Learning Outdoors - A School in the Woods - Part 2 - With Mary Machlachlan and Anne Statham

’’Our educational system is for a different era.” Welcome back to the Spring/Summer series of the Back To The Garden Podcast. Today follows on from the previous episode with our guest, Mary Mclachlan, who founded the Wood School in Manchester in 2010. It’s an incredible school set in a 1.7 acre woodland. We’re also joined by our regular podcast guest, Anne Statham (our very own child development specialist). This is a very in-depth conversation. If you haven’t listened to part 1 listen to that one first, then come back to this. What we cover: Things that have inspired Mary Her advice to someone starting a school outdoors The amazing qualities of Willow Challenges Mary has faced and overcome A story of hope, the power of a community and how the Wood School has helped a child going through traumatic experience Ideas for families for outdoor activities this Spring Wild garlic, growing plants and spoon whittling! “The joy of Willow is the instant result. It’s also really giving. The kids get to see it grow, Willow grows really quickly, it grows quicker than they grow. It also provides a great resource endlessly. You will now be cutting willow forever and the more you cut the more you can build. And we talked about creating these little spaces that only the kids could fit in so that they could have that sense of a space for themselves.’” In this episode we talk about: 00:48 Mary’s relationship with her children 1:57 Philosophies, places and schools around the world that inspired Mary. Here we touch on the educational system and mental health. What the pandemic has brought to light around education. 10:54 Advice to somebody out there wanting to create an outdoor setting. 13:52 Mary and Back To The Garden and the Willow weaving. 19:29 Tips for parents to do this Spring at home 21:45 Personal rituals Mary likes to do in the Spring 22:33 Spoon whittling 24:21 One particular story about a child where Mary’s really seen a difference through their time at the Wood School. 27:08 Challenge Mary has faced and overcome. 34:10 Rapid fire questions “When a child is in trauma it really does take a whole community, everybody needs to pitch in.” Links and Resources: https://thewoodschool.wordpress.com/ https://www.peacefulparentingprogrammes.co.uk/about-me ——— Thank you for listening! We’d be so grateful if you could take 2 minutes to leave us a review on your preferred podcast app. Please share with anyone who you think would love to listen. This episode is sponsored by Kit + Kin, award winning nappies - head to https://kitandkin.com/ and enter the code BABY20 specially created for our listeners to use on the first subscription. Recorded via Zoom and edited at LBS, Stockport. https://lbs.co.uk/ Producer: Adders Jeffry Original Music written by Sadie Pickering, performed by Sadie Pickering, Dan J Logan and Jay Ansill Podcast hosting service - https://anchor.fm/backtothegarden Website: https://www.backtothegardenchildcare.com/podcast/