Birch Forest Schools

33 teachers from four schools with two practitioners at the edge of the Pennines on a cold day in February.

This was the culmination of several days of planning, resourcing, designing and discussions. Our aim was to show how a Forest School approach to outdoor provision could be utilised by schools and what benefits this might bring in terms of learning and development to their children.

In many ways an easy task but also incredibly difficult. Easy when you know how, when this is how you make your living, when you are trained and experienced at working with children in the outdoors. Difficult because there is so much to say and as with Forest Schools provision, there is no “one voice” in which to say it.

As practitioners it is easy for us to forget that not everyone sees the benefits of what can be done outside or that the barriers are surmountable if there is a will to overcome them. Demonstrating what is possible became the focus of the day.

The day was structured around a carousel of activities. Lisa and I led separate groups with the third being self managed in the cozy heated bell tent. Groups were made up of individuals from different schools so that information and experience could be readily shared across the school cluster group. Each group had a workbook in which to record their observations, feedback and ideas. These books will then be used to produce a report which will identify the key themes and help planning in taking their outdoor provision forward.

Setting up the location was very time consuming, apart from the aforementioned “glamping” tent we had a fire circle with tarp cover, a smaller more “rustic” circle in the wooded area, resource tables with craft items, books and an assortment of animal sign (bones, horns and pooh). There were a selection of seating options from log rounds to benches made on a shave horse, not to mention the “Great British Mud Pie Bake off” in the parachute covered geodesic dome!

We could have stood in the wind and the cold espousing Forest School ethos, demonstrating our knowledge (or otherwise) on the subject but I always feel that Forest Schools needs to be experienced.

So 33 teachers from four schools with two practitioners at the edge of the Pennines on a cold day in February laughed, talked, had fun, shivered together and between us came up with one or two ideas…

But that will be another story.

One of the best ways to continue professional development as a Forest schools practitioner is to work with different groups in different settings or, if you are luckily enough, step into someone else’s shoes for a day. I had the opportunity to do just that on Wednesday at St Mary’s RC Primary school in Dukinfield.

I had been asked to stand in for a day at the school by Andy Hennel who works as a Forest schools practitioner alongside trained practitioners amongst the teaching staff while Andy was on holiday.

The school has recently been rebuilt and part of its new vision was to make use of its wooded area. The day involved working with years 3, 5 and 6 followed by an after school bushcraft club for year 4. I ran sessions on bow saw use, sheath knife, tree identification and for the bushcraft club, atl atl.

The staff involved were very enthusiastic about Forest schools and the school is making use of committed parent helpers in the delivery of the provision.

It was a fantastic opportunity to see Forest schools being delivered in a school setting with the aim to allow all of the children the opportunity to benefit. The children themselves were very enthusiastic and motivated by the activities and all of the groups were a pleasure to work with.

Forest schools provision across a whole school is bound to take on a curriculum focus as well as being an approach for  the development of individuals. While the ethos of Forest schools shies away from notions of school curriculum, I do believe that schools can have their cake and eat it as long as they do as St Mary’s have done and put the ethos at the core of their provision.

A most enjoyable day in someone else’s shoes.

I have been looking forward to the BHMAT coppicing week since last year when I gained a place but was unable to attend on account of my starting the bushcraft instructor course at the Woodcraft school.

Lisa dropped me off at the Chapel House and I set up camp in the adjacent woodland. With the prospect of a week’s camping and woody activities, it all felt like being back in Sussex on the bushcraft course. Same tent, different woods.

The five days were divided into four one day workshops with a one day taster on the Friday split into a morning and afternoon sessions. Rather fortuitously, my group spent the Monday in a wood a few miles away learning how to coppice Hazel stools with Sam Ansell and dress out the rods for various coppice craft purposes. The day was gloriously sunny, in fact the whole week was, and this in itself gave a good indication of why such heavy work in the woods is best carried out in the colder months.

Tuesday was spent with Twiggy, a coppice worker from Lancashire, working with birch to produce a variety of items, Wednesday was with Owen Jones making a riven oak panel and Thursday was with Ian Taylor making greenwood stools.

While many of the items and processes were familiar to me, it was wonderful to try new things such as riving oak and adzing larger blocks of wood and to practice skills seldom used.

The organisation of the whole week was superb with excellent facilities and a regular supply of fresh baked bread from a stick powered, gigantic rocket stove! There were also evening activities and talks and overall one could not help but feel looked after extremely well.

I will certainly be watching out for next year’s booking form.

We decided to attend the first ever Spoonfest in Edale over the weekend. I must admit I had no idea what to expect or indeed how one might fill a weekend with nothing but spoons. As it turned out, my eyes were opened to a myriad of possibilities and by the end of the trip I had a much better understanding of exactly what the event was hoping to achieve, namely to inform and inspire.

The “not uncrafty” was like a who’s who in the carving and spoon making world with the likes of Jögge Sundqvist, Mike Abbot, Steve Tomlin, Jarrod Stone Dahl, Janharm  ter Brugge and Fritiof Runhall representing the Netherlands, UK, USA and Sweden. The quality of work on display at the gallery by attendees as well as teachers was astounding  and a little intimidating.

The weekend was organised into a series of 90 minute workshops and free demonstrations though in and amongst the organised happenings it was possible to take a piece of wood from the pile of supplied, lime, cherry, field maple, birch and sycamore and just carve away.

I was fortunate to attend workshops by Fritiof Runhall, Steve Tomlin and Janharm  ter Brugge with a very interesting demonstration of bark work by Jarrod Stone Dahl and by the end of the festival feel as though I have learned a host of new techniques to employ in carving and making as well as a more considered and systematic approach to my carving and making

As a family we tend not to do “sitting around” type holidays and so seem to have formed a habit of using our down time as CPD opportunity. And so we attended the 2012 Bushmoot in south Wales for the second year running.

The Bushmoot is the annual gathering organised by the Bushcraft UK forum, online home to a wealth of knowledge, advice and banter on all aspects of bushcraft.

The Bushcraft UK Bushmoot was conceived to provide an organised individual and family event where people with an interest in bushcraft could gather with like minded individuals and expand their knowledge through mutual skill sharing.

bushcraftuk.com

As a visitor to the last three Wilderness gatherings, the difference between the two events is readily apparent. The gathering is much more of a trade show and while there are ample opportunities to attend workshops and expand ones knowledge, it is quite crowded throughout the site and feels more like a festival.

The activities at the Bushmoot are delivered by volunteers and BushcraftUK moderators on a wide verity of subjects. Following a year of Bushcraft learning it only seemed fair that I take on most of the childcare and let Lisa attend as many of the workshops as she wanted to.

We managed to get down to the coast after a long walk through the beautiful dunes resplendent with wild flowers, tart sea buckthorn and sweet dewberries. There was even a marsh samphire and sea purslane forage on the way back via the estuary.

Yet again I took the opportunity to hang around and watch Dave Budd forging tools on a small ground forge. It is easy to see why the blacksmith’s workshop might have been the focus for gathering in years gone by as conversation ranged far and wide. Dave has a wonderful perspective on the making of all sorts of items, not least the place of the full tang handle in modern bushcraft knives which he considers to be more a result of fashion rather than practicality.

The crowning glory of the week was the hangi and pot share. At the prompting of my daughter, committed vegan, desperate to “smell the disgustingness” ??? of the dead sheep, we decided to attend and bring along some food. In typical overachieving-Lisa style, we took a mixed vegetable tagine, couscous, leek and potato soup and a chocolate cake made in the Dutch oven.

The event itself was very pleasant with everyone sampling different food on offer. All of our food was eaten with many people coming back looking for seconds. There were even other vegetarians and individuals with dairy intolerance who were able, at last, to eat something.

Next year… I think it is probably time to switch sides and deliver some sessions or maybe offer provision for the children or…. but then it is supposed to be a holiday.

The inaugural meeting of the body destined to champion Forest Schools took place on Saturday 7^th July.

In attendance  were practitioners from all over the UK and presenting were representatives from the IOL, the Forest Schools Special Interest Group and the former Forest Education Initiative.

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It all seems to be over so quickly. Ten months, ten weeks, numerous assignments and craft projects, the packing, the travelling and the endless miles walking through the woods looking at plants, trees, animals or for resources.

The last week was devoted to delivery. Clients were sourced by The Woodcraft School over three days and each of us had to deliver a session to each. On Thursday, I delivered fire by friction to school children, on Friday shelter to adult volunteers and for Saturdays family session I did a session around water.

Interspersed with this were the trees in leaf assessment and the plant assessment, not to mention numerous trips into the woods to set up and retrieve Dave’s acorn cameras.

The final day was our own family day and the chance to meet the families of my fellow students and show my own family the site. Sessions were laid on for those wanting to participate and everyone had a relaxing day.

The whole week was very tiring, due in part to the weeks leading up to it. I was keen to have all assignment and portfolio work finished so that I could walk away on Sunday and have no more to do.

It is difficult to quantify the effect that this course has had on me and will continue to have on me in the time ahead. So many doors have been opened and to learn everything would take several lifetimes. Having to live with a group of strangers for an extended period of time brings its own difficulties and rewards and learning about one’s self in different circumstances is maybe the most important lesson of all.

What will I do next month?

The first day of this week was spent in preparation for the following two days of teaching. In constant rain, four areas were cleared, log seating set up and parachute shelters erected.

On the first day, following a very wet night I took a small group of adults from the National Trust on an animal sign walk. By laying out various types of sign along a chosen route, it was possible to control timings and work within my knowledge.

Despite being rained on constantly, the group were good humored and had an enjoyable day. In the post teaching briefing, it was interesting to hear feedback from other course attendees on how their day went and what they felt they learned.

Day two was a slightly bigger group and I “made a cup of tea” with them, teaching safe bow saw use, safe sheath knife use and how to use a Kelly kettle along the way.

Tutor feedback was very positive and where comment was made I found it to be useful and insightful.

Reverting to our role as students we looked at more wild flowers and refreshed the ones we had learned. Everyone seemed relatively confident with trees in leaf.

On Saturday we learned about natural navigation. I must admit initially I didn’t see how it might be useful but by the end of a rather poetic route set out by John, I could see how natural phenomena might be used and its place in bushcraft and man’s development in general.

Sunday was all about fire. By now the weather was warm and sunny enough to light fires with solar reflectors. All around the site tinder bundles were being ignited with a variety of methods and fire lays were set. An industrious and pleasant day which was rather rewarding.

The best of it all… two days working with groups was a bit like being at work, luckily it is a work I do enjoy. Learning more about plants is gratifying as was the natural navigation but I think the early May mornings, bright and fresh “skulking” through the woods. That was the best of it.

Plants in all forms were very much on the agenda this week. With the poisonous plant test looming (a paper test not a taste test I might add) the first morning was spent refreshing our knowledge of key identity points and poisoning symptoms. In a change of pace during the afternoon, we walked through the rain armed with digging sticks and collected a range of wild edibles for preparing back at the camp.

Working together we sorted, cleaned and prepared a soup of wild roots and leaves, fried various roots and shoots and made a beech leaf salad. It became apparent that wild food is not to everyone’s taste though to be honest, some of the cooking processes were a bit lacking in culinary expertise. The general cry seemed to be “Take it back and fry it some more”

That said, an olive oil dressing with Jack-by-the-hedge and lady’s smock, poured over the salad of beech leaves and wood sorrel did taste good and was well received.

On Thursday we were treated to a full day of herbal medicine and the chance to make our own tincture. Many( including me) chose nettle as it seems that a good dose of nettle tincture cures just about everything. This was the first year that Tim Lane Msc.(Herb.Med) has delivered as part of the instructor course and on the whole everyone found him to be extremely interesting though some did struggle with the notion of using the humours as a diagnostic aid.

Friday was the trip to the coast. The weather was windy but sunny and we enjoyed several shore side plants such as sea purslane, scurvy grass and sea beet before getting into the tidal zone and foraging a whole range of sea weeds.

As per usual, Friday night was shower night, taken entirely in the light for a change. Cleaned and refreshed I set about preparing some of the forage from the day at the beach. Adding the sautéed sea purslane to rice infused with Jack-by-the-hedge and lady’s smock, I rolled it in sea lettuce. Raw it tasted very much of the sea, mineral and salty, with the outside of the sushi roll fried in a little oil, it became sweeter and reminded me somewhat of roast sweet corn.

On Saturday morning there was a peer lesson in smoking food (meat) in the field. We were shown how meat can be smoked in a relatively simple cupboard apparatus and participants could try some pre prepared smoked meat. Unfortunately owing to the plastic cooling pipe being too close to the heat source, I am assured that the meat had a toxic chemical flavour. We then built our own smokers over open fires. As an exercise it is a great one for making use of knife and fire lighting skills but in a day that is likely to be busy, it proved difficult to keep fires going and they often went unattended.

Once again, I was given the opportunity to reflect on the nature of inclusivity. Looking back to my posting from the first session, I see I had not written about how it felt during the hangi and oven cooking sessions to be unable to try any of the food prepared by/for the group and this was repeated during the smoking session.

I did come into this process with a keen awareness that being a vegan would single me out somewhat in the bushcraft setting but it still surprises me that after eight months my diet seems to be the defining characteristic by which some people relate to me.

The positive I take away is an keener understanding of the feelings of the child who doesn’t eat soup, or doesn’t want a pita bread pizza at one of my sessions and how they might feel singled out and less a part of the group. Not taking part in something as fundamental as food sharing is a powerful exclusion and I will certainly reflect on this when preparing food for any group.

At last, bark work, one of the high points for me. Interrupted only by the poisonous plants test, I spent the day stripping bask from trees (to be felled) and preparing the bark for manufacture. On Saturday a Cree berry basket, on Sunday a woven quiver. Bliss.

After a frosty night camping out at a farm nearby, Heather Cook, Millie and I visited the Working Woodlands Exhibition at Sedbergh to see the Coppice Association’s products and to take part in the workshops.
The exhibition went across three floors of Farfield Mill and included a huge variety of woodland crafts from gypsy flowers, spoons and small items through to a double bed, full sized boat and a kitchen all made from green wood.
There was a demonstration of hazel hurdles and a workshop making gypsy flowers.
The exhibition included art based on a woodland theme. I was blown away by the quality and creativity in the pieces and I’m really looking forward to practicing making trug baskets and stick chairs at the Weekend in the Woods in May. We both felt totally inspired and in awe of the skills demonstrated.
The exhibition is open at Farfield Mill until the end of April.