Taster Days
The Cluster Group ran successful and well attended Forest School Taster Days in June 2008 at the Chasewater Innovation Centre and September 2009 at the Progress Education and Outdoor Centre on Cannock Chase.
Over thirty-five people attended each event which is a testament to the interest and enthusiasm out there for Forest Schools.
The aim of the Taster Days was threefold;
- To disseminate accurate and productive information as to the nature and aims of Forest Schools
- To describe the elements that contribute to the ethos of Forest Schools
- To give a clear roadmap as to how attendees could potentially implement a Forest School programme in their setting
Through the feedback forms it is evident that people got a lot out of the events. Below is just a selection of comments:
"Enjoyable and informative – the benefits would be tremendous for a lot of our children"
"Very interesting. Has made me more determined to do the training. Loved the Rune activity – will use this in school myself"
"Excellent session – thank you. I can see how this can be developed and extended to suit the group"
"A useful event and a good introduction to a fantastic scheme"
"An excellent session. It has given me many ideas and I hope to become more involved in Forest Schools"
"Very inspirational – will feed back to staff, excellent delivery from all involved"
"The taster has made me realise it is possible to have a forest school within my school, it has made me want to find out more…"
“Best course I’ve ever done!!! Please can you do a full day next time”
From these comments it is evident that this event was a huge success and really fulfilled the desire from many different organisations, from a variety of geographical areas, to find out more about Forest Schools and learn how they can take it forward.
