After a lifetime of running StopGAP Dance Company – an amazing company, well worth a look! http://stopgapdance.com/about – I decided to swop artificial lights and under-floor heated studios for the bracing reality of the outside world. I was searching for something where I could help my children learn about building their confidence, resilience, independence, managing their own risk/safety … and ultimately be able to connect with nature. I wanted to help them appreciate we are part of a bigger, more magical world than the screens they want to sit in front of and the facts they have to learn to be able to repeat. I wanted them to be able to have time to play, to think for themselves, and for them to direct the areas of interest they wanted to pursue, examine, discover and wonder about.

As soon as I found out about Forest Schools, I knew I had found what I was looking for. I retrained to become a Forest School leader, with the dream that I would be able to share with others what I wanted to share with my own children. The training was only the beginning and since I qualified I have spent time developing my own style and realising what is important to the way I work.

For a session to be a true “Forest School” it has to be underpinned by the 6 principles: http://www.forestschoolassociation.org/full-principles-and-criteria-for-good-practice/ . In summary these are:

1. Participants attend over a series of weeks rather than one off sessions
2. Sessions happen in woodland where participants can develop a relationship with the natural world
3. There is a holistic approach to the development of all, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners
4. Forest School offers participants the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and themselves
5. It is run by qualified Forest School practitioners who continuously maintain and develop their professional practice
6. A range of learner-centred processes are used to create a community for development and learning

In particular, I am interested in developing resilience and emotional literacy, giving the children the skills to lead their adventures, and I am learning how to weave storytelling in as much as I can! I am curious about how best to connect the children with the woods we play in and I think that is going to be a life-long odyssey! Ultimately I want the sessions to feel as if we have been in an adventure and it has been a mighty one … hence the name! So far, every time I have come out of the woods with a group it has felt as if we have been on an epic adventure, and I can’t see that ever changing!

So, if you are interested in finding out more about what I do and the sessions I lead, please comment and I will send you details. In the meantime, go outside and have some Mighty Adventures!