Author: ElementsFGS Page 2 of 8

In 2022, Events, Forest School Sessions, Our Curriculum

Well, quite a lot actually…

The Goddess Journey

Starting in February, at Imbolc, we will be starting a series of workshops honouring the feminine and everyone is invited, regardless of gender.

We will be taking a voyage with Brigid (Imbolc), Macha (Bealtaine) and the Cailleach (Samhain) through the course of the year. Along with the goddesses, we will be working with trees as well as the land. The venue is being confirmed now, but it is quite close to being confirmed! So we are most excited about this.

After Schools

We will continue our After Schools club in Holywood Steiner School. But if you are interested in having one for yours, please contact us and let us know.

Easter Scheme

The dates for the Easter scheme are the 4, 5 and 6 of April.

Summer Scheme

Fostering Network

We will continue to work with the Fostering Network. We are planning a session over the February half term already for somewhere in Belfast!

If you are interested in any of these activities or getting in touch with us email hello@elementsschool.net or call us/ WhatsApp 07540075991. You can also drop in on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/elementsschoolni/.

Oíche Shamhna

In Events, Our Curriculum

and Halloween was back! Sadly we didn’t get too many photos of it, but here are a few that were captured by the parents. It was a collaboration between Elements and the Parents and Friends of the Steiner School. over 150 people attended despite the downpour! It was a truly memorable evening.

This was Emma Foley’s station – the amulet making

Art by Siuban Regan as part of the cailleach story

We turned the portacabin into a shadow play theatre! It was rather magical!

So, what’s next?…

Working with the Fostering Network

In 2022, Cooking with Children, Forest School Sessions, Our Curriculum

We were very lucky to work once again with the Fostering Network, this time in Antrim. We operated out of the Compass Network farm in Ballymoney and went through four native trees here.

The activities centred around the birch, alder, ash and oak. The sessions which lasted four weeks included storytelling, knife skills, den building and working with trees.

We worked with ten children regularly, ages between 7 and 12 years, with varying abilities. Some of the feedback was…

We learnt…

How to survive

Everything about trees

How to make things

How to stay alive

Doing whittling and deciding to do woodwork for GCSE said an 8 y.o… the rain stayed off. Thanks to CAN for the use of their barn and baby forest. Can’t wait to go back and see it in 20 years time.

We hope to work with them again in the future!

What have we been up to?

In 2022, Forest School Sessions, Our Curriculum

I must apologise for not updating the site since June! Unforgiveable!

In my defence, it has been extremely busy the past few months though.

Here is a run down on what we have been up to:

After School Sessions at the Holywood Steiner School

We have had full session of up to 18 children here on Monday afternoons between 3 to 5 pm. The children who attend these sessions are now so well seasoned, that they engage in deep play. We set out our activities and the children then self direct play. There could be some who play int he hammock.

Others choose to hone their knife skills.

Yet others play in the woods, creating worlds which are limited only by the imagination. Others build dens. It is the sort of thing which you really want to do after school, with friends…

Here two students have made a bug house on their own…

After that, most importantly, we all have a good feed…

And that’s just one thing which we did!

Kids who spend time in nature are happier… whodha tot?

On 8th June 2022

In Let Us Know

This article from March 23, 2022 outlines not just why and how kids are better in nature but how you can do it and it doesn’t have to cost a million squid (hint: urban spaces are nature too.)

Find out how you can get Elements Forest and Garden School to give your child a great time while learning without learning… if you know what i mean…

Contact us on 07540075991 or email us at hello@elementsschool.net

Resilience. Adventure. Memories…. and Friends…

Exploring boundaries. Caring for Nature. Developing Skills.

Heard of it? Nature Deficit Disorder?

In Let Us Know

Working with the Killinchy Sure Start kids.

Nature Deficit Disorder was coined as a term just over 10 years ago. It was the first time someone had done a study on just how not being out in nature was detrimental to our children.

It it now universally acknowledged and recognised that spending a lot of time outdoors – there is no upper limit really – has a positive effect on mental, physical and spiritual health.

Here is a recent news item on this. The clip is not playable but the article does describe the issue well.

Learning and play

In Our Curriculum

Here are a few thoughts after ten years of Forest School… yes I started teaching Forest School in 2012…

Here is one of the wee gnomes on the Forest School flag we still use…

Literally my first Forest School class… those kids are now 17

Well, my thoughts… what always inspired me was the wish to have children understand and be connected with nature. Yes, true it was about how nature was great for children. How nature was important to us. How they are the future and therefore they are entrusted to nature. And from the very start to was always linked to the unseen beings, the invisible law of physics or pharies, you choose, that surrounded us. Always.

The most important thing though – along with working with all of nature – was bringing this joy, this constancy of love. If the activities were overprescribed and joyless, then it would defeat the purpose.

So Forest School would always be a place of learning, yes, but also magic and play…

Fast forward ten years… that’s ten years of being a Waldorf teacher, ten years of Forest School, two years of Covid, two years of starting our own social enterprise… and here we are…

Here are the top 5 things I have learnt as an outdoor teaching practitioner:

Plan, plan, plan with the children and the activities in mind.
Have everything at hand.
Health and safety of course, but also boundaries they can explore and grow into.
Always read the children – see where they are and what they need.
Have fun with it! Make sure that there is always space for fun.

It has been a wonderful 10 years and with any luck there will be another 10 to go! Thank you everyone who has helped along the way.

Wonderful summer

In 2022, Forest School Sessions

We have had a return to Forest School After School at the Holywood Steiner School where we focused on foraging and rope… we made a rope ladder, had fun in hammocks, foraged the abundant greens and cooked pasta and rice over the fire… and of course had several games of hunt!

Busy as bees with the Fostering Network

In Let Us Know

Well, yes it is true, we have been absent online – there is no excuse, but we have been very very busy…

First there was the Easter Scheme which saw three days of wonderfully warm weather and sadly due to my phone being on its last legs, I was unable to take photos of the wonderful time we had. From playing in the river once more to lounging on hammocks and even getting ‘lost’ during our walk there was just so much to do!

After that we worked with the Fostering Network over four Saturdays – Helen’s Bay was home to Wild About Learning – an outdoor classroom where we harvested mud, drew and IDed trees and foraged the tender spring greens.

As you can see we were only allowed to take the set up photos but here are some quotes from the children…

1 What mark would you give the ‘Wild About Learning’ programme out of 10?

Didn’t enjoy 5 OK 10 Brilliant

9 (3), 10 (4)

Did you have fun? Yes or No?

Yes (7)

– tell me one thing you really enjoyed and why.

River walk – I like playing in water (3)

Making new friends – I like meeting new people (1)

Starting a campfire – I always wanted to learn to do this (1)

Building a hammock – I liked to swing in it by myself (1)

Cooking marsh mallows – like love eating them (1

We hoped you would try new things. Tell me about something new you tried for the first time.

Cooking on a campfire (2)

Starting a campfire (4)

Learning about leaves (1)

We hoped you would learn new things. Tell me about something you learnt that you didn’t know about before you came to ‘Wild about Learning’.

That you can eat some leaves (3)
Learning about bugs (1)

How to cook on a campfire (1)

How to build a den (1)

How to make things from river mud (1)

Was learning outdoors a fun way to learn? Yes or No?

Yes (7)

We worked together and listened to others.

– Did you like being part of a team? Yes or No?

Yes (7)

– Did you make new friends? Yes or No?

Yes (7)

Do you think coming to We are Wild About Learning gave you more confidence? Yes or No?

Yes (7)

Were the staff friendly? Yes or No?

Yes (7)

Would you come back again? Yes or No?

Yes (7)

Well really you couldn’t ask for more could you?

Why we do what we do