And with that, we’ve come to the end of the Forest School June Holiday Camps 2023! 🌻🌲💫 Thank you for all that have signed-up and journeyed with us! It was wonderful to see so many kids grow more comfortable in nature across all of the different camps, as well as open up to one another, some even becoming new friends. To the parents, thank you for supporting your children as they walk along with us, quietly doing things such as washing shoes (we know, it’s kinda tiring cleaning shoes!) and always dropping-off and picking-up your children! And to the coaches, good job as always :) Though the camp season has ended, there’s always more and more school holidays and more and more Forest School Holiday Camps! We will see you in the forest again :) 🌳🌲🥰🌻

Forest School’s Refresher Field Training for the coaches was held on the 24th of June, at Mayfair Park! The day started off with a bang as one of our coaches prepared an amazing breakfast spread for everyone. The day felt like a semi-reunion for some of the coaches, who were reunited with many old and familiar faces, an also a welcome for the newer coaches, who remarked that they could finally put faces to names! We headed off the Mayfair Park in one another’s good company, while simulating a regular Forest School session. The different parts of the session were held by different groups of coaches, the Homenest, Sunbear, Bulbul as well as the Squirrel coaches. As we progressed through the session, we learnt from one another’s feedback, mistakes and suggestions, listened to Uncle Darren’s story time, and held space for one another. We hope that everyone enjoyed the Refresher Field Training, and of course, we’ll see all of you in the Forest again. Until then! 🌳 #forestschoolsingapore

It was an absolute joy to watch them grow and learn in the great outdoors, exploring its infinite possibilities with their widest imaginations (vividly described above), making new friends, having a blast while learning to respect themselves, others, and the environment. I am incredibly proud of the milestones they have crossed and their growth throughout the camp. Like the Tembusu tree, they have shown and taught me so much with their integrity, resilience and dynamism in how they encounter situations with nature and with one another, adapt and blossom amidst adversity, shoulder each other and journey together despite differences. I was deeply moved observing upclose the warm and heartfelt interactions among the children who initially shied away, as well as hearing the stories and personal experiences some of the children shared with me in response to their encounters of nature. Our sincere gratitude once again to you and your children for making this camp such a memorable and fulfilling one for us coaches too! We would love to see you and your children again at our weekly forest school sessions, or in our future camps! - Described by Coach Jezamine Forest School Holiday Camp Tembusu (Afternoon) 19-21 June #forestschoolsingappre #forestschoolholidaycamp #camptembusu2023 —— Read the Coaches and Parents’ Reflection from the 3 Day Camp in the Comments

We hope it’s been an insightful experience for each child and their village (all involved in shoe drying, washing clothes, etc!), and that the children made lots of memories to look back on. Day 3 was children’s choice: every person has to agree to the plan, and we will stay and talk it out until we reach consensus. Those who stayed in range to be part of the discussion eventually agreed to go to the boulders, and we wound up staying at Mayfair Park because some weren’t ready to move. The children were very patient and seemed fine with staying at Mayfair Park. The way I read the atmosphere, I think two rounds of consensus was reached: the first verbal agreement to go to the boulders, and then the agreement to stay at Mayfair park (no one seemed really eager to leave for the boulders). But that’s just one person’s interpretation, do check with the children how they felt about getting to make the choice without the adults directing where we were going! Coach Dean told the children that they had to be in the Nature part of the park, so no exercise corner or playground til after Forest School. A whole slew of activities took place at the grass patch: imaginative play (“cooking”), building a “campfire”, tag, zombie, animal observation, tree climbing, science Q&As. Sometimes we don’t need to go far to appreciate what’s already full of potential around us. Thank you for being a part of Camp Merati, til we next cross paths again! Be well.🍃 — Reflection by Coach Genevieve Forest School Holiday Camp Merati (Afternoon) 19-21 June #forestschoolsingappre #forestschoolholidaycamp #campmerati2023 —— Read the Coaches and Parents’ Reflection from the 3 Day Camp in the Comments

“The photos aren’t quite able to show how long it took the children to let the guard down, to answer the question _“to take off my shoes or not to.”_ I’d say a good 30-40 min. was needed for the group to observe, to sense, to wade, to fluff the sand, to sit in the water, to play with clay, eventually to experience their connection to the flowing body. Throughout, we left the decision up to them, for them to determine their own individual readiness. This was very special for me, a great reminder to observe all’s readiness for everything really.” - Reflection by Coach Lenora Forest School Holiday Camp Gelam (Afternoon) 12-14 June #forestschoolsingappre #forestschoolholidaycamp #campgelam2023 —— Read the Coaches and Parents’ Reflection from the 3 Day Camp in the Comments

Hello parents! Thanks so much for the support and also allowing your children to fully experience and bask in nature over the 3 days camp. 🌾 They definitely experienced all the “seasons” in Singapore from torrential rain to the scorching Sun and also the sunshower. But despite the weather changes, they were troopers and definitely embraced whatever nature brought to them. ☀️ It was also heartening to see many of them step out of their comfort zone in trying new things, making new friends and being kind to nature and the wild animals they encountered. We hope that this experience stays close to their heart and in their memories and hope to see them out in the forest soon too! 🌾 - Described by Coach Sabrina Forest School Holiday Camp Petaling (Afternoon) 12-14 June #forestschoolsingappre #forestschoolholidaycamp #camppetaling2023 —— Read the Coaches and Parents’ Reflection from the 3 Day Camp in the Comments

From the very beginning, the children unanimously voted to head towards Rifle Range, with their ultimate destination being the Banyan trail stream. Along the way, L shared with us her prior encounter with bats beneath the flyover near Mayfair Park, igniting a sense of curiosity and anticipation among the group, who eagerly embraced the idea of exploring this new location. If there should be a theme for the day, it would aptly be called “Moving through the Unknown”, for thereafter when the coaches proposed the idea of exploring different areas of Rifle Range, the children embraced the opportunity to venture onto unfamiliar routes. Throughout, they allowed their raw curiosity and senses to guide them, despite the stream being ever on their minds, for it seemed like home to them. However, all were open and willing to take on a new experience; it was a balanced combination of forging their own paths and being captivated by the intricacies of nature that ultimately led us to the summit of the Wetland Quarry. It has been a true pleasure getting to know the children over the past few days. Thanking them all for their very innate Forest School spirit, and for bringing such great energy throughout Camp Angsana! Both Coach Dean and I remarked that the past three days had felt more like a regular session than a new camp, thanks to the seamless integration and harmonious connection between everyone. Although there was some disappointment that we didn’t make it to the stream, we hope that the children have enjoyed today’s adventures. Do take care all, and may we meet again in the forest someday!🌲💗🌟 - Described by Coach Kaira Forest School Holiday Camp Angsana (Afternoon) 5-7 June #forestschoolsingappre #forestschoolholidaycamp #campangsana2023 —— Read the Coaches and Parents’ Reflection from the 3 Day Camp in the Comments

It’s been very heartening to see how the children look out for one another today. J started off the camp yest wanting to hold my hand at the start because she felt more comfortable to the children talking about surrounding her to protect her from harm. The older girls (M and S) have been showing the other children how to care for others since Day 1, that it has rubbed off on the others today. They helped one another up the big boulder, even the smaller ones reached out to help the bigger ones. Even those who took a longer time to warm up to others, preferring to walk behind or ahead of the group, had one or two friends walk with them towards the end of today. - Described by Coach Clara Forest School Holiday Camp Seraya (Morning) 5 - 7 June #forestschoolsingapore #forestschoolholidaycamp #campseraya2023 ------ Read the Coaches and Parents Reflections from the 3 day camps in the Comments

Thank you so much for trusting Forest School Singapore to journey with your children through our full day camp! It was a bit of a steep learning curve for some of our new campers, but the group did well overall. We had a couple of group meetings where we gathered to talk about actions we (children and coaches) had concerns about. Meeting (1) was about how we use sticks, when sticks can be helpful, when they end up hurting others. Triggered by a stick-throwing incident, apologies were asked for, made and accepted, and the group came to some agreements about stick usage moving forward. Meeting (2) was called when we had multiple children come up to the coaches to share what they had heard about potential punches to the eyes. Turns out there was some miscommunication in the passing of the message. The ”sender” did not intend to punch anyone, and was expressing themself. The messenger felt a connection with the new friendship with the sender and wanted to fully support their new friend, and conveyed the message as they heard it, even though it was never intended to be sent. The receivers (direct and indirect) of the messages felt lots of mixed emotions as they were trying to have their lunch. So we sat down and had a clarifying discussion after lunch. As we went through the mud and deeper through the forest, the message passing got more accurate and more necessary, as they warned one another about the obstacles or slippery points ahead. 🥳 the children even started receiving messages from the mud and Forest too. All in, a super eventful full day camp. We were glad to witness the participants express themselves fully, listen to the perspectives of others, stand up for others and themselves, articulate what actions would make them feel safer, and show solid support through the mud even when hours earlier the verbal crossfires were rapid fire and heated! - Described by Coach Genevieve (Captain of the Camp) Full Day Camp 2-JUN #forestschoolholidaycamp #forestschoolsingapore #fulldaycamp

☘️ We hiked to a little stream and encountered quite a lot of animals along the way. the kids also learnt about some useful ‘toileting’ leaves 😄 Encountered some monkeys on the way back. the kids learnt to keep a distance and observe them. And also learnt to read their body language when some monkeys started approaching us..that it’s time to back off a little more Mostly amazingly we spotted the cologu and it’s baby. this is quite a rare sight, we are quite lucky ☺️ highlight of Day 2 & 3 was our exploration hike! the children were very adventurous, wanted to explore little routes and chose to bash through the bushes 😄 - Described by Coach Isabell (Captain of the Camp) Forest School Holiday Camp Simpoh (afternoon) 29 - 31 May #forestschoolsingapore #forestschoolholidaycamp #campsimpoh2023 ------ Read the Coaches and Parents Reflections from the 3 day camps in the Comments

☘️ After the water-based day 1, Camp Saga went on a land-based day 2 where the children navigated deep drains (waist high for most of them) and boulders, and of course not forgetting the mud (a few moments of hesitance were pushed through with the cheers of the other children)! On the way to the field/boulders, the children starting talking about what powers, protections, blessings etc they were getting from leaves/sticks/stones. Some talked about wanting to take other people’s power items, I asked if you swipe someone’s stick / leaf, would it impact the power of the item? Do have a chat with them to see what stories they tell about the “power play” (if they remember!). the children navigating the way back to Mayfair Park from the boulders. They were started to try and figure out routes, and weren’t deterred even when they encountered a dead end. It was nice to see the initiative arise amongst those who tried to wayfind and initiate safety briefings. Day 3, we hand the decision making to the children, where they can choose as a group, where they want to spend their final day of Camp Saga. - Described by Coach Genevieve (Captain of the Camp) Forest School Holiday Camp Saga (29 - 31 May) #forestschoolsingapore #forestschoolholidaycamp #campsaga2023 ------ Read the Coaches & Parents Appreciation Reflection in the Comments

Open House #3 is here 🎋 We are really excited to have our friend Alexius Yeo and his adorable daughter Allegra to come join us for the event. Allegra is raised Forest School style right from Birth, as both her parents are verse with the Forest School ways. Alexius was a pioneer of the Permaculture & Urban Farming movement in Singapore, and was one of the early fellowship Darren made when embarking on the Forest School Journey. He attended our first ever Forest School Leadership programme in 2017. Allegra’s mummy, Phoebe, was an ex-MOE teacher, who started her own Tuition business, and came to become a full fledge Forest School Level 3 Practitioner in 2019. She was one of our coach from 2018-20. Alexius and Phoebe got married in 2020, and had Allegra in 2021. They have been raising her in a really authentic forest school style (Allegra goes outdoor every morning). Phoebe has been documenting Allegra growing years since her birth. (@phoebeyee) Darren, Zoe, Phoebe and Alexius’ friendships and marriages can really be said to be a product of the Forest School Journey, haha. ------ Details DATE: 17 JUNE 2023, Saturday TIME: 9.00AM – 11.30AM LOCATION: Boulder Playground @ Holland Linear Green Park Go to our website's homepage for more details of the Open House.