Resources

An Taisce Green Schools
CRANN Trees for Ireland
Native Woodland Trust
Leave No Trace
LEAF Ireland
Field Studies Ireland
Heritage in Schools
Forest School Association (England)
Children and Natural Alliance of Canada
Outdoor & Woodland Learning in Scotland (OWL)
Nature Days
Lasmuigh – the professional practice journal for the Outdoor Sector on the Island of Ireland

IFSA Chair Joan Whelan outlines Forest School pedagogy

NIFSA (The Northern Ireland Forest School Association)

NIFSA (The Northern Ireland Forest School Association) is our sister organisation in the North of Ireland. Find out more about the Northern Ireland Forest School Association.

Native Woodland Trust

Enjoy this article about Forest School in the Summer 2017 Native Woodland Trust magazine. More information about the Woodland Trust can be found on their website.

Arts in Education Portal

IFSA are guest bloggers for the next few months on the Arts and Education portal. Read about some of our members approach to creativity in Forest School here

Crann
(Trees for Ireland)

Click on this link for information about the latest issue of the Crann magazine and where to find it. The Winter 2018 issue carries a nice piece about our Autumn Gathering in Clandeboye in October 2018.

Trisha McLoughlin on The Glen Outdoor Preschool Co Donegal — Poster

See this poster of a small research study on outdoor play carried out by one of our members, Trisha McLoughlin on The Glen Outdoor Preschool, Co. Donegal.

Outsider.ie

Read article:

Back to the Basics: Outdoor Schools and Programmes Building Confidence and Promoting Well-Being

Irish Examiner

Read article:

Bringing down the walls in creches

LEAF Ireland

The Learning about Forests (LEAF) programme is designed for schools and encourages environmental education through awareness raising among students, teachers and the wider community. The programme looks at all the functions of forests, ecological, social, economical and cultural. The overall aims of the programme are to see an increased level of awareness and knowledge about the key role forests play for sustainable life on our planet and to stimulate activities that will help students achieve an increased level of environmental maturity irrespective of age and previous knowledge. Here is a link to their website.

Irish Times

Read Paddy Woodworth’s article:

A nature journalist goes to ‘forest school’.

‘Exploring the “Construction” strand in the Irish Primary School Visual Arts Curriculum through the Forest School approach’

– Marie Claire Murphy

Contact us for access to a paper written by one of our members, Claire Murphy, about her research on the links between the Primary School Visual Arts Curriculum and Forest School. This is the first published empirical research on Forest School in Ireland – so it really represents an important landmark for our movement. Congratulations Claire!