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The Expanding Worlds Podcast


Jul 10, 2017

Laura Ashfield is an outreach worker for the Surrey Wildlife Trust.  She believes the forest is a great place to learn about ourselves as well as the rhythms of nature.  More than this, she passionately believes the forest is a place that can help us discover our place in the world.

Discovering a place in the world, we know as parents to children with additional needs, is very important.  Sometimes feelings of insecurity can be overwhelming. Maybe the forest and forest schools could hold part of the answer.

Laura shares her experiences as an outreach worker, and gives some uplifting examples of young people she's worked with. The ethos of forest school is straightforward: it's all about developing resilience, self-esteem and independence.

Forest schools are self-directed to give young people, who may in other areas of their lives feel like they have little control, a space to be themselves and do what they want to do in a safe but challenging environment. Laura also points out that there is time in the woods to just be and that ultimately boredom breeds creativity.

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