Learning from Risk
Acquiring Skills for Life and for Learning through Risk and Challenge
Those of you who already in the forest school way of thinking will appreciate that a significant part of what we do involves children learning how to assess risks. We use sharp tools, we climb trees, we make use of fire, we discover what we can and can’t manage to do on our own. Much of the press coverage of forest school is fixated with this part of the Forest School ethos. What can get missed is that learning to manage risk leads to greater thought about the world in which we live and how we react to it and the adoption by most children of working co-operatively to manage a risk between them. All this doesn’t get forest school leaders off the hook of being responsible for their charges, far from it. All aspects of every activity offered as risk assessed and the children are taught the correct way to do things to ensure their safety and to give them an appreciation of why we do certain things in certain ways. Even when we are confident our charges are competent and capable, the ratios of children to an adult remain the same. In general the children are good at remembering to do things the way they have been shown as they recognise that this frees them up to do more of what they want to do and they know that the use of some tools is a privilege that has to be earned.
Making a start: working from the known to the unknown
In the first few weeks that a new group comes to forest school, it is part of the leader’s job to gauge what each child is bringing to the woods in the way of experience and developmental progress. As the children grow and change what they want to make use of will change too. Manual dexterity is enhanced by using a potato peeler to de- bark twigs. This is the pre-knife skills stage. Similarly using a tent peg (‘pokey outy thing’) is a precursor to using hand drills and a whole range of sharp edges tools. Knowing how to hold a tool and what precautions to take to be certain of everyone’s safety is explained before the children engage with an activity which will include the correct use of that tool. Reinforcement continues during the activity. Having low ratios of children to each adult provides a secure basis for a child to use a new tool, either in a small group or individually. Initially the provision of guided activities provides a scaffold from which each child progresses at their own rate towards making their own choices about learning. Working with an adult in a small group outside enhances the sense of a shared experience from which a desire to work with a peer can begin.
Ensuring safety
It may well be that for many weeks there will be children who cling to a guided activity and remain wary of using tools. This is OK. There is no rush. The ratios of adults to children allow for everyone to get what they need from the session. A child takes on a new challenge when he or she is ready. This is the only way to proceed when safety is an issue. We all develop dexterity at different rates; forest school sessions are designed to incorporate these differences.
Every session, every location and every tool has been risk assessed to ensure maximum safety. One of the core strands in assessing the risks is that a child uses the tool they are ready for; any shift to a trickier tool is planned for with the child in mind.
There are guidelines for ratios of adults to children for use of many tools. These are a maximum number. Where a child requires greater support than the maximum ratio stated, the numbers of children fall lower, often down to 1:1.
Progressing
It can take a half term or longer for children to have the spontaneity to select their own agenda for forest school. Once this has started to happen, the leader takes on the role of facilitator. Ratios for supervision when using tools remain but the child will know what tool is needed and request it. A chat with the child will ascertain how ready they are to use that tool properly with an understanding of risks or whether a gentle reminder or the offer of other options is needed. Activities such as climbing trees, rolling logs, gathering samples, also require ad hoc risk management by the child. ‘If I go that high, will I be able to get back down?’ ‘Will the next branch take my weight?’ ‘How can I find out?’ ‘Can I lift or shift this on my own?’ ‘What do I need to help me to move it?’’ Does this plant sting?’ Has it got thorns? Do I need gloves?’ If it is evident that these sorts of questions are not being asked, then asking questions to help the child think the options through is brought into play. Another aspect of this is equipping the child with the tools to answer the questions, whether this is an internal conversation, a chat with an adult or a friend or using a book or a reference card.
Deployment of Skills for Learning
Back in the classroom these analytical skills are often commented on by teachers. Forest school children are calmer when approaching a new activity and may take longer to make a start because they are thinking all around the activity to be sure they have considered all the options. A forest school child is less likely to need reminding about the rules for using scissors or other equipment; that child knows that a properly used tool is a means to an end. They often think laterally to solve problems and are more likely to engage others to work with them. Asking ‘What will happen if..?’ is as relevant to art or science as it is to assessing risk. It is a skill for life. These approaches increase the likelihood of an outcome which pleases the child and demonstrates new confidence to the adults. A further benefit I’ve observed is children knowing when to ask for help and knowing that it is OK to ask for help; something many older children struggle with for fear of looking foolish. All of these are benefits that spin out from learning to manage personal risk and from recognising when cooperative action is helpful. On starting preschool many children are at the developmental stage of playing or acting alongside another child rather than fully engaging and sharing with another child. The drive to complete whatever a child has started can be the trigger to work with another to achieve this. These are skills for life that will be carried and made use of way beyond the preschool and infant school years.
In this era of screens and the ready-made, the non-instant and the shared can become lost in the din. Opportunities for challenge that benefit young minds can be lost under the pressure to meet National Curriculum requirements. The child who has had to think to complete a challenge, especially one they’ve set themselves, will be more determined in the formal setting of the classroom. Further, unfounded fears for children’s safety may be keeping children safe but this is also limiting their experience. Only by guiding children to make informed decisions will they grown up able to manage personal risk and to make confident choices. Forest School goes a long way to providing this.