Forest Schools is widely believed to have been developed in Scandinavia during the 1950’s (Pound,2005) and ideas were adapted into Britain in the 1990’s (Pound, 2011).
Aubrey Westlake, along with three others established the first forest school in the new forest, it ran between 1929 to the year of 1938 and inspired many other progressive schools including Bedales and Dartington, which to this day are still running (Pound, 2011).
The purpose behind Forest Schools, was for children to live in the open air, this was their option if lessons were not the preference and attended (Pound, 2011). The philosophy behind it believes that children's contact with nature and the natural world is a very important factor in their development. Children are given the freedom to respond and react to the environment in their own way, and enhance their own learning style.
An organisation called forest schools set up to promote outdoor learning for young children. Forest school does not have a in particular building, it is a way of working in an outdoor environment which allows children to work independently and gain self confidence. It is not outdoor education, it is not environmental educational and it’s not play, instead the mixture of all 3 which adds to the uniqueness.
Research has shown with those children who were not confident within themselves and their play had rapidly changed after attending forest school, the results were shown from anywhere between a few weeks to a few months.
Today there is an increasing number of forest schools throughout Britain. Some are privately owned but the majority are supported by the local education authority (Tree Huggers, n.d).
Aubrey Westlake, along with three others established the first forest school in the new forest, it ran between 1929 to the year of 1938 and inspired many other progressive schools including Bedales and Dartington, which to this day are still running (Pound, 2011).
The purpose behind Forest Schools, was for children to live in the open air, this was their option if lessons were not the preference and attended (Pound, 2011). The philosophy behind it believes that children's contact with nature and the natural world is a very important factor in their development. Children are given the freedom to respond and react to the environment in their own way, and enhance their own learning style.
An organisation called forest schools set up to promote outdoor learning for young children. Forest school does not have a in particular building, it is a way of working in an outdoor environment which allows children to work independently and gain self confidence. It is not outdoor education, it is not environmental educational and it’s not play, instead the mixture of all 3 which adds to the uniqueness.
Research has shown with those children who were not confident within themselves and their play had rapidly changed after attending forest school, the results were shown from anywhere between a few weeks to a few months.
Today there is an increasing number of forest schools throughout Britain. Some are privately owned but the majority are supported by the local education authority (Tree Huggers, n.d).