Garvagh Forest School Curriculum
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Garvagh Forest School's Curriculum Photo by James Blunt http://www.jamesbruntartist.co.uk INTRODUCTION The Garvagh People's Forest (GPF) Project is coordinated by Garvagh Development Trust with the purpose of 'creating value in Garvagh Forest's 600 acres with and for local people'. Our premise is simple: time spent in nature makes us feel better and when we feel better we are in a better place to do good things for ourselves, with others and for the wider community and environment. The project is funded for five years by the Big Lottery (2017-2022). "To what One of the six areas of work being grown by the GPF Project is extent can the Garvagh Forest School, a collaboration between nine schools and Northern playgroups: Carhill IPS; Garvagh PS; Gorran PS; Kilrea PS; St Columba's PS; St Patrick's & St Joseph's PS; Appletree Childcare; Ireland Naiscoil Ghleann An Iolair (Glenullin) and Garvagh Community Playgroup. Curriculum The purpose of this document is to demonstrate, to parents, being educationalists and other interested parties, how participation in achieved Garvagh Forest School actively enables the educational philosophy, principles and content of the Northern Ireland through a Curriculum for children at Key Stage 1 & 2. Our ambition is to develop this document to cover all stages of the Curriculum. The Forest School primary schools currently participate in Forest School for 4 weeks per term with each session lasting @x2 hours. The pre-schools Approach?" participate once a term but they are supplementing this with their own visits to the forest and use of outdoor spaces. This document sets out to explain how participation in Garvagh Forest School makes a positive impact in lifelong learning for all children within a unique context of shared community learning which is aligned with the strategic direction of The Northern Ireland Curriculum Primary framework. Throughout the document educational insights from the Northern Ireland Curriculum framework have been used. A full copy of the curriculum framework is available for reference at www.ccea.org.uk Add a liBttlRe IbEit Fof bHodIyS TtexOt RY OF THE FOREST "I never see a forest that does not bear a mark or sign of history." (Anselm Kiefer) Garvagh Forest is situated in the original estate of the Canning family. Garvagh was developed in its current lay out by the Canning family in the 17th Century following the 1640s rebellion with land confiscated by the Crown from the O’Cahans. Garvagh once lay on the edges of the famous Glenconkeyne Forest which stretched from north-west from Lough Neagh, down the Bann valley, nearly to Coleraine, and across to the Sperrin mountains in the east. In 1607 this area was described by Sir John Davys, the Irish attorney-general, as “well- nigh as large as the New Forest in Hampshire and stored with the best timber in Ireland.” (Irish Woods Since Tudor Times, 1971). It formed in its day one of the biggest, and possibly the densest, oak forest in the country and became notorious for the hide out of the woodkernes; “a race of outlaws driven from their miserable dwellings by the Norman invaders, rarely emerging from their retreats in the impenetrable forests except in pursuit of plunder.”(http://www.clanmcshane.org/TheMacShanes) They became the most formidable enemies with which the first planters in Ulster had to contend with. By the end of the 17th century the woods of south Derry had become mostly depleted with the woods exploited by the Crown with the timber used for casks, barrels, buildings and ships. Garvagh Forest today is @600 acres and is a mix of broad leaf and conifer forest. From its more recent story as land ruled by different chieftains in Gaelic Ireland and managed through the Brehon laws, to private ownership through the Canning family who built the ‘big house’ in the forest to the state managed and owned from the 1950s as a commercial forest this small piece of land has evolved through different forms of ownership and management. Understanding this history and the complexity of people’s relationship with the land and the forest is a key underpinning of the Garvagh People’s Forest. WHAT IS A FOREST SCHOOL? A Forest School is about taking learning outdoors which can help develop young people's confidence, well-being and imagination. A Forest School (FS) approach is based on six principles: (1) FS is a long term process of regular sessions, rather than one-off or infrequent visits; the cycle of planning, observation, adaptation and review links each session. (2) FS takes places in a woodland or natural environment to support the development of a relationship between the learner and the natural world; (3) FS uses a range of learner-centred processes to create a community for being, development and learning. (4) FS aims to promote the holistic development of all those involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent & creative learners. (5) FS offers learners the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves. (6) FS is run by practitioners who continuously maintain and develop their professional practice. (www.forestschoolassociation.org) "I was in the forest today and came out taller than the trees." (Adapted from Henry Thoreau) OUR MODEL At the heart of our model is creating the space and the opportunities for a young person to grow their relationships with themselves, with each other and with the natural world with a deep understanding of the history and heritage of the land and the people that have lived on it and shaped it over thousands of years. These relationships are grown by developing & practising new skills, growth in knowledge and the management and expression of feelings. Finally this is only made possible with strong connections between schools, families, communities and the forest with the underlying principle that a Healthy Community = A Healthy Forest. DIFFERENT OUTCOMES Within Garvagh Forest School there are different groups of people with different though not incompatible sets of interests and expected outcomes. These are the ones we know. For the young people, the outcomes they identified for Forest School are as follows: * Free Play; *Making / Building useful things out of natural materials; *Moving *Seeking, Finding and a Challenge *Structured games *Songs, Music, Drumming *Making fire and cooking on it. *Anything to do with water; *Grown up things For Garvagh People's Forest we measure our work using the 5 Well Being Outcomes: Connecting; Being Active; Taking Notice; Learning; Giving. (https://neweconomics.org/2008/10/five-ways-to-wellbeing-the- evidence/). As part of the Connecting and Taking Notice, we have identified 18 trees, plants, animals that live in the forest that we are weaving into the curriculum with the intention that by the end of the year, the primary school young people will be able to identify each species, and know a fact and perhaps a story. We are framing this through Lost Words. http://www.jackiemorris.co.uk/blog/book-list/the-lost-words-a- spell-of-words-by-robert-macfarlane/ For the teachers and the schools the outcomes need to be focused on the Northern Ireland Curriculum. We have thus shaped this one-year curriculum ensuring that it meets all three sets of outcomes. THE NI CURRICULUM The Northern Ireland Curriculum document is a starting point for schools to plan experiences which set out to meet the needs of each individual child. Within this curricular framework, alongside traditional provision, great emphasis is given to important aspects such as Personal Development and Mutual Understanding (PDMU) and the explicit development of Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities (TSPC) which are essential elements of educational provision to enable children to thrive. The overall aim of The Northern Ireland Curriculum is “to empower young people to develop their potential and to make informed and responsible choices and decisions throughout their lives”. (pg 7 Northern Ireland Curriculum Primary )Through the delivery of this educational framework the objectives are that pupils should have opportunities to develop as; Individuals by learning about; Personal health Personal development and mutual understanding Moral character Spiritual understanding Contributors to Society by learning about: Citizenship Cultural understanding Media awareness Ethical awareness Contributors to the Economy and Environment by learning about: Employability Economic awareness Education for sustainable development There are three stages to the Primary Curriculum. Our point of reference for Forest School is Key Stage 2 which spans P5-P7. The six statutory areas of learning are determined as; • Language and Literacy • Mathematics and Numeracy • The Arts • The World Around Us • Personal Development and Mutual Understanding • Physical Education with the additional of Religious Education as a non-statutory element. THE NI CURRICULUM The Northern Ireland Curriculum acknowledges that the planning and delivery of all curricular learning needs to take account of explicit emphasis on the development of skills and capabilities for lifelong learning and for operating effectively in society. Children should have opportunity to actively engage in learning contexts across all areas of the curriculum with provision made to develop the Cross-Curricular Skills of Using Communication (UC), Using Mathematics (UM) and Using Information and Communications Technology (UICT). Additionally the Northern Ireland Curriculum Primary framework requires Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities (TSPC) to be infused across all areas of learning. This involves the specific skills of Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making, Self-Management, FLOW OF A SESSION Each Forest School Session tries to follow a similar journey as outlined below. Grounding & Welcome (Core Practices) Creating curiosity and interest in the session's adventure. The adventure Free Play & Sharing Learning Sit Spot & Evaluation (Core. Practices OUR YEAR The following three pages are broken down into the Autumn.