Bo’ness Public Nursery staff identified a small woodland area within Douglas Park which they identified as an ideal site within walking distance of the Nursery.
As part of the Outdoor Learning Project within Falkirk Council, Karen Thomson, Senior Early Years Officer, Falkirk Council Education Services Curriculum Support Teamvisited the site and carried out a risk assessment with the staff. Following information sessions for the parents (powerpoint for parents) the children began their sessions in the woods on 5th March.
[kml_flashembed movie="https://www.youtube.com/v/QUEsxGIrys8" width="425" height="344" allowfullscreen="true" fvars="fs=1" /]
These were our first trips to the local wooded area. I, personally was looking forward to the initiation of this project and was suitably kitted out for the inclement weather. The two parents who accompanied myself and the children to the woods were initially unsure of how the children would behave and felt that they had to tell them what not to do and where not to go. However, by the end of the session they began to realise that the children were able to assess the risks themselves and once told by staff where the boundaries were, enjoy the freedom to explore. Both parents commented that they would normally be warning their children and limiting what they could do, but now recognised that the children could be happy and safe without standing next to them.
Thanks karen the video is great I have put it on to let the children have a look they are enjoying ‘spotting’ themselves and their friends and talking about what they were doing.
The children have all enjoyed their first visit to ‘the woods’ and are all asking when it’s their turn to go again.
We have had lots of positive comments from parents too.
As a staff we are so pleased we had a look around our local area and ‘discovered’ the woods it’s perfect for us and we would encourage others to explore their local areas we did not know what we had on our doorstep as we dont live in the town.