This school lets kids learn by roaming in the wild
At a council reserve in eastern Australia, children attend a school where they spend their entire day among nature.
By Imogen Brennan for Lateline
A lack of outdoor learning is creating an urgent social problem in children, affecting their empathy, creativity, and innovation, according to a recent report by Plymouth University.
To combat this, a growing number of parents in the UK and Europe are sending their children to “nature schools”, but the movement is in its infancy in Australia.
At The Nature School in Port Macquarie there is no set schedule, and the students choose when they eat, play, read and take time out.
The children, aged between three and six, roam through the bush, play music, make bush crafts and put up tents.
They attend once or twice a week and are cared for by three people called “educators”.
Lloyd Godson, a marine scientist and former professional adventurer, co-founded The Nature School last year after he and his friends researched the nature pedagogy movement in Europe and the UK.
“We’ve had children that come here and the parents have said ‘good luck, they haven’t really gone too well in the classroom setting, they’re going to be a handful’,” he said.
“They pass them over and run, but [the children have] thrived here.
“If you want to run you can, or if you want to read a book in the shade [you can].”
The outdoor education movement centres around building character.
The learning is child-led, and the students are free to take risks.
“We have had children that have taken a fall out of a tree, we’ve had children who have rolled down small hills, bumped their heads and who have gone home with bruises,” Mr Lloyd said.
“In general, yes, there are a lot of potential hazards here with the open water for example, but we make sure that the children are very aware that they don’t go to the water without an educator.”
‘Nature pedagogy’ common in Europe
So far the Port Macquarie program is one of the only schools in Australia where kids spend the entire day in the wild, but in parts of Scotland, Scandinavia and Denmark forest schools are common and supported by local councils, so much so that school fees are often subsidised.
The New South Wales Government will not recognise the non-profit Nature School as a legitimate educator.
“I think it’s just that general diversity of our programs that’s preventing us [from being registered] and we also operate a school holiday program,” Mr Lloyd said.
The children that attend during the term do not learn literacy and numeracy as they would in a traditional classroom setting, but parents say they have noticed other developments in their children.
“It’s everything that we could want for [our son’s] development, social and nature-wise,” mother Meghan Stephens said.
“His confidence has boomed since we started with him.”
The Plymouth University report found that in the past decade, five different reviews into children’s learning in natural environments showed outdoor learning significantly improved quality of life.
The Student Outcomes and Natural Schooling report said there was strong evidence a lack of exposure to natural environments harmed children’s “character capabilities” — skills such as self-regulation, empathy, creativity, and innovation.
The founders of The Nature School have dreams of creating a prep to Year 7 school, complete with a nature-based curriculum, but without government support, that will be impossible.
“It does present us with a big challenge — how do we remain financially viable into the future?” Mr Lloyd said.
“It’s an ongoing battle that we’re fighting, but we’re all so passionate about what we do that we want to make it work, the community wants to make it work.”
