Carcant/forest schools
- Our place in the country

Many of you will have heard us speaking or asking if we can take your child to Carcant for the day but we have realised that some of you are new parents and even well established parents might not know what it is or what we do there.

Firstly, Carcant is a valley near Heriot in the Borders about 20 miles outside Edinburgh. We are lucky enough to have access to a loft flat there with a kitchen, bathroom and sitting room as well as a number of bedrooms and to be able to use the whole valley to explore with the children. We have started to establish the site has a forest school, where children become familiar with the surrounding area over a period of time, where they can explore the natural environment and decide on projects and carry them out such as building a shelter. This over time gives them a sense of ownership and responsibility for the environment.

Forest schools originated in Denmark and have become one of the best education systems in the world. Although they have far harsher winters, the Danes saw the importance of children learning from the environment as well as the class room. They learn to problem solve, cooperate and develop a sense of safety and well being which is easier to accomplish outdoors in the wild rather than in the class room. Over the last couple of months the chldren who have been out there have enjoyed making a shelter out of natural resources, exploring leaves and plants, identifying the hundreds of different shades of colour in their surroundings using paint sample cards and orienteering using photographs to recognise different buildings or features of the valley. There is also a farmer who cares for the sheep in the valley and breeds sheep dogs so we are hoping to develop a project about this and how the dogs develop their skills.

We have now stepped up our visits to Carcant and plan to continue to do so in the coming months as this fits in very well with the new Curriculum of Excellence and eco schools. So if your child ever tells you "there's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing", blame the Danes, not us.