This is going to be quite a difficult post to write as you may have guessed from the title, but it is a story that i feel i need to tell for myself and for others who have felt the same or do feel the same right now.
What i am going to try and do is explain my battle with anxiety and depression by going through what has happened to me over the years, how i have felt, how i have dealt with things and how i have only just realised what i have been through.
There have been a few sparks in my life that have slowly made me turn the corner as of late, one of these being my lovely caring girlfriend, someone i did not expect i would ever meet. The other was passing my black belt karate grading yesterday, something i have been working towards for the past 15 years and fills me with alot of pride and confidence as well as a huge sense of achievement. And this is where the story starts...
I started karate when i was 12 years old as i was having a terrible time at school with bullies. I was bullied on a daily basis for reasons that i still to this day are unsure of, and even when typing about it now i can feel all of the emotions returning. The bullying would come in a variety of forms from verbal abuse, to being spat on, to being beaten up, the problem was that it was always a gang of people, it was never one and one, which meant that i never had the chance to defend myself making me feel really helpless.
I am only realising now how the many evenings of me crying as i walked home from another awful day has influenced how i have perceive people as an adult. I would never wish what i went through upon anyone, although in a way i am proud to be the man it has made me.
As i started my A Levels this upheavel was replaced by another which was my parents divorce and to cut a long story short it was horrible, basically 5 years of court cases, crying, emotions and me doing my best to keep the family afloat (thank god for the football team at uni, those guys saved me). During this i had also had to deal with the loss of my grandparents who helped me through the divorce as well as a massive family fall out due to some inheritance, which will never be the same again (my friends are my family now). All in all it has been one hell of a rollercoaster but a rollercoaster that i felt was normal meaning i kept everything inside.
I am not writing all of this to get sympathy (i do not like sympathy as there are alot more people worse off than me), what i am trying to say is that in the past i never really understood how all of these pressures and upheavels affected who i was as a person and how the negative thoughts i felt and created would eventually set in to make me anxious and depressed and eventually persuade me to seek help.
One of the main problems i had was that i did not know i was depressed, i just thought i was a normal person with normal problems and that i was just weak for not coping like everyone else, which i realise now was actually the depression kicking in. I was certain that i was burdening people with my problems if i spoke about them which meant on a daily basis for a good two years (especially when i was in Africa) i was battling myself inside, battling my thoughts, anxieties and confidence issues and crumbling emotionally bit by bit whilst doing it.
You see on the outside i masked everything, i was in a profession i loved and worked hard to travel and study, yet on the inside i was falling to pieces and fast. The main issue was the paranoia and how i was so concerned about what people thought of me and whether they liked me or not. I just wanted to feel accepted.
What i must also say is that there was as added ingredient into this which was my passion for wildlife. You may think that having a passion and doing what you love should help, but not when all you look at are the negatives and with the planet there are alot of negatives right now and because i care so so much about wildlife it dragged me down even more with feelings of helplessness and sorrow.
I say this was my unknown battle as i just did not realise i was not supposed to be feeling like this, i just thought it was my fault and everyone was perfect apart from me. The hardest part has been to stop, look at myself and realise that yes i am not happy i need to seek help, even now after 7 sessions of therapy i am only just accepting this. It really has been hard to say that i suffer from depression, but it really is nothing to be ashamed of.
I am pretty sure it has been this tough to admit i am not happy is because as a society we still do not consider mental health issues as important and are simply portrayed as a temporary state. Believe me, they are an illness and stay with you until you deal with them like any other health concern.
I will end this post by saying there is light at the end of the tunnel for me and there always is for anyone who is going through the same thing. I have accepted my issues and with professional help i have to come understand how my problems have formed and how to deal with them. In the past i have been terribly naive with the connection between how i think and how i feel and now that i know more i feel like i am finally after all of these years coming to a point where i am happy. Even just writing this post has made me realise how bad i have felt in the past and how strong i have truel been not to have given up and to keep going. At times i have felt like giving up...
With the hectic, stressful lives that we all live in our modern society it is no surprise that more and more people are suffering from anxiety and depression no matter their profession or background and if you are one of these people then please, please, please remember that you are not strange or different, that you are not and never will be alone and that these problems can be overcome by seeking help. Seeking help is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength. Only with true inner strength can you confront your problems.
Until next time...
Monday, December 12, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
An update...it really has been a while.
By the name of the title you can more than likely work out that it has indeed been a while since i wrote anything on this blog and once again i find myself wandering where the time has gone.
I could write a blog post explaining the reasons for the lack of any posts since June, some of them are career related (Trek Iceland!) and some are to do with my realisation that i have had problems with anxiety and depression (very hard to admit) and i am getting help for these, but this is not the time or the place.
In terms of updates the most significant one is that i have decided to move more into the area of wildlife film-making and photography (photos can be found here! http://500px.com/Slequesne). It is early days but i honestly feel that this is where my passion can really be fully explored as when it comes to science and research i have to admit that sometimes i am little too passionate and opinionated for my own good, even though i do still find science fascinating. This means that alot of time has been taken up taking photo after photo after photo, learning and discovering my style. As far as i am concerned wildlife photography/film-making and conservation are one and the same and it is my job to portray the beauty, honesty and sheer brilliance of nature to a wider audience.
Currently i am working part-time as an Education Officer and even though it has taken me a while to find my feet it is really going well at the moment. The best part of the job is definately being a role model or as one child called me 'the bug and worm man' for kids and it is always nice to see familiar faces. In the end that is what it is all about, to be a good example for people to see. I do not think that the conservation world does enough to create 'that' personal relationship with their supporters and to the public in general. Also, one big project of mine is to set up some sort of nature club for the organisation i work for, to really leave a solid foundation and to create something that caters for the future naturalists of tomorrow, the special personalities and mainds that the planets future will ultimately depend on.
I would love to go onto greater things, my ultimate dream is to be a world-renowned conservationist who people can trust and who politicians will listen to, because we honestly need more people like this, urgently. But for now i am happy that i am bringing joy and laughter and intrigue into the minds of tomorrow.
I hope everyone is well, i would love to know who actually reads this, so put a comment below :)
Stephen
I could write a blog post explaining the reasons for the lack of any posts since June, some of them are career related (Trek Iceland!) and some are to do with my realisation that i have had problems with anxiety and depression (very hard to admit) and i am getting help for these, but this is not the time or the place.
In terms of updates the most significant one is that i have decided to move more into the area of wildlife film-making and photography (photos can be found here! http://500px.com/Slequesne). It is early days but i honestly feel that this is where my passion can really be fully explored as when it comes to science and research i have to admit that sometimes i am little too passionate and opinionated for my own good, even though i do still find science fascinating. This means that alot of time has been taken up taking photo after photo after photo, learning and discovering my style. As far as i am concerned wildlife photography/film-making and conservation are one and the same and it is my job to portray the beauty, honesty and sheer brilliance of nature to a wider audience.
Currently i am working part-time as an Education Officer and even though it has taken me a while to find my feet it is really going well at the moment. The best part of the job is definately being a role model or as one child called me 'the bug and worm man' for kids and it is always nice to see familiar faces. In the end that is what it is all about, to be a good example for people to see. I do not think that the conservation world does enough to create 'that' personal relationship with their supporters and to the public in general. Also, one big project of mine is to set up some sort of nature club for the organisation i work for, to really leave a solid foundation and to create something that caters for the future naturalists of tomorrow, the special personalities and mainds that the planets future will ultimately depend on.
I would love to go onto greater things, my ultimate dream is to be a world-renowned conservationist who people can trust and who politicians will listen to, because we honestly need more people like this, urgently. But for now i am happy that i am bringing joy and laughter and intrigue into the minds of tomorrow.
I hope everyone is well, i would love to know who actually reads this, so put a comment below :)
Stephen
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Connectivity - From petrol, food habits to rainforests
Good evening!
It is fair to say that i have many ideas in this chaotic head of mine, and i am the first to admit that some are more far more realistic than others, in other words it it safe to say that i am a dreamer, i create and plan out dreams and ideas that will hopefully one day come into fruition.
I am saying this because i have a great respect and admiration at the moment for one particular 'dreamer' that i feel is a damn good person, and that person is Jamie Olive. No! i hear you cry (wait a minute!).
This is because he follows his heart and is generally passionate about healthy food. I have just finished catching up on his USA Food Revolution and it is safe to say that he facing an uphill struggle to change the food in americans schools. I mean all he wants to do is make children healthier by giving them better food yet somehow he is portrayed as some kind of anti-christ, i mean if you take all the b******t away from the media all he is just trying to do is the right thing. That is all.
Healthy food = health children.
I am talking about Mr. Oliver because what he is doing matters to all of us, it matters as he is tackling a huge problem in society and one that eventually involves the planet, meaning we are all in this battle together.
The food revolution is not just about healthy food it is about the food industry and where all of our food comes from. Our understanding on where our food comes from (i am no expert but i am getting there) directly dictates how our food is produced and how land is then used to produce food, which in turn effects deforestation rates and the state of our seas. In other words as a consumer you have the power to shape the state of the planet for future generations.
Another great example of this connectivity are petrol prices. It is no secret that petrol prices are going up, up and up, as is the cost of living, but as with everything there is a reason.
In my eyes the very simple reason that petrol is going up is that demand for oil is increasing due to our consumer lifestyles and increasing human population. We are quickly approaching the maximum rate limit as to which we can produce oil (also known as Peak Oil)
In other words: reduced oil availability/production + greater demand = increased prices.
Oil though has far reaches and influences transport, energy prices, food production, everything! In other words we need to get off our oil addiction if our lives are going to become cheaper and easier to live, plus there is the already huge environmental cost of drilling oil. The next site for potential drilling is the artic (including nature reserves) mainly due to the rate of melting which is opening up brand new areas.
But as with the previous example people power is where it matters because if we as a population decided we do not want to so dependent on oil then it can happen.
Hopefully i am making the point that our lives directly influence the state of the planet and the lives of everyone else on the planet, which then goes round full circle and influences everyone again!
If we are to truly change the way we live to have a healthy planet for our children and grand-children, a planet that still provides clean air, water and habitable land then we need joined up thinking.
We need to realise that we are not isolated and ultimately everyones decisions effect everyone else. As a species we are pretty much at a crossroads and we need to decide how we want our lives to be. It can either be short-term consumerism whereby the earth will only support us for so long (we have all heard the warnings again and again) or long-term sustainability where money and goods are put down the importance list and families and communities are put first.
To put it simply we are part of the natural world and are connected to everything living organism on the planet, but due to this connectivity we have people power.
People power has the greatest potential and power to influence governments, businesses and organisations to change how we live our lives and how we protect the earth, which i see is the only way real change can happen.
You are connected, so you have the power...
It is fair to say that i have many ideas in this chaotic head of mine, and i am the first to admit that some are more far more realistic than others, in other words it it safe to say that i am a dreamer, i create and plan out dreams and ideas that will hopefully one day come into fruition.
I am saying this because i have a great respect and admiration at the moment for one particular 'dreamer' that i feel is a damn good person, and that person is Jamie Olive. No! i hear you cry (wait a minute!).
This is because he follows his heart and is generally passionate about healthy food. I have just finished catching up on his USA Food Revolution and it is safe to say that he facing an uphill struggle to change the food in americans schools. I mean all he wants to do is make children healthier by giving them better food yet somehow he is portrayed as some kind of anti-christ, i mean if you take all the b******t away from the media all he is just trying to do is the right thing. That is all.
Healthy food = health children.
I am talking about Mr. Oliver because what he is doing matters to all of us, it matters as he is tackling a huge problem in society and one that eventually involves the planet, meaning we are all in this battle together.
The food revolution is not just about healthy food it is about the food industry and where all of our food comes from. Our understanding on where our food comes from (i am no expert but i am getting there) directly dictates how our food is produced and how land is then used to produce food, which in turn effects deforestation rates and the state of our seas. In other words as a consumer you have the power to shape the state of the planet for future generations.
Another great example of this connectivity are petrol prices. It is no secret that petrol prices are going up, up and up, as is the cost of living, but as with everything there is a reason.
In my eyes the very simple reason that petrol is going up is that demand for oil is increasing due to our consumer lifestyles and increasing human population. We are quickly approaching the maximum rate limit as to which we can produce oil (also known as Peak Oil)
In other words: reduced oil availability/production + greater demand = increased prices.
Oil though has far reaches and influences transport, energy prices, food production, everything! In other words we need to get off our oil addiction if our lives are going to become cheaper and easier to live, plus there is the already huge environmental cost of drilling oil. The next site for potential drilling is the artic (including nature reserves) mainly due to the rate of melting which is opening up brand new areas.
But as with the previous example people power is where it matters because if we as a population decided we do not want to so dependent on oil then it can happen.
Hopefully i am making the point that our lives directly influence the state of the planet and the lives of everyone else on the planet, which then goes round full circle and influences everyone again!
If we are to truly change the way we live to have a healthy planet for our children and grand-children, a planet that still provides clean air, water and habitable land then we need joined up thinking.
We need to realise that we are not isolated and ultimately everyones decisions effect everyone else. As a species we are pretty much at a crossroads and we need to decide how we want our lives to be. It can either be short-term consumerism whereby the earth will only support us for so long (we have all heard the warnings again and again) or long-term sustainability where money and goods are put down the importance list and families and communities are put first.
To put it simply we are part of the natural world and are connected to everything living organism on the planet, but due to this connectivity we have people power.
People power has the greatest potential and power to influence governments, businesses and organisations to change how we live our lives and how we protect the earth, which i see is the only way real change can happen.
You are connected, so you have the power...
Monday, May 23, 2011
Cannon-Netting: One island, one landfill site and 15,000 Gulls
Hey all,
I am not sure as to how to set about writing this blog as i do not know where to start, i mean i think the title says it all really. An experience that i kinda walked blind into but one i will never forget.
The story starts with me currently in training to become a qualified bird ringer, which is quite simply the practice of putting rings on the legs of birds for the purpose of science. It sounds much easier than it really is and i am hoping to be qualified in 2 years time, however i do need to ring a certain number of species and rack up a total of 1,000 birds (currently on 30!....ish).
A few months back my ringing trainer and jolly nice chap Ian asked if i would like to join him in crossing the channel waters to the mortal enemy island of Guernsey for a bit of Cannon-Netting (focusing on Gulls), for which i immediately replied with 'yeah, what the heck'. I really had no idea what i was in for...
The trip started brilliantly with the free Blue Island executive lounge (obviously now my number 1 airline) with biscuits and drinks and things never went down from there. Once in Guernsey we were picked up by Paul whose was in charge of the study and off we went for dinner and camping in his garden. Slight tent problems were overcome, dinner was eaten and an early night was advised due to early start and the intensity of the netting experience.
The next day we were up at 5am, for which i felt suprisingly alert, we had breakfast and travelled down to the islands landfill site. Once there we were signed in, a high-vis jacket and hard hat were put on, and we were ready to go.
The landfill was pretty much disgusting and as a species we should be ashamed at what we throw away and how we treat our resources, but that is for a different blog at a different time.
When i arrived on site i was greeted with introductions to all of the team and took my seat under a pretty rickety bit of scaffolding that was our ringing. The aim of the whole study was to catch Lesser Black-backed Gulls and to ring them. This is because despite their common distribution we do not know what they do or where they go and Guernsey's landfill site has a large population of them, which we actually now know migrate down to Morocco in thw winter months.
Anyway, in total there was around 15,000 gulls around the site that included Herring, Lesser Blacked-backed and Greater Blacked-backed (there were no Seagulls as they do not exist and are a bit of a disliked word in the scientific community, you have been warned!).
So how do you catch a large gull to put a ring on its leg?????
Well, the only real way to catch them efficiently is to throw a net over them that is charged by explosives. This is no easy task easy and takes a hell of a lot of meticulate planning and timing to get the shot right.
The net is layed on a plastic cover and attached to 4 pipe cannons, which are then set with explosives and ready to go. Everyone is then placed behind the netting tent and we wait whilst the landfill truck baits the gulls with a haul of rubbish. As with everything in nature the gulls did not really play ball at first but once they were in the mode for a feeding frenzy we looked on patiently as the colleague on the trigger waited for the perfect moment. He needed to get the timing right though as we did not want to catch too many gulls or too many of the wrong species.
We waited and waited and waited, but suddenly everything kicked off and we rushed to the net. The next hour and half was ridiculously enjoyable, stressful, intense and full of great teamwork.
First of all the net was weight down with sandbags so none of the gulls could escape and one by one each one was put in a bag, which was then double tied and taken to the ringing net. The bags MUST be double tied as all species of gull are very cunning and will escape.
I must admit was a bit worried that the gulls would get stressed out but the team always had the animals welfare as their main concern and by the copious amounts of scars and bleeding on everyones hands i can assure you the gulls got their revenge.
Once all individuals were put into bags the ringing then started straight away. The worst part was putting your hand into a dark sand bag and knowing 100% that the gull would find your fingers and give you a solid bite (to be honest if i was the bird i woud have done the same). However this fear needed to be cast away and each bird was taken out and their head placed under your arm and feet in the air. Once under control a metal ring with the Channel Islands bird-ringing scheme details was put on the birds right leg and an ID ring was put on their left leg. Finally the distance between their beak and the top of their head was taken before they were finally released.
This ringing process needed to be as efficient as possible as the conditions were getting warmer and we wanted to release the birds as quick as possible so we really were under pressure and i had no idea how were going to get through so many birds.
However, i should not have doubted the process as i was in the company of experts who have done this all over the UK. We efficiently and quickly went through the approximate number 350 birds, which once done was quite unbelievable. Needless to say we all sat down for a cup of tea after.
This process was completed 3 times for that first day i was there and then once on the saturday morning, which was even more pressurised as the dump closed at 10am and we did not want to be locked in a landfill site!
The project had started on the monday and i joined up with them for the friday and saturday sessions but at the very end of the 6 days the team had managed to catch around 1700 gulls, which are currently all being input into the ringing database (glad that is not my task!) with the all important total of around 500 Lesser Black-backed gulls (double what they hoped for). So all in all a very successful week for everyone for which we went out to dinner to celebrate and talk all things wildlife.
Once of the best aspects of my 2 days was that I got to meet some great people who were not only passionate but experts in their field and who also liked a few beers to celebrate as well (oh the stories!). I must admit i also have a new found respect for gulls and how they have adapted so quickly to a new food source and how they take full advantage of our wasteful society. They are brilliant birds and do not deserve all the bad press, because at the end of the day if we were not so wasteful then there would no problems in our cities or towns.
All in all i had an amazing time and i will be there next year with a few more birds under my ringing name and the same desire to learn as much as i can. I never thought spending 2 days at a rubbish dump would be so much fun.
I have attached some photos to give you more of a feeling of what it was all like
Stephen
I am not sure as to how to set about writing this blog as i do not know where to start, i mean i think the title says it all really. An experience that i kinda walked blind into but one i will never forget.
The story starts with me currently in training to become a qualified bird ringer, which is quite simply the practice of putting rings on the legs of birds for the purpose of science. It sounds much easier than it really is and i am hoping to be qualified in 2 years time, however i do need to ring a certain number of species and rack up a total of 1,000 birds (currently on 30!....ish).
A few months back my ringing trainer and jolly nice chap Ian asked if i would like to join him in crossing the channel waters to the mortal enemy island of Guernsey for a bit of Cannon-Netting (focusing on Gulls), for which i immediately replied with 'yeah, what the heck'. I really had no idea what i was in for...
The trip started brilliantly with the free Blue Island executive lounge (obviously now my number 1 airline) with biscuits and drinks and things never went down from there. Once in Guernsey we were picked up by Paul whose was in charge of the study and off we went for dinner and camping in his garden. Slight tent problems were overcome, dinner was eaten and an early night was advised due to early start and the intensity of the netting experience.
The next day we were up at 5am, for which i felt suprisingly alert, we had breakfast and travelled down to the islands landfill site. Once there we were signed in, a high-vis jacket and hard hat were put on, and we were ready to go.
The landfill was pretty much disgusting and as a species we should be ashamed at what we throw away and how we treat our resources, but that is for a different blog at a different time.
When i arrived on site i was greeted with introductions to all of the team and took my seat under a pretty rickety bit of scaffolding that was our ringing. The aim of the whole study was to catch Lesser Black-backed Gulls and to ring them. This is because despite their common distribution we do not know what they do or where they go and Guernsey's landfill site has a large population of them, which we actually now know migrate down to Morocco in thw winter months.
Anyway, in total there was around 15,000 gulls around the site that included Herring, Lesser Blacked-backed and Greater Blacked-backed (there were no Seagulls as they do not exist and are a bit of a disliked word in the scientific community, you have been warned!).
So how do you catch a large gull to put a ring on its leg?????
Well, the only real way to catch them efficiently is to throw a net over them that is charged by explosives. This is no easy task easy and takes a hell of a lot of meticulate planning and timing to get the shot right.
The net is layed on a plastic cover and attached to 4 pipe cannons, which are then set with explosives and ready to go. Everyone is then placed behind the netting tent and we wait whilst the landfill truck baits the gulls with a haul of rubbish. As with everything in nature the gulls did not really play ball at first but once they were in the mode for a feeding frenzy we looked on patiently as the colleague on the trigger waited for the perfect moment. He needed to get the timing right though as we did not want to catch too many gulls or too many of the wrong species.
We waited and waited and waited, but suddenly everything kicked off and we rushed to the net. The next hour and half was ridiculously enjoyable, stressful, intense and full of great teamwork.
First of all the net was weight down with sandbags so none of the gulls could escape and one by one each one was put in a bag, which was then double tied and taken to the ringing net. The bags MUST be double tied as all species of gull are very cunning and will escape.
I must admit was a bit worried that the gulls would get stressed out but the team always had the animals welfare as their main concern and by the copious amounts of scars and bleeding on everyones hands i can assure you the gulls got their revenge.
Once all individuals were put into bags the ringing then started straight away. The worst part was putting your hand into a dark sand bag and knowing 100% that the gull would find your fingers and give you a solid bite (to be honest if i was the bird i woud have done the same). However this fear needed to be cast away and each bird was taken out and their head placed under your arm and feet in the air. Once under control a metal ring with the Channel Islands bird-ringing scheme details was put on the birds right leg and an ID ring was put on their left leg. Finally the distance between their beak and the top of their head was taken before they were finally released.
This ringing process needed to be as efficient as possible as the conditions were getting warmer and we wanted to release the birds as quick as possible so we really were under pressure and i had no idea how were going to get through so many birds.
However, i should not have doubted the process as i was in the company of experts who have done this all over the UK. We efficiently and quickly went through the approximate number 350 birds, which once done was quite unbelievable. Needless to say we all sat down for a cup of tea after.
This process was completed 3 times for that first day i was there and then once on the saturday morning, which was even more pressurised as the dump closed at 10am and we did not want to be locked in a landfill site!
The project had started on the monday and i joined up with them for the friday and saturday sessions but at the very end of the 6 days the team had managed to catch around 1700 gulls, which are currently all being input into the ringing database (glad that is not my task!) with the all important total of around 500 Lesser Black-backed gulls (double what they hoped for). So all in all a very successful week for everyone for which we went out to dinner to celebrate and talk all things wildlife.
Once of the best aspects of my 2 days was that I got to meet some great people who were not only passionate but experts in their field and who also liked a few beers to celebrate as well (oh the stories!). I must admit i also have a new found respect for gulls and how they have adapted so quickly to a new food source and how they take full advantage of our wasteful society. They are brilliant birds and do not deserve all the bad press, because at the end of the day if we were not so wasteful then there would no problems in our cities or towns.
All in all i had an amazing time and i will be there next year with a few more birds under my ringing name and the same desire to learn as much as i can. I never thought spending 2 days at a rubbish dump would be so much fun.
I have attached some photos to give you more of a feeling of what it was all like
Stephen
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Forest School Essay
I suppose this post does exactly what it say on the tin. For my Forest School Level 3 course i have had to write an essay detailing the benefits of Forest School from a personal point of view.
For some reason i am unable to copy and paste and to high hell am i re-writing 1500 words so here is the link below!
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&¬e_id=10150193714170955
Let me know what you think.
Stephen
For some reason i am unable to copy and paste and to high hell am i re-writing 1500 words so here is the link below!
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&¬e_id=10150193714170955
Let me know what you think.
Stephen
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Forest School: I love it when a plan comes together
The A-Team is one of my all time favourite programme, i love the humour, the comedy, the wit and the catchphrases. (I bet you are thinking now, Forest School, A-Team? HUH?).
The best catchphrase is spoken by the immortal Hannibal Smith played by the late, great George Peppard as he usually walks in on a group of baddies, slumped and beaten into the ground. The cigar is then sparked up, puffed out and the words 'I love it when a plan comes together' are beautifully spoken, and as the audience we really do love it.
I mention this phrase as it sums up how i feel about Forest School after finishing my two Level 3 practical days, practical days that i have found challenging, have laughed at uncontrollably in and have loved it when the lesson plans have come together (bad joke i know!).
It all started with my level 1 course back in 2008, something that was done on a hunch, a feeling and a 20 second recommendation from a friend and it has now developed into something that i will use and develop for the rest of my life.
For a quick history lesson Forest School is run by Bridgwater College in Somerset and it was taken from a concept in Scandanavia. To put it simply is it a concept for environmental education, or any education for that matter. It is all about creativity, independence, self-esteem and confidence, creating child-led environments with activites that are 80% achievable and 20% challenging, meaning no one loses or comes away negatively in Forest School.
Now, jumping forward to the present i have almost finished my leaders training with my 2 practical days. I have loved these past two days, 2 days that i have spent outside in a relaxed environment and learning with people who for one thing make me laugh so so much.
The summary for the two days is as follows....
Day 1 = hello & introductions, knots and lashings, kelly kettles and tea, making wood crosses, making fencing, lunch+tea, making kazzo's, tool use, creating picture frames, creating 'dreamcatchers', a fairwell
Day 2 = hello & catch up, creating fires, making fires, tea, wood collecting, building fires, cooking lunch, activities with ropes, building rope bridges, end talk,other info, a sad farewell.
The aim of these past two days has not only been to learn new methods and activities but also it gives the assessors a chance to have a look at your planning skills and how you adapt and communicate in the outdoor environment.
THE best thing about the past 2 days has been the adaptability of the sessions, they can be used in so many situation. They can be used for nursery children, reception classes, teenagers, problem children, adults, problem adults! bossess, managers, even celebrities. The great thing is that the Natural World is not forced upon you, but you are encouraged to open your eyes that little bit wider, to see, understand, respect and enjoy.
In a world where children are spening most of their time in front of a screen and adults are too busy to relax and explore, all of the qualities of Forest School are of the upmost importance if we, as a species, are to protect and learn to live with the planet. We need to learn, respect, understand and have some fun outside before we decide to save it
With all these new learning paths and possibilities i really do feel like a plan is finally coming together.
The best catchphrase is spoken by the immortal Hannibal Smith played by the late, great George Peppard as he usually walks in on a group of baddies, slumped and beaten into the ground. The cigar is then sparked up, puffed out and the words 'I love it when a plan comes together' are beautifully spoken, and as the audience we really do love it.
I mention this phrase as it sums up how i feel about Forest School after finishing my two Level 3 practical days, practical days that i have found challenging, have laughed at uncontrollably in and have loved it when the lesson plans have come together (bad joke i know!).
It all started with my level 1 course back in 2008, something that was done on a hunch, a feeling and a 20 second recommendation from a friend and it has now developed into something that i will use and develop for the rest of my life.
For a quick history lesson Forest School is run by Bridgwater College in Somerset and it was taken from a concept in Scandanavia. To put it simply is it a concept for environmental education, or any education for that matter. It is all about creativity, independence, self-esteem and confidence, creating child-led environments with activites that are 80% achievable and 20% challenging, meaning no one loses or comes away negatively in Forest School.
Now, jumping forward to the present i have almost finished my leaders training with my 2 practical days. I have loved these past two days, 2 days that i have spent outside in a relaxed environment and learning with people who for one thing make me laugh so so much.
The summary for the two days is as follows....
Day 1 = hello & introductions, knots and lashings, kelly kettles and tea, making wood crosses, making fencing, lunch+tea, making kazzo's, tool use, creating picture frames, creating 'dreamcatchers', a fairwell
Day 2 = hello & catch up, creating fires, making fires, tea, wood collecting, building fires, cooking lunch, activities with ropes, building rope bridges, end talk,other info, a sad farewell.
The aim of these past two days has not only been to learn new methods and activities but also it gives the assessors a chance to have a look at your planning skills and how you adapt and communicate in the outdoor environment.
THE best thing about the past 2 days has been the adaptability of the sessions, they can be used in so many situation. They can be used for nursery children, reception classes, teenagers, problem children, adults, problem adults! bossess, managers, even celebrities. The great thing is that the Natural World is not forced upon you, but you are encouraged to open your eyes that little bit wider, to see, understand, respect and enjoy.
In a world where children are spening most of their time in front of a screen and adults are too busy to relax and explore, all of the qualities of Forest School are of the upmost importance if we, as a species, are to protect and learn to live with the planet. We need to learn, respect, understand and have some fun outside before we decide to save it
With all these new learning paths and possibilities i really do feel like a plan is finally coming together.
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