At our fantastic forest school, in a beautiful woodland setting just outside Newton Abbot in Devon, we run twice-weekly ‘Stay & Play’ sessions, a monthly session for families under the care of the Devon NHS perinatal mental health team, volunteer opportunities and this year we also hosted some students from our local school for children with additional needs who visited our toddler sessions to gain experience toward their childcare qualifications. Our Stay & Play sessions are for children between 0-5 and their families. Each two-hour session has a nature theme with a craft to take home, fun activities, plenty of time to play and explore the woodland and usually something yummy cooked on the campfire. The children develop an increased connection with nature and pro-environmental values as they learn about the natural world around them. Research into Forest School and its incredible impacts shows that children who visit woodlands benefit through development in their confidence, social skills, motivation and concentration, physical skills and knowledge and understanding. We were thrilled to receive some funding from South West Water which enabled us to offer blocks of free sessions for families on low-income. We are keen to reach families from a wider range of backgrounds; we don’t want money to be a barrier to precious time in nature. We believe that all children should be able to spend time in nature, regardless of their family’s financial situation. Our incredible volunteers join us in the woods when they can. They have helped to shape the whole forest school environment and are invaluable in supporting us to maintain the site and get jobs done! Our oldest volunteer is 80 years young and often says how much joy it brings her to spend time at the woods. New friendships have been formed between volunteers which have extended outside of the forest school. Our Devon NHS perinatal health sessions work alongside the team who provide assessment and treatment for pregnant and postnatal women who may be at risk of, or are experiencing, moderate to severe mental health problems. Families and their children visit us in the woods where we facilitate a welcoming, nurturing, calm session of nature-based crafts for the adults to take part in whilst the experts have time to chat to the families under their care around the fire with a cuppa and cake. From the Woodland Trust: ‘Along with improving our quality of life, green spaces can help to make us physically healthier and improve our mental wellbeing. Nature alleviates stress, stabilises blood pressure and treats anxiety and depression. Its effects have even been shown to increase anti-cancer cells, reduce the incidence of underweight births, and accelerate recovery from surgery. In recent research, around 90% of people said that experiencing woodland biodiversity, like hearing birdsong, boosts their wellbeing. The research also revealed that woodland smells, colours, textures, sounds, shapes and wildlife behaviours enhance wellbeing too.’

Our main stakeholders are the little visitors to our forest school. We pride ourselves in offering a child-led environment. We observe and chat to the children and families who attend sessions - although they are only little, we gain an insight into what they like in a session - activities that are popular are repeated; activities that weren’t quite right in whatever way, we learn from and adapt. Our grown-up stakeholders were consulted by informal chats around the campfire and also by way of a survey (below). We have had some amazing feedback and also some ideas for how we can improve things next year - one of these suggestions being more practitioner-led activity opportunities which we can certainly do and also a change in payment options so that people can block pay for sessions as well as our current PAYG scheme. Our volunteers also like to have a say in what happens around the site and often have good ideas for development and improvement. Feedback from our families who have attended sessions has been really positive: an increased knowledge and understanding of the natural world, growth in resilience, more independent and confident little people. Parents report feeling relaxed and calm. Those with high-energy children, or with SEND, say that the freedom, space and child-led nature of our sessions helps their child. In readiness for this report, we recently sent out a survey to all groups of visitors. We asked about mental and physical impacts for both adults and children from individual to community level. Some key findings can be seen in the attached report. A social audit report covering these points is attached below. Dainton Copse Forest School CIC Wellbeing & Community Impact Survey Please describe any positive changes you have noticed in your child’s emotional wellbeing:14 responses My child's confidence and independence has grown greatly since attending forest school. His social skills have also improved massively. He is able to regulate his emotions well and quickly when at forest school. He is happy and calm when in the woods. Manu loves mustering to the birds and enjoys being busy but relaxed at forest school. He loves being greeted by Sara and Emma who are so friendly and skilled Before attending forest school my ASD son really struggled making connections with people around him. Mostly wanting to play on his own, and often got frustrated. Going to the weekly sessions he began to start interacting with the forest school leaders and showing them all the things he's found or created during our time in the woods. He was visibly calmer in the woods, and his confidence grew massively. He began exploring more independently, and having more positive interactions with other children. He looked forward to his weekly sessions in the woods and I did too! My child absolutely loves coming, and is right at home here. There's definitely A strong sense of belonging Their confidence with interpersonal interactions (with me, other familiar adults and peers) has come on hugely. Their self awareness shines through each time, completely confident in making their own choices and advocating for themselves. The biggest benefit I've felt has been their increased ability to co-regulate and to know I'm there to help when things feel overwhelming, they no longer try to avoid and hide emotions, instead they are capable of addressing them and working through personal setbacks. Whilst Belle has only been attending forest school for a short time I have noticed, when she is at forest school, that she is happy throughout, confident to explore her surroundings and is interacting well with the other children. She remains engaged and happy for the entire session which is quite an accomplishment for a two year old and is testament to the calming yet captivating environment of forest school. Seems able to play on his own or with other children more Heidi has become more confident and sociable Both my grandsons benefitted from being relaxed unprepared and allowed to follow their own ideas. The freedom to roam and explore has played a part in Ottos confidence in himself, his willingness to be independent and push his physical capability (e.g. balancing and jumping on different uneven ground). Otto has been coming to forest school since he was 10 months old and is he is now over 3yo. He has been coming through all stages of his physical development, crawling, walking and now exploring with more agility and really engaging with the nature based tasks and activities that are developing his understanding of the world around him. Otto is an emotional soul and has very big explosive feelings, he is very calm and content when playing outside at forest school and he always gets excited to go. He has become more confident in new settings, around unfamiliar people, and in making decisions for himself. Having more autonomy and opportunities to take measured risks in a safe environment is helping him develop important skills, and feel more emotionally regulated. I have three children under 4, all of which have attended the Forest school sessions. My eldest has definitely become more confident and independent having been at Forest school for nearly two years ,she will happily help Emma and Sara with tasks away from me and is happy to ask questions and join in. My son has been coming since he was a baby and now comes when his sister is in nursery so again has found more confidence and independence especially with his speech due to the social interactions found within the sessions. Finally my youngest first came when she was 4 days old and now enjoys all the sights,smells and sounds the woods provide! Just the ability to be calm in nature and to stop and listen He enjoys the activities & the calmness. My child is happier. He talks about forest school all the time. He tries new things. If yes, we'd love you to tell us more:16 responses Being given the opportunity to have a calm space in nature each week has massively improved my mental health, it regulates me and is a very happy place to be. I find it a very relaxing place to parent, it removes the pressure to curate lovely tough trays at home and clear up afterwards because some qualified teachers already did it in a lovely natural setting - phew, what a weight off! Being a SEN parent can often make your world alot smaller. Attending the forest school sessions allowed me to have positive adult interactions with people who really cared. Don't ever underestimate the power of a cup of coffee and a chat in nature! Emma, Sara, the space, the community, are keeping me together! My weekly check ins with people who actually care, the space for me to parent as I feel right for us, he ability to start to find myself beyond early motherhood and to have little ways that I can give back to others, is a lifeline. Home is not particularly a safe space atm and my support network is strained. So belonging to this and to know it's helping me to be the mum I want to be, is something I don't take for granted. I too have enjoyed the calming and peaceful forest school environment. I have enjoyed watching Belle be able to explore in her own way and time. It has also been lovely to meet and chat to the other parents attending forest school. Emma & Sara always create a positive environment. They are friendly and always very appreciative of the volunteering i do. I have struggled with MH and forest school is the highlight of my week. The environment has a significant positive impact on my mental and physical health and Sara and Emma are the most wonderful people to speak to. Being outside and just supporting my grandsons if needed is lovely, and they love coming to forest school so i get extra kudos. I found the postpartum period very challenging and experienced anxiety, insomnia and also recurring pregnancy loss since. It always felt very manageable for me to potter down the road to forest school even on bad days, and it did us both a huge amount of good to spend time outside and within such a caring and supportive group of people It's always lovely coming to the weekly forest school session. Everyone is friendly, there if you want to chat, but there is no pressure to either. Being out in the fresh air with my child really helps lift my mood even when I'm really tired or don't really feel like doing anything. As a volunteer it has given me time for myself to enjoy nature and make new friends. Emma and Sara make us feel very valued and always appreciate the time we give to help them. As a stay at home mum, the sessions provide me with warm and friendly adult conversation with both Sara and Emma and other parents/grandparents. Feeling calmer in the woods . Feeling at peace Really enjoyed making dens, chopping wood etc Calming, like minded people with lovely activities. You gave me the confidence i needed. You have given me a safe place to be with my child. What do you value most about the forest school experience?17 responses Sara and Emma! They provide a magical place for families to connect with nature each week. And the funded spaces which we are extremely grateful for because without this we may not have had the opportunity to join. I only answer ‘somewhat’ because we were already lucky to be very outdoorsy! We enjoy the warm greeting, the range of fun activities, the singing, cutting up our own fruit, and more recently the healthy selection of toy tractors and haylage! Everything! Acceptance, care, trust, freedom, respect and connection. I value seeing Belle happy in an outdoor environment and growing in confidence with joining in with activities and forming relationships with other children. Getting outdoors, helping, socialisation, crafts, cooking on the fire Even if I am feeling unwell I know that I can go and relax in nature and feel better after and being a good mum isn’t a struggle while I’m there. I find being in nature relaxing and it's a stressful way to interact with my grandsons. It gives you a reason to get outside! children are spending more and more time indoors and on screens and forest school is a return to how I think childhood really should be. It is always so friendly and approachable to attend and everybody is made welcome. It provides a small community for mothers and children when this is often missing in life these days, we knew nobody in the local area as moved here shortly before Otto was born and we met 2 good friends though forest school who we still see regularly The opportunities explore and play. The crafts and activities are creative and stimulate my child's imagination and curiosity. It's a wonderful low threshold group to attend. Volunteering my skills, enjoying the outdoors, meeting people. The peaceful child led aspect of the sessions. No judgement or pressure if your child doesn’t want to do something or is having a bad day, just a safe and most enjoyable environment. That my child can have freedom while learning The connection with nature Outdoor activities with no pressure in a calm environment. The ability to be with my child. Be present in nature. Be somewhere happy and safe. Peaceful, safe and a beautiful setting.

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