A dragon in a tree, blossoming bluebells and daffodils, fungi, an enormous muddy pond, a chance to make a fire... whenever the nursery children from Redesdale First School in Tyneside go down to the nearby Rising Sun Countryside Park, they're sure of a few surprises. Their weekly visits have introduced them to the great outdoors and allowed them to discover it at their own pace - and to discover new talents and abilities along the way.
The Rising Sun Woodland Pre-school Project is a joint venture between the school, the countryside park and SightLines Initiative, a charitable trust. SightLines Initiative develops innovative and creative practice for very young children and is a reference point in the UK for advice on the pioneering early years practice of the Reggio Emilia region in Italy. The Woodland Preschool team (Christine Birtwistle and Lesley Norris, the nursery class staff; Linda Lines, the country park's education officer; Kath Bedingfield and Frances Mullarkey, arts practitioners; Robin Duckett of SightLines Initiative and Steph Robertshaw, a playwork student) has now produced a video that records the project, and which they hope will provide food for thought for other practitioners.
It makes for enchanting viewing, as the children discover the magical environment of the woodland and make it their own. In the process, different individuals hone different skills and gain in confidence.
Mud glorious mud
One of the children featured, Gemma, becomes the class mud expert. She is intrigued by a muddy pool of water which shrinks from one week to the next, and heads determinedly into the middle of it to conduct experiments of her own devising. She measures, pokes, prods, dabbles and moves the mud around. She uses tools she has made and even named herself, such as her 'mud-ludder'. Asked 'What is a mud-ludder?' she replies, with perfect logic, 'A mud-ludder is what you lud mud with.'
There is also the case of Ryan, who comes into his own when he sets about building a fence to protect some daffodils and bluebells. Encouraged by the adults, he is totally absorbed in this project, and sees it through methodically and successfully. Developing these skills changes his position among his peers - the video notes that he becomes a 'sought-after figure'.
Robin Duckett says that they sought to be 'watchful, but not prescriptive', spotting children's interests and helping to develop them in ways which would not have been possible had the children been left entirely to their own devices. 'We weren't delivering activities, we weren't putting the children through pre-defined paces,' Robin explains. 'We were watchful, and we met regularly on both a formal and informal basis to swap notes and review projects, which ones were enlarging and which were dropping off. We also encouraged the children to reflect about what was going on and discuss ideas, for example, why had the water dried up, where had it gone?'
Some outcomes of this approach are on a grand scale. The children use withies - willow wands - to construct tall, curving walls, and join forces to make a fire, warning each other about possible dangers. They also gradually come to act more confidently in the woodland environment, exploring different parts of it with growing gusto.
Here be dragons
The countryside park is not only a wonderful place to build, explore and investigate: it also provides fuel for the imagination, and strikes the children in the video as a place where dragons are bound to live. The team respond by putting a dragon made of withies in a tree, then add the nursery's Chinese New Year dragon as company. The children talk about dragons and play at being chased by dragons. In the end they decide that both dragons are sad being stuck up in the trees, and need to go back to the nursery just as they do after their adventures. The children develop plans and skills in climbing the trees to rescue them.
The project is now in its fourth year, and is fast becoming part of the culture of Redesdale First School, while another local early years setting has expressed interest in taking part. It has won the support of parents, and an evaluation by Katy Wesolowski, North Tyneside Council's early years advisor, has pinpointed a range of benefits to the children's development. As Robin Duckett observes, 'We thought it would be a good place for people to find their own feet.' NW
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The Rising Sun Woodlands Preschool Project video is available from SightLines Initiative on 0191 261 7666 and costs 45.
The SightLines Initiative website is on www.sightlines-initiative.com
