A return to the old boat shed space, with a difference!
Presented with the provocation of being early settlers on their way to Western Australia, the year 4 students at Guildford Grammar found themselves confronted by a new land and new experiences at Bush School today. We asked the students to imagine they were getting off their boats, exploring this new land for the very first time and to think about how they might react to new animals, plants and climate. New sensations, experiences and feelings. What they were not expecting was that they would be physically experiencing those feelings first hand and ‘for real life!’
Each Bush School session last term, the year 4 students spent time at the river’s edge, in front of the old boat shed, where we had access to open fields, the cool water and muddy banks of the Swan River. We would gather as a group on open lawn spaces of green grass in the shade of large gum trees. The environment they had experienced was still a challenge to the senses, but there was comfort in their surroundings, that had become familiar and acceptable in the realm of sensory risk taking.
Today, we turned left at the entrance to Bush School and ventured into the depth of the bush space at the rear of the boat shed, to a dense, overgrown and prickly space surrounded by low hanging eucalypts, shrubby and scraggly melaleuca trees, overgrown olive trees and fallen down Sheoaks. We stopped at a small clearing where the ground was covered in sticks and leaf litter, weeds and grass surrounded the edges of our space, and we asked the children to ‘take a seat!’
You could have been mistaken to think we has asked them to sit in manure or on piles of broken glass! There was disdain in their voices as they reacted to this simple request!
“There’s no way in the world I’m sitting down here”
“It’s too scratchy and uncomfortable”
“I’m definitely going to get bitten by something here” “Eew, this is horrible” “I can’t believe you are making us sit here”
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There was a palpable discomfort in the space, an uneasiness that you could see by the physical (and verbal) reactions of the students. This was the exact response we were hoping for! Achieving deep understanding for historical perspectives, when teaching the History curriculum, is a difficult task. It’s tricky to replicate the ‘feelings’ of people from the past and the way they would have reacted to their personal experiences. When we provide students with experiences that enable them to ‘feel’ certain emotions or sensations we support them to truly live their learning and build empathy for the past!
Their next task in the space was to write in their bush school journals about their experience, to describe what their senses were sensing.
“I’m feeling uncomfortable, dry, itchy, spiked, like I want to go an explore the fresh space out there”
“I feel uncomfortable, tired and I want to go home”
“Everything is very dusty. Feeling = Uncomfortable!”
“When are we going back to the other Bush School space? Do we have to spend the whole time here? I much prefer the river part”
The students were still uncomfortable in the space, but as they started to describe what they could feet, hear, feel, smell and even taste, they started to notice elements of their surroundings that they were keen to explore.
They were given the challenge to ‘explore the space’ and think about what resources they could find and how they could make shelter. What ensued was pure joy and deep play. They students split of in all directions and found nooks and crannies, discovered pre-existing shelters (made by the year 4s from last year), spaces to climb, resources to build with, intricate patterns, fascinating insects, and a space full of opportunity. It was obvious by the sounds in the space that this space wasn’t as confronting as it had been just moments before.
After some time building, exploring, collaborating, climbing, wondering, creating, inventing, problem-solving and playing the group came back together to reflect – firstly on their current feeling in the space, what they noticed about their reactions to the space and then a chance to plan for the future and begin to think about what resources they would need to continue to build and create, to inhabit this space. This was linked with a reflection on the types of resources the early explorers would have needed to bring with them to help them feel comfortable and inhabit this new land.
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The student’s reflections, as well as their physical reactions to gathering back as a group in this space, showed how their comfort levels had changed dramatically and how this space was now intriguing and full of potential.
“30 minutes later – I like making cubbies. I worked with people I never worked with before and I found a lizard!”
“How I feel now? I feel happy, creative, calm, relaxed, comfortable and tired because of all the fun I’ve had”
“I feel a lot more comfortable in the area but I’m still a bit conscious of bull ants and spiders! Because bull ants are looking for food because it’s almost winter. I like this place a lot now, nut I like the other place a lot too!”
“I noticed it is very calm and quiet when people are still and now, I feel more relaxed”
We will return to this space in our next Bush School session, armed with resources that we can build with and continue to live out these experiences to build threads of connection to those who came before us and to feel what they might have felt. We have many more conversations to have from today’s experience and to explore the potential of this space for learning and we are excited about the potential that this rugged natural environment holds for deep, authentic learning experiences.
Find out more about our school-based programs.
Guildford Grammar School is an inclusive Pre-K-12, co-educational, boarding and day school in Western Australia. Educated by Nature and Guildford Grammar have had a long relationship through a variety of interactions. As a site, Guildford Grammar hosts one of our school holiday programs as well as an afterschool program (Bush Inventors’ Club), we have delivered incursions across the preparatory school and early learning centre and out-of-school hours program. Over the past three years, Daniel has been working as a consultant at the school, supporting the year 1 – 4 students each Thursday in developing the on-site Bush School program and mentoring teachers in Nature Pedagogy, Deep Nature Connection and Outdoor learning principles. This blog forms part of the documentation series that provides a glimpse into this rich, integrated program.
