Bush Kinder is our orientation program for Prep. It runs for the entire year prior for a half day each term week. The program is run free of charge; a deposit is paid prior to enrolment, with this amount being offset against the first term’s fees in Prep. It is not a childcare or kinder program for the wider community and is only available to future students of Prep at Candlebark.
Bush Kinder is based on the Scandinavian ‘forest school’ approach, a movement that began in Sweden in the 1950s and quickly spread throughout the Nordic countries. The model takes young children into the forest – or, in our case, the bush – for several hours. They take no toys or aids with them, using the bush as the source of play and imagination. There are no classroom structures, and the children learn to dress appropriately and develop resilience in the face of inclement weather, which we have a bit of in the Macedon Ranges!
At Candlebark, the ‘bushies’ start their session by making and packing their own lunches into their backpacks. They then head off with their two teachers – they may take one of the bush tracks on the campus, visit the animals, or have a picnic on the bottom oval (usually reserved for windy days). They may climb trees, build cubbies, create new imaginative worlds, or spend time observing the smaller details in the bush: an ant nest, a dropped feather, or a new orchid.
Swedish studies found that forest school students were happier and more resilient than children who hadn’t been through the program. Studies also found that the forest school children took fewer sick days and could concentrate better in class.
We find that bush kinder prepares the ‘bushies’ exceptionally well for the requirements of our school. They are comfortable in our environment and in all types of weather, and know how manage challenges. They can then ‘hit the ground running’ in Prep, spending part of their first term camping with the rest of the school and embracing the new adventures of classroom learning.
