Forest School Cadaques risks and benefits.

It is widely accepted that Forest school sessions are safe to take place in all weather except thunderstorms or high winds.

But because forest school sessions take place outdoors there are a number of inherent risks presented by the weather or conditions of the site. These risks have the potential to significantly impact the feasibility of what are usually even low risk activities.

Risk management is the identification and assessment of any risks posed by an activity or occurrence in the forest school setting. After being assessed, a structured plan is put into place to detail how both the probability of the risk occurring and the impact of it being realized can be controlled or reduced.

Whilst near misses, accidents and incidents should all inform future practise the process of risk management should be proactive not reactive. Risk management is a continuous process. As parameters, such as weather or the condition of a forest school site, change so does the probability and potential impact of the risk. When running sessions it is important not only to risk asses prior to the session but also re-evaluate on the day and in context of the group of children we are working with. Activities that pose little risk to one group may pose significant risk to a different group, depending on changing factors such as weather.

It is important though that as well as analysing the potential risk of an activity that it’s potential benefits are also considered. If an activity poses a moderate or even high risk it may be that it still offers a benefit that outweigh the chance of potential harm that could be caused were the hazard realised.

According to Play England’s publication Managing Risk in Play Provision activities and opportunities should “offer children and young people challenging, exciting, engaging play opportunities, while ensuring that they are not exposed to unacceptable risk of harm”.

The benefit of risk taking is supported by Mortlock’s adventure philosophy. Mortlock proposed the existence of four basic “adventure states”, which progress in intensity from:

Play: Characterised by little emotion through relatively easy participation in activities which are below the person’s skill level.

Adventure: Characterised by enjoyment and excitement, where a person’s is using his/her capabilities more fully, but the person maintains control over the situation and his/her self.

Frontier Adventure: Characterized by peak experience, which emerges from a person experiencing adventurous challenges very close to his/her limits. If the person succeeds, then generally a peak experience is had, but there is real risk of pushing too far and falling/failing, leading to Stage 4.

Misadventure: Characterised by a person choosing or being forced to participate in challenges beyond his/her capabilities, resulting in negative emotions (fear, hurt, etc.), possibly injury and even ultimately death.

Mortlock argued that it is in the Frontier Adventure state in which people will develop the most. It is worth bearing in mind that these states are subjective and vary from person to person. What one person would class as play might be misadventure for another and vice versa.

Definitions

Hazard: Anything that has the potential to cause harm, either physical or psychological.

Risk: The likelihood of potential harm from the hazard being realised.

Accident: An unplanned, uncontrolled event which has led to injury to people, damage to property, damage to the environment or some other loss.

Near Miss: An incident which could have led to injury or damage. The occurrence of a near miss should inform you and alter your practise.

Incident: An event or occurrence caused by ignoring or not adhering to set rules, boundaries or laws.

Safety: Taking positive steps to identify accident causes and implement suitable preventative measures.The benefits of outdoor learning and play are far too important to forfeit, and by far outweigh the risks of an accident occurring.

The benefits of outdoor learning and play are too important to miss out on and far outweigh the risks of an accident:

Increased confidence, social skills, communication, motivation and concentration.

Improved physical endurance, fine and gross motor skills.

Positive identity formation by individuals and communities.

Sustainable environmental behaviors and ecological literacy.

Greater knowledge of the environment, greater frequency of visits to nature.

Safe and healthy risk taking.

Improved creativity and resilience.

Improved academic achievement and self-regulation.

Reduced stress, increased patience, self-discipline, attention span, and recovery from mental fatigue

Improvement of cognitive abilities.

Being part of a community governed by cooperation and teamwork.