Elements began in 2020, in the teeth of the pandemic. We are now 4 years old. It has been QUITE the ride. We have had now run scores of sessions, held numerous holiday schemes, put on festivals and birthday parties and even had a wonderful time exploring the world of arts and crafts
We have held our sessions all over Northern Ireland – from – Loughgall to the Waterworks. We have even run courses for others interested in Forest School.
We have introduced over 500 children in different ways to the wonders of nature.
All the while we have stayed true to the ideals of nature being a part of ourselves. Our sessions bring in art, science, gross and fine motor skills. We tell stories. We make sure there’s food. Ans speaking of food…
We have been always been big on foraging and cooking with what we find. But I must let you into a little secret: children love food cooked on an open fire. Whether it is the novelty or the taste of the smoky wood, or the novelty, we have never had children which had said to us they did not like what we prepared.
As the year plays out, we are so pleased once more to be running an after school at the Holywood Steiner School, birthday parties at the Quarries, Easter and other holiday schemes as well as another Wild About Learning programme with the Fostering Network. It has been a truly fulfilling and inspiring ride.
We are beyond excited… we now have our own fleeces and a banner… elements is now 4 years-ish old… we started in September 2020 – in the middle of Covid… and kept going.
See what forest school can do for you… the best part about elements is that it comes to YOU!!!
Yes, we had weather – for a bit, but then the sun came out and we reveled in the gorgeousness of Crawfordsburn Country Park. I think we can safely say there is no other place like it… waterfalls, rapids, river to play in, magnificent train bridge, blue flag beach, meadows and of course FOREST and to cap it all off a geologically inspired playground! We had such a blast! Here are some of the pictures… but not all cos we were super busy the entire time!
Day 1
We walked to the waterfall… and enjoyed looking at the wooden sculptures along the way. There was a burning question… what are turkey tails… well, now everyone who came on Monday knows…!
Walking to the waterfall… it was a bit drizzly, but many of our children are used to the weather and no one mentioned it… furthermore they were all so engrossed in conversation they forgot about the wet.
On the way back
It is impossible to overstate the beauty of this railway line built in that 19th century that spans the burn. One of the questions was, what runs over this bridge? Many said people. I said, yes people, but what are the people in? Cars? Walking? Then someone said, Trains! And a few seconds later a train went over the bridge, right on cue.
Splashing about in water… there is a reason why elements was called elements… and it is so nice that many people are returning to that way of looking at the world…Splitting wood for the fire… everyone had a go at the hatchet.Huge thumbs up for the bannock newbies!
Day 2
Today was sand castle day…We started out with games by the beach…Then we made a sandcastle village… This one was a clifftop village…Rock pooling… We then made pizza on a pan. Here we are lighting the fire.Easter egg hunt rounded off the afternoon
Day 3
Flying kites we made…The Gang!Smores!!!Dyeing Easter Eggs!
And that was us! Easter 2024 was over, just like that! I heard that children slept soundly that night!
It has been, once again sooo busy. We began the year with a half term session with the Fostering Network and will be working with them over the coming months once again.
Meanwhile the Easter holidays are here and we have 2 more spaces left on Wednesday and 1 more space on Friday. Thursday is completely full. To book go to http://tinyurl.com/yc56buv2
There is literally NO EXCUSE for having such an out of date website, but we have been very busy. What has happened since we last updated with our session in Glasswater Woods?
Thank you note from parent of child who participated in the Glasswater session
Well, here’s a run down.
We ran a five-day Summer Scheme in Oakfield Forest in Carrickfergus at the start of summer.
We made nettle fibres for our activity in Carrickfergus
We started the After School in Holywood Steiner School, and are once again fully subscribed.
Some very cheerful after schoolers!!
We ran the last of the Fostering Network sessions in Gosford Park.
We gathered fungi and made leaf art using a felt cutting at Gosford Forest.
And we started the New Moon Goddess Journeys in Bangor – our next session is fully booked out!
Finally we have a birthday party coming up…
And the feedback has been great!
Oh yes, and Stephanie attended the Regional Forest School gathering at Monaghan and learnt all about mushrooms!
We have decided to hold a New Moon Goddess Journeying session every month – our second meeting will take place on June 18th at 5 pm.
New Moon Goddess Journeying – 18 June 5 – 7 pm –
Quarries Farm, 403 Gransha Road Bangor
Bring something to share and a couple of quid for the hire of the space. We will drum and journey, share our New Moon stories and connect to the many incarnations of the Goddess. Celebrate the New Moon and the Summer Solstice – and make a new start. No need to reply, just turn up.
Hard to believe that 2 months have passed and we have been up to loads!
As usual we have had two excellent sessions with the Fostering Network. We worked with the Antrim and North Down sectors and delivered 2 four week sessions in Ballymena People’s Park as well as Glasswater Woods.
The Green Man… we made masks celebrating summer!Fairy doors were just adorable!Blown away by the beauty!
We also kept on with our After School although there were so many Bank Holiday Mondays in May and June!
We got loads of fun out of the new archery set we bought!And our new slackline also got a premier! Water festival!
Goddess Workshop
We held our Goddess Workshop in Newtownards…
Stories, drumming journey and making horses
Siuban put together wire frames for the horses…
Macha is Mother. Is every aspect of mother. She brings her ferocity. Her assurance. She says, you are enough. More than enough. We are all that … and some.
As we enter the height of summer, we dance with her, for her. We no longer doubt. Everything is possible. Everything exists here – for us- in this time.
We have had a most busy 2023 to date. We started with a return to our After School at the Hol;ywood Steiner School, the first of our Goddess workshops as well as a session with the Fostering Network, promoting our Easter Holiday Scheme for 2023 and developing a Forest School training day with GROW NI.
Here is a snapshot of how we’ve got on.
After School – Holywood Steiner School
Discovering Physics through pulleysIt’s cold in March!
Our After School sessions are full with a waiting list. Children engage in deep play while developing their bushcraft skills. Running around is essential to stay warm while cooking over an open fire keeps our spirits up.
If you are interested in starting an After School with us, why not give us a call on 07540075991 or email us hello@elementscshool.net.
Fostering Network – Belfast
We spent a remarkably unseasonal warm three days in February at Belvoir Park Forest doing not just forest skills, but history, plant ID, bird song and geography. We are very lucky to have such a beautiful forest in the middle of Belfast and for a few of the participants, it was the first time they had been there!
Birthday Party
It was a beautiful return to the Quarries where we held our first birthday party of the year! We had 11 children and a very happy birthday boy. Party games were played and we celebrated another year around the sun.
If you are interested in booking a party with us email us on hello@elementsschool.net. Each child is £12 with a minimum of 10 children. The party games are an hour with another hour at the Quarries in their traditional Tea Barn.
Sometimes dream do come true! We held our first goddess workshop at the Navan Centre which worked with the Goddess Brigid and looked at the Maiden in ourselves. The day was bright and beautiful and the moon guided us back to amazing dreams! Our next one is on 14 May when we work with Macha. You can sign up for it here!
New year new things!
We spent nearly £400 on new equipment, including a slackline, target, arrows and lots and lots and lots of rope and tarp – AND a kelly kettle!!!! We are a REAL forest school now 🙂
Well that’s us all caught up for 2023! With our next outing which is the Fostering Network in Antrim, Easter Holiday Scheme, GROW NI workshop and more goddess workshops, it looks to be a very very busy year!
Drawing from the Triple Goddess in Irish mythology, this series of workshops will explore and honour the Divine Feminine in all of us over the course of the cyclical year
To register for the course, please click here. Please take note of the different closing dates in the form for each session.
Brigid
All original artwork for this course was created by Siuban O Hare
Introduction
The idea for this series of workshops began with a conversation between Siuban O’Hare and Stephanie Sim around tree journeys, the Goddess, mythic time and consciousness.
Over the course of the year, frequented the hills of Craigantlet and forests of North Down, to explore putting together something which would draw on the wealth of Irish mythology to enable participants to develop their connection with the unseen consciousness. A consciousness which, because it is quiet, almost forgotten and unspoken, has had little currency in our culture and soul life, and flown under our collective radars.
We spoke about the importance of thresholds and the Divine Feminine, her beauty and sublimity as Maiden, Mother and Crone, and wondered how we could work with her blessings and bounty through a mythic narrative which would simultaneously strengthen the Sacred Feminine presence in our lives as well as root it in nature, the land making the experience an earthy, practical one.
Jemma Weymss then joined the conversation and over several sessions we discussed the phases of womanhood, as well as the importance of the feminine consciousness in the lives of not just the women we knew, or the women we were, but men who were part of the picture.
Macha
The topics were wide ranging and covered everything: from the experience of girlhood, periods to the blossoming potential and perils of teenagehood, the triumphs and challenges faced by young women, mothers, and single women, as well as society’s impoverished and debilitating attitudes to the riches of the menopause and elderhood. We covered what wisdoms the ancient myths held for us as we reconnected with a renewed spiritual consciousness in the 21st century. It spiraled out into social constructs, economic systems, religion, the media, including social media, as well as the historic suppression and abuse of the feminine and how impoverished we were because of this. Yes, it did feel like we were setting the world to rights a bit.
In late June, we began to speak with the Navan Centre. This was very exciting. As the home of the Goddess Macha herself and the ancient spiritual centre of Ireland, the Navan Centre’s unique location would be the perfect place to explore these ideas and renew our connection to the land, through a series of workshops which worked with the Triple Goddess.
The workshop is called Because I Have a Voice – The Heroine’s Journey as we were reclaiming and reframing that forgotten and long abandoned space through story, song, poetry and art. Of great importance as well was reestablishing a connection with the land through blessing as well as working with the trees as a medium for journeying into mythic time.
Cailleach
Content
The three sessions can be attended as stand alone workshops, or as a full set.
The idea is to take the participant on a journey through the threefold incarnation of the Triple Goddess – Maiden, Mother and Crone.
During each workshop we will work with an aspect of the Goddess and very closely with a tree.
This will be done through various media, including sand play, poetry, art, woodland skills, music and storytelling. Each workshop will explore what that aspect of the Goddess means, and how it has informed and continues to inform the participant’s own journey.
Lunch will be held outdoors, as we cook over a campfire, reconnecting with the mood of the season.
At the end of the session, participants will leave with a momento of time spent in mythic space, as well as, hopefully, a deepened understanding and connection of the role the Divine Feminine which they will be able to continue to strengthen independently in their lives.
The workshop will be facilitated by Siuban, Stephanie and Jemma.
Who should attend?
Anyone who is interested in journeying, nature and conservation, mythology, tree lore, creativity, woodland and outdoor activities and skills, exploring their own relationship to the Goddess in all her aspects and forms. You can be brand new to the process or a seasoned practioner yourself. No experience is necessary and depth of experience will be welcomed!
If you are on a threshold yourself – or would like to retrospectively look back at your own experience of those thresholds. We hope to offer a space where all are able to share of their experiences openly and draw from the journey of the Goddess herself to develop a nourishing narrative.
Ages: 16 and above
Gender: Open to anyone who seeks to connect with the Divine Feminine within them. It is important that as a participant you must respect the experiences of everyone else.
Mobility: Allowances can be made for people of varying mobilities. If you have a question about ability, please contact us directly by email.
What to bring
Participants need to bring a Journal and Pen – although loose leaf paper and stationery will also be provided. All food will be provided. All art materials will be provided.
Must be dressed for the weather (outdoor element). Dress comfortably to enable movement during workshop.
The Venue
Navan Fort (Emain Macha) is an ancient ceremonial monument near Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to tradition it was one of the great royal sites of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland and the capital of the Ulaidh. It is a large circular hilltop enclosure—marked by a bank and ditch—inside which is a circular mound and the remains of a ring barrow. Archeological investigations show that there were once buildings on the site, including a huge roundhouse-like structure that has been likened to a temple. In a ritual act, this timber structure was filled with stones, deliberately burnt down and then covered with earth to create the mound which stands today. It is believed that Navan was a pagan ceremonial site and was regarded as a sacred space. It features prominently in Irish mythology, especially in the tales of the Ulster Cycle. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, “the [Eamhain Mhacha] of myth and legend is a far grander and mysterious place than archeological excavation supports”.
Facilitators
Siuban at Hill is Uisneach this year
Siuban O Hare
Siuban is a fulltime artist, sculptor and storyteller, who lives and works in Bangor Co,Down. She has exhibited her work with the RUA annual exhibition in the Ulster Museum Belfast, Scuplture in Context National Botanical Gardens Dublin, ForM Sculptural exhibition Walled Gardens Bangor and the Chimera international Gallery Mullingar WestMeath. Siuban is a member of a local writers and storytelling group. Her knowledge also extends into Irish mythology and Folklore, Divine Feminine and Irish Indigenous beliefs and practices.
Before becoming a fulltime artist, for over 25 years, Siuban worked as a Trauma and Systemic Family Therapist. Using art, play, poetry, storytelling and journaling as a form of communication. With children, adolesences and their families, in residential and community settings.
Siuban designed and delivered training and workshops on Trauma and Systemic Family therapy.
Stephanie and Gary, her cat
Stephanie Sim
Stephanie has had a long standing interest in mythology, especially Goddess mythos. She has delved into shamanism, tree journeys and has facilitated workshops with teenagers – boys and girls – to enable connections with the world around them to assist with sense making.
She currently teaches in a Waldorf school and has also been a Forest School practioner for the past 11 years. She started Elements Forest School in 2020 and is working closely with the Fostering Network to deliver their Wild About Learning Programme.
She has a MA degree in English Studies and holds amongst other certifications, a diploma in Steiner education and has been an accredited Forest School practioner for the past 11 years.
Jemma Weymss
Jemma Wemyss is a Play and Creative Arts Therapist and Forest School Leader from Bangor, County Down. She specialises in a technique called SandStory which is a creative Therapeutic approach using sand, symbols and storytelling for wellbeing. Jemma became involved with Elements after responding to an opportunity to volunteer. The immersive engagement with nature inspired her to become a permanent member of the team. This series of workshops is a unique opportunity for Jemma to bring together SandStory, creativity and outdoor skills to facilitate a connection with oneself, the stories we hold and the natural world around us.
