In this reflective round-table episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma invite long-time colleagues Nick (Curious School of the Wild, Cornwall) and Charlie (Devon-born, now Sheffield) to unpack the big question every outdoor educator is wrestling with under lockdown: “Should we be flooding the internet with Forest School content—or stepping back?”

Together they explore the sudden surge of free online activities, the ethics of “giving away” hard-won ideas, and the hidden inequities when children have wildly different access to space, tools or even a patch of grass. The conversation ranges from Corona-rage and grief, to CPD panic, to whether Forest School can (or should) survive on a screen. Along the way they share tiny-adventure hacks for families stuck indoors, ruefully compare Viking lesson plans to child-led wonder, and offer three closing messages for practitioners: lean on storytelling and song, celebrate tiny adventures, and build in daily reflection—for yourself as much as for the children. It’s an honest, funny and ultimately hopeful look at how a hands-on, muddy-kneed pedagogy adapts when everyone’s stuck at home.

⏱ Chapter Timings
00:00 – Patreon shout-out & guest introductions
04:24 – Content deluge: the two lockdown camps of outdoor educators
06:02 – Nick’s “Facebook suicide” post and the equity dilemma
08:08 – Why relationship beats activity: pancakes, Zoom chats & trust
12:27 – From Corona-rage to naming grief—coping with nature withdrawal
19:05 – Preparing for post-lockdown trauma and mental-health support
25:15 – “Starting from scratch”: accepting business reboot realities
29:33 – Lockdown CPD: books, PhDs, audiobooks and realistic bandwidth
48:15 – Foraging videos, safety gaps and online liability worries
1:03:45 – Final takeaways: storytelling, tiny adventures & reflective practice

🌲 Keywords: online Forest School resources, content overload, educational equity, grief in lockdown, tiny adventures, CPD at home, mental-health outdoors, relationship-centred practice, foraging safety, Scout vs Forest School, reflective leadership, trauma-informed play, digital ethics, playful families, community connection, post-pandemic reboot

🔖 Hashtags:
#ForestSchool #OutdoorEducation #LockdownLearning #TinyAdventures #CPD #MentalHealthOutdoors #ForagingSafety #CommunityConnection #Storytelling #ForestSchoolPodcast

🌐 More Episodes & Support:
Listen to more and access resources at ⁠www.theforestschoolpodcast.com⁠
Support the show and join our community at ⁠www.patreon.com/theforestschoolpodcast⁠
Questions, feedback, collaboration: ⁠[email protected]⁠

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_GRTxb-DJkqvUxgWin9QRg

In this relaxed, bird-filled episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma perch indoors after a blustery start and let the conversation take flight. Beginning with the simple observation that “birds are everywhere”, they spiral into how avian encounters shape outdoor learning: from inventing silly mnemonics for calls, to tuning your brain to seasonal song, to building human-sized nests and running “find-your-flock” games that make even reserved adults crow with delight. Along the way they unpack why learning nature ID is exponential, celebrate corvid cleverness (including a surreal four-jay “meeting” in Gemma’s garden), update listeners on the notorious window--smashing crows, and share practical ways practitioners can weave bird lore into Forest School sessions. The episode closes with a teaser for an upcoming book-club discussion of The Power of Showing Up.

⏱ Chapter Timings
00:00 – Delayed start, YouTube lives & Patreon shout-out
01:18 – “Birds are everywhere” – accessibility and ubiquity
02:53 – Pigeon poems & other mnemonics for teaching bird calls
05:35 – How to train your ear: winter listening and exponential learning
11:46 – Continuous CPD: one species at a time keeps it fresh
14:31 – Retuning the brain, sentinel birds & the concept of “jizz”
17:15 – Mystery jay chorus, corvid intelligence and dialects
22:24 – Crow vs. window saga: behaviour, deterrence and observation
29:18 – Swallow kites, paper birds and the frantic “find-your-flock” game
37:18 – Gemma’s giant nest obsession & embodied play
41:44 – Sign-off and forthcoming book-review episode

🌲 Keywords: bird mnemonics, seasonal listening, Forest School games, corvid behaviour, nest building, jizz identification, continuous CPD, nature connection, children’s outdoor play, attachment-centred reading

🔖 Hashtags:
#ForestSchool #OutdoorLearning #BirdSong #NatureID #Corvids #ChildLedPlay #ForestSchoolPodcast #CPD #SeasonalNature #FindYourFlock

🌐 More Episodes & Support:
Listen to more and access resources at www.theforestschoolpodcast.com
Support the show at www.patreon.com/theforestschoolpodcast
Questions, feedback, collaborations: [email protected]

In this reflective, wind-ruffled episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma huddle round hot chocolate under a parachute canopy and dive deep into the meeting point between playwork and Forest School. From the struggle to find credible playwork training to the thorny online debates about who “owns” the term play, they unpack the eight Playwork Principles one by one, comparing them with Forest School’s six core principles. Along the way they question what truly counts as “free” play, how adults can avoid adulterating children’s impulses, and why CPD and professional humility matter more than fancy pirate-ship structures. Listeners are encouraged to seek local playwork forums, champion child-created spaces, and keep online criticism constructive.

The conversation also looks ahead to upcoming FSA director elections, urging practitioners to vote and stay engaged with their professional community. Ultimately, the hosts remind us that embracing both Forest School and playwork perspectives can enrich practice—provided we keep risk, respect and reflection in balance.

⏱ Chapter Timings
00:00 – Recording outside: cobwebs, hot chocolate & “only” 30 mph winds
02:03 – Why playwork? Defining the concept and its pull for Forest School leaders
03:24 – The hunt for real playwork training and the politics of shrinking provision
04:51 – Playwork tribalism, adventure playground heritage & Forest School survival instinct
05:47 – Social-media bust-up: Forest School “parasite” accusations and what they reveal
07:31 – Finding local play forums, networks and genuine community support
09:43 – Side-by-side: comparing Playwork Principles with Forest School principles
13:04 – “Freely chosen, personally driven”: debating what counts as true play
56:00 – Balancing adult intervention, risk and the environment—trees vs. tyres
1:01:08 – FSA director elections: why your vote (and continued CPD) matters

🌲 Keywords: playwork principles, Forest School principles, free play, adulteration, CPD, adventure playgrounds, risk-benefit, online discourse, child-created spaces, practitioner reflection

🔖 Hashtags:
#ForestSchool #Playwork #OutdoorLearning #ChildLedPlay #ReflectivePractice #CPD #AdventurePlaygrounds #RiskBenefit #ProfessionalCommunity #FSA

🌐 More Episodes & Support:
Listen to more and access resources at www.theforestschoolpodcast.com
Support the show and join the community at www.patreon.com/theforestschoolpodcast
Questions, feedback, collaboration: [email protected]

In this wide-ranging, good-humoured episode, Lewis and Gemma link up (10,000 miles apart!) with Jen and Narelle from Birdwings Forest School in subtropical Queensland. A dropped mic, a previously lost recording and torrential rain set the scene for a conversation about embracing imperfection, working on flooded bushland, and letting the landscape re-shape the day. They explore how First Nations acknowledgement frames every session; why children become “Story Keepers” who create new Dreaming tales; the art of trusting nature—and toddlers—to solve problems; and how a fledgling Australian Association of Forest School Leaders is weaving playwork, nature-connection and practitioner CPD into a uniquely Aussie model of “bush kindy”. From giant pythons and mud-soaked clothes changes to reflective practice and community resilience after wildfires, this chat is a vivid reminder that real learning happens when you lean into the mess.

⏱ Chapter Timings
00:00 – Mic mishap & second-attempt intro with Birdwings
00:45 – “Quality schmality”: letting go after a failed recording
02:00 – 16,000 km apart: the global Forest School web
03:40 – Flood-altered sites, missing logs and natural amphitheatres
07:00 – Beavers (not!) in Australia: rivers, dams & children’s assumptions
09:00 – Acknowledgement of Country and asking the land’s permission
15:00 – Story Keepers: children co-create new Dreaming narratives
19:30 – Bushfire season stories as collective therapy
40:00 – Torrential rain, 45-minute coat changes and independence
50:00 – Launching the Australian Association of Forest School Leaders

🌲 Keywords: Birdwings Forest School, Queensland floods, nature play, bush kindy, First Nations acknowledgement, Story Keepers, resilience building, playwork practice, Australian Association of Forest School Leaders, flood ecology, child independence, outdoor CPD

🔖 Hashtags:
#ForestSchool #NaturePlay #BushKindy #OutdoorLearning #StoryKeepers #IndigenousKnowledge #ChildLedLearning #RiskyPlay #ReflectivePractice #FloodEcology

🌐 More Episodes & Support:
Listen to more and access resources at ⁠www.theforestschoolpodcast.com⁠
Support the show and join our community at ⁠www.patreon.com/theforestschoolpodcast⁠
Questions, feedback or collaboration: ⁠[email protected]⁠

In this wide-ranging conversation, Lewis and Gemma welcome Tom Barden of Green Man Learning to unpack why he created the Wild Passport and how it offers another “arrow in the quiver” for outdoor educators. Together they explore the cultural roots of tool use, balancing learner-centred play with curriculum pressures, the ecological footprint of woodland sites, and the perennial question of what truly counts as Forest School. Along the way they swap stories about storm-felled trees, mindful knife-sharpening, leaving mainstream teaching, and the joys of subversive CPD that keeps curiosity alive. The result is a thoughtful look at progression without coercion—and at protecting the integrity of Forest School while giving schools realistic, flexible options.

⏱ Chapter Timings
00:00 – Oscar the cat, stormy context & introducing Tom Barden
00:50 – Storm Ciara fallout and costly woodland maintenance
02:19 – Knife-sharpening as mindful grind; factory-work musings
04:47 – Woodland size, erosion, rotation and site impact management
06:08 – Earthworms, environmental guilt and weighing learning vs ecology
08:16 – Tom’s route from community health to Forest School practice
11:32 – Drama teaching, play, and walking away from mainstream education
17:16 – Future-proof skills: adaptability, innovation and Forest School’s role
20:54 – Birth of the Wild Passport: practical progression without the labels
32:29 – Curriculum demands, protecting the term “Forest School” and flexible progression

🌲 Keywords: Wild Passport, Forest School integrity, outdoor curriculum, learner-centred progression, tool skills, woodland impact, knife safety, broad & balanced education, CPD for practitioners, child-led play

🔖 Hashtags:
#ForestSchool #WildPassport #OutdoorLearning #ChildLedPlay #CurriculumBalance #WoodlandManagement #CPD #NatureEducation #PlayBasedLearning #KnifeSkills

🌐 More Episodes & Support:
Listen to more and access resources at www.theforestschoolpodcast.com
Support the show and join the community at www.patreon.com/theforestschoolpodcast
Questions, feedback or collaboration: [email protected]

In this reflective, free-flowing episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma retreat to the cabin and let a single newspaper article take them down multiple woodland rabbit holes. Beginning with signs of spring and the comforts (and perils) of recording indoors, they unpack a recent Guardian piece on children’s questioning, ponder why curiosity collapses once formal schooling begins, and explore how Forest School can keep the flame alive. Along the way they share vivid stories—snowdrop rambles, improvised “woodlouse sanctuaries”, and the moment a statistics bombshell (107 questions an hour!) stopped them in their tracks. Listeners will leave with practical ways to model inquiry, validate every “why?”, and embrace the glorious messiness that deep learning demands.

⏱ Chapter Timings
00:00 – Back in the cabin: weather chat, graded exposure & creature comforts
01:11 – First true spring session: energy, long-term group bonds and why duration matters
02:23 – Snowdrops, footpaths & getting “half-lost”: nurturing sense of place
03:46 – Guardian article spotlight: the power (and decline) of children’s questions
07:26 – 107 questions an hour: what schools suppress and Forest School can revive
09:40 – Curiosity as social leveller: outcomes for disadvantaged children & loose-parts play
12:06 – Deep vs shallow play, consolidation time and meeting learners where they are
17:02 – Curiosity is messy: time, kit, risk and the courage to go off-script
24:30 – Facilitator tactics: personal stories, thinking aloud and the art of answering with questions
34:46 – Woodlouse sanctuary case study: the environment as silent co-teacher

🌲 Keywords: curiosity in learning, children’s questions, loose-parts play, deep play, consolidation, reflective practice, modelling inquiry, open-ended resources, sense of place, Forest School pedagogy, disadvantaged learners, intrinsic motivation, playwork principles, emergent curriculum, environmental co-teaching

🔖 Hashtags:
#ForestSchool #CuriosityDrivenLearning #OutdoorEducation #ChildLedInquiry #LoosePartsPlay #ReflectivePractice #DeepPlay #SenseOfPlace #NaturePedagogy #MessyLearning

🌐 More Episodes & Support:
Listen to more and access resources at www.theforestschoolpodcast.com
Support the show and join our community at www.patreon.com/theforestschoolpodcast
Questions, feedback, collaboration: [email protected]

In this lively, idea-packed episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma abandon their promised “earthworm special” to sit down with celebrated natural navigator Tristan Gooley. The trio roam from comedy intros to deep cognition, unpacking how fast-and-slow thinking shapes our perception outdoors, why letting children wander off-trail builds real learning, and how tiny clues—puffball spores, the tilt of a tree, a campfire pancake—scale up to universal maps. Along the way Tristan reveals the editorial battles behind his books, confronts shifting climate cues such as the north-marching Trentepohlia algae, and encourages listeners to join the detective work by noticing anomalies and asking “So what?”. It’s a rich, practical conversation that will have you peering at bird calls, fungi puffs and star paths with fresh curiosity.

⏱ Chapter Timings
00:00 – Windy indoor intro, earthworm fake-out & laughter
01:19 – Why Tristan’s books reward rewinding: information density unpacked
02:41 – Origin story: from epic expeditions to two-mile hedge walks
06:22 – Fast vs slow thinking outdoors; Kahneman meets alarm-calling birds
15:45 – Parenting anecdote: following children to a storm-felled tree
20:03 – Puffball revelation: linking tiny fungi to giant landscape clues
31:10 – Keys, signs and making a mental map anywhere on Earth
44:56 – Campfire pancakes as social glue and observational warm-up
55:24 – Climate questions: algae, mild winters and evolving navigation signs
1:08:15 – Universal principles, sharing discoveries and keeping skills alive

🌲 Keywords: natural navigation, Tristan Gooley, fast-slow cognition, outdoor clues, child-led exploration, map-making, puffball fungi, campfire cooking, climate indicators, Forest School practice

🔖 Hashtags:
#NaturalNavigation #ForestSchool #OutdoorEducation #TristanGooley #ChildLedLearning #NatureConnection #MapMaking #ReflectivePractice #CuriosityDrivenLearning #OutdoorPlay

🌐 More Episodes & Support:
Listen to more and access resources at ⁠www.theforestschoolpodcast.com⁠
Support the show and join the community at ⁠www.patreon.com/theforestschoolpodcast⁠
Questions, feedback or collaboration: ⁠[email protected]⁠

In this lively, laugh-filled episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma welcome long-time online linchpin Lily Horseman (Chair of the Forest School Association and founder of Kindling) for a free-ranging chat that moves from stationery obsessions to slime-mould revelations. Together they explore:

• the comfort—and peril—of social-media echo chambers for practitioners

• Lily’s journey from feral childhood through playwork to Forest School training

• why Forest School has flourished while playwork funding has withered

• balancing practical skills with deep ethos on leader courses

• using doodles, matchboxes and wallpaper rolls to make theory stick

• creating a sense of wilderness in a bus-stop-sized urban copse

• how nature connection reframes risky play (and teaches respect for bark and worms)

• weather, wind speeds and the art of saying “it depends” with confidence

• the magic of authentic presence, permission and collective silliness around the fire

⏱ Chapter Timings
00 : 00 – Banter, missing video & the lure of fresh notebooks
02 : 43 – Meet Lily: FSA chair, Kindling founder & Facebook hive-minder
06 : 44 – From tree-climbing teen to playworker to Forest School trainer
09 : 43 – Forest School vs playwork: politics, funding and public appetite
14 : 31 – Training leaders: ethos first, skills second—and why “it depends”
32 : 14 – Wind-risk doodles, social-media pile-ons and holding boundaries online
42 : 35 – Tiny urban woodlands that feel vast after four immersive days
56 : 10 – Hide-and-seek as a gateway to hard-wired nature connection
1 : 08 : 33 – Tree-bashing, worm care & repairing relationships with the more-than-human world
1 : 16 : 44 – Grumpy Badger cream fights, year-end rituals and joyful nonsense

🌲 Keywords: Forest School training, playwork decline, online community, risk & wind, reflective practice, doodle pedagogy, tiny woodlands, nature connection, authenticity, child-led play

🔖 Hashtags:
#ForestSchool #Playwork #NatureConnection #OutdoorLearning #ReflectivePractice #ForestSchoolTraining #ChildLedPlay #CommunityOfPractice #SlimeMouldLove #Kindling

🌐 More Episodes & Support:
Listen to more and access resources at www.theforestschoolpodcast.com
Support the show at www.patreon.com/theforestschoolpodcast
Training & face-to-face courses: www.childrenoftheforest.com
Questions or collaboration: [email protected]

In this wind-swept instalment of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma retreat to the kitchen and dive deep into Vivian Gussin Paley’s provocative book You Can’t Say You Can’t Play. Using the storm outside as a backdrop, they explore children’s right to choose their playmates, the pain and purpose of rejection, and whether practitioners should ever enforce inclusion. Along the way they contrast UK break-time realities with all-day Forest School flow, unpack “boss” dynamics in playground games, debate the ethics of stepping in, and ask how much vulnerability leaders should show when reflecting with children. Expect lively detours into Peter Gray, democratic play theory, general-election musings, and the perils of over-edited transcripts—plus plenty of practical take-aways for anyone wrestling with inclusion, power and free play.

⏱ Chapter Timings
00:00 – Recording indoors: battling the gale and clearing clutter
00:49 – Wind test at the door: cancelling a session in real time
01:08 – Meet You Can’t Say You Can’t Play and its kindergarten roots
03:34 – The rule’s premise, children’s first reactions, and teacher guilt
05:46 – Edited dialogues, narrative pace and the “storybook” feel
06:52 – “Boss” roles, power imbalances and social feedback in play
14:22 – Practitioner vulnerability: modelling honest reflection with learners
26:28 – One-hour break vs all-day woods: does context change the rule?
40:34 – Peter Gray, democracy, and protecting the sanctity of free play
53:33 – Balancing players’ rights with inclusion: when (and how) to step in

🌲 Keywords: Forest School inclusion, play rejection, You Can’t Say You Can’t Play, boss dynamics, free play ethics, practitioner reflection, child-led learning, Peter Gray democracy, UK break-time, wind-bound sessions

🔖 Hashtags
#ForestSchool #OutdoorEducation #InclusivePlay #ChildLedLearning #PlayTheory #ReflectivePractice #YouCantSayYouCantPlay #FreePlay #BossDynamics #DemocraticPlay

🌐 More Episodes & Support
Listen to more and access resources at ⁠www.theforestschoolpodcast.com⁠
Support the show and join our community at ⁠www.patreon.com/theforestschoolpodcast⁠
Questions, feedback or collaboration: ⁠[email protected]