· Three sessions at 3 different venues during 2024-25.

Opportunities to:

· Look at high-quality outdoor provision.

· Have reflection time with colleagues and an opportunity to problem-solve together.

· Take part in impactful action research to make simple changes that will ‘unlock the outdoors’ for your teams and children.

Those who attended session 1 are invited to bring along their reflective question and anything they would like to discuss from their work so far. If this will be your first session, please have a think about the areas of your outdoor provision that you would really like to focus on.

Jon Cree - Unlocking the Outdoors
Sticky Fish Preschool 15th July 4-6pm

My history is in ecology and environmental science, having spent
time as a child and young adult immersed in the bluebell woods
of the Chilterns, the Rivers Thames and Trent, the so-called
wastegrounds of Sheffield, the woodlands and grasslands of the Derbyshire Dales.
I then moved into the education world and have worked and continue working with local authorities, schools and informal groups.

I have always been interested in how we, as human animals, can regulate with, in and part of the natural world – and as such have worked for many years mostly with young humans challenged by our societal systems, and other educators and teachers, to help them play, calm, learn and flourish. And combining this with a deeper ecological understanding of how we are part and parcel of the ecological systems and communities of the planet give us a real sense of place and purpose in the world.

I now relish being a grandfather, woodland steward in the welsh borders and spending time mentoring other humans. Since the 1990’s I have been one of the three international trainers for the Institute for Earth Education. This has taken me to many countries all over Europe and North America to conduct Earth Education training workshops. See https://eartheducation.org.uk/workshops/index.html

1999 – 2018. For 20 years I worked at Bishops Wood Centre, Worcestershire County Council’s award-winning environmental centre, now managed by one of the UK’s largest NGO’s managing environmental education centres all over the UK – the Field Studies Council.

I ran programmes for children of all ages, from early years to sixth form, and various youth groups, at the centre and helped establish Forest School within the county – the first local authority in the country to integrate Forest School into it’s provision and most of the early years settings and primary schools.

I also co-ordinated and ran the training programme, run by the centre for educators. This included short courses, training away from the centre and the Forest School training at levels 1, 2 and 3. I have conducted Forest School training in many parts of the UK and Canada and spoken at a number of conferences in the UK and other countries, and mentored a number of Forest School trainers.

I am a founding director for the National UK
professional association for Forest School –
the Forest School Association (FSA), and was the first
chairperson of the organization from it’s formation in
2012 through 2017.

Unlocking The Outdoors Cluster