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21 Mar 2011
Groundwork NI Chair, Paul McErlean is pictured with two young Forest School partcipants
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Northern Ireland’s largest Forest Schools event held in North Belfast
Groundwork NI are celebrating the success of the Forest Schools environmental programme that has been delivered to pairs of local schools in North Belfast over the past six months. The programme culminated on Wednesday 30th March at 10.00am at Hazelwood Integrated Primary School where a certificate presentation took place in the Assembly Hall ceremony for participants. After this the schoolchildren made their way into Throne Woods beside the school to take part in what was Northern Ireland’s largest ever Forest Schools session.
This event saw over 250 local school children (P2-P7) participating in five outdoor activities ranging from wood whittling to tree planting and from den making to mammal trekking. Forest Schools has been developed and adapted from the original concept implemented in Sweden in the 1950’s and developed throughout other Scandinavian and European Countries. In the 1980’s the concept was adopted in the UK by early years practitioners and Forest Schools has successfully developed opportunities in an outdoor setting for children and adults of all ages to develop a variety of life skills: independence, altruism, self awareness and social communication skills, all of which assist individuals to grow in self-esteem and confidence.
Bronagh Burns, aged 8, Star of the Sea Primary School said:
“I really enjoyed these days in the woods and I enjoyed answering questions on nature but the thing I liked most was finding insects, looking at them in our jars and then making the homes for them. We’ve been using different senses each week, I have met new friends from other local schools and it’s been massive fun”
Sylvia Gordon, Director of Groundwork NI said:
“One of the key aspects of this environmental programme is that the schools have come together to share their learning experiences and to develop new friendships and mutual trust from a young age. Using the great outdoors as a backdrop to work in partnership and build tolerance with the local schools has been extremely successful. This project compliments our core work in the LCAP area within North Belfast and we are grateful to all the parties who have contributed to making this programme a success”
The project was made possible through Loughview Community Action Partnership (LCAP) funded by OFMDFM and Ulster Garden Villages. Groundwork Northern Ireland delivered the project in partnership with the Northern Ireland Forest School Association.
Young people enjoying the great outdoors in Throne Woods
Billy Hutchinson, LCAP lead partner said:
“Loughview Community Action Partnership were pleased to be working in partnership with Groundwork Northern Ireland on the Schools Environmental Programme. LCAP’s aims through our programmes of work are to build citizenship, good relations, leadership and capability among and between communities in North Belfast. The Schools Environmental Programme equipped local children with all of these skills and most importantly built bridges between schools from different backgrounds and broke down barriers between children. The local woodland was used for the sessions, therefore giving ownership of these areas of shared space to the children and their communities. We would hope that those who participated in the programme and their families continue to use this area and pass on what they have learned through the programme.”
The primary aim of the Forest Schools project in North Belfast was to bring local schools together on a cross community basis to engage in shared learning in an area of shared space. The model of Forest Schools is being used as an educational programme and is proven to work with children and young people in the outdoors, helping to build self-esteem, social skills and independence. Hands-on activities with natural materials develop practical and intellectual skills, which can be linked directly, back to the National Curriculum.
Groundwork NI staff members Barbara Wallace and Madeleine Kelly worked in partnership with Brian Poots from the Northern Ireland Forest School Association. As the Forest School approach is unique from other environmental programmes, Madeleine Kelly and Barbara Wallace have both completed training with the Northern Ireland Forest Schools Association and will soon be two of only three accredited practioners in Northern Ireland.
Brian Poots, Northern Ireland Forest Schools Association said:
“The Northern Ireland Forest School Association (NIFSA) supported Groundwork NI staff to deliver this educational programme for LCAP. This involved training and assessing two Groundwork NI staff who were undertaking the Forest School Leader Level 3 Award. This has been a huge and very exciting partnership for NIFSA. It has enormous potential and I believe that with the help of Groundwork NI, Forest School can become an integral part of a child’s natural development.”
