to get the most from the experience - they have produced this great diagram exploring the internal and external barriers to learning and engagement. There is a lot going on for all children under the surface and often worth looking at why they might be struggling to get involved - some great food for thought.

A theme that emerged from our Learning Everywhere conference in July was the idea of encouraging schools and other learning groups to use our fantastic resource of local parks to support and develop learning experiences for children in Bristol. 

The current way in which our parks are used by learning groups varies significantly from place to place in part determined by the history of use of learning providers and relationships between the space and groups.

What is clear, and was reinforced at our conference, is that teachers do not usually live in the area where they teach and often do not have local knowledge of what green spaces or parks are within walking distance of their school. A fantastic resource to emerge in the last year is Bristol Parkhive - a fantastic app that will highlight local parks and green spaces nearby and provide useful information on what facilities are there, what different spaces look like and if there is a local parks group that works with the council to look after and manage the space.

Following on from the conference a group is coming together to collaborate to explore how we can create a template in Bristol that will provide schools and other learning groups clarity on how they can use parks to support their learning.

The meeting on the 5th December will be exploring the following areas:

• A discussion on the key needs of learning groups using parks and how park spaces might support or create barriers for these.
• The creation of a statement to learning groups on the value and benefit of using local parks and providing them with permission and encouragement to do this.
• The creation of some guidance - of points to consider when planning a visit to a local park.
• The development of a working group on this to look at the potential to undertake a pilot project to proactively engage more learning groups in 1 or more parks in the city.

It is hoped that an interest group will emerge from this to continue to work with Bristol City Council, as the main landowner, and parks groups to explore how we support and continue to develop both a culture of learning in parks and spaces that support it. Key to this will be developing a successful working partnership between the council, the local community and schools and learning groups to develop, use and manage these spaces.