I am coming to the end of a very intense year, where my life and working practice has completely changed! I am near to achieving my Forest School Leader qualification, as I am swopping heated dance studios and international touring (my previous life) for taking children out into my local woods, to experience nature in all it’s elements.  For me, the transition made sense, as my work in both areas comes from a curiosity about people, and exploring what their true potential is.  Watching my daughters grow up, I have also become interested in how activities outside can help children and young people develop their self-esteem and resilience. The biggest challenge has been to learn how to lead Forest School sessions so that they truly are “child-centred”, not tokenistic attempts.  This is a very different attempt from my previous life where I would tend to bulldoze participants with my energy and enthusiasm, so suddenly their small movements would flourish into dancing without them realising (and self-sensoring). Initially I struggled with this new approach that relies on astute observation, working alongside the children, and being knowledgeable enough to offer the right suggestion or question, to help provide scaffolding for that individual’s exploration. As Jon Cree writes: “One of the key features that distinguishes Forest School from other outdoor educations is the role of the leader as observer. If you let the learners explore themselves, the most amazing things can be seen. It takes great courage to stand back and take on the awesome responsibility of not interfering, observing, letting the learning flow, shutting up and being ‘on tap’ not ‘on top’ and knowing when to sensitively scaffold the learning.” I have moments when I have really “got” this new way of working, and a new world has opened up to me, just as the children I work with re-discover being outside when they come on our adventures! Vicki Balaam Mighty Adventurers