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Dear Hackney families, my name is Lauren and I am employed as the Forest School Lead /Early Years teacher. I would like to carry out research on families’ access to the outdoors and what is preventing some families from accessing provisions such as Forest School / outdoor programmes. 

I have found through my experiences teaching outdoor programmes that there is a lack of cultural diversity. Being from a mixed black and white Caribbean background myself, I found it interesting and wanted to find out what could be the reasons preventing accessing to outdoor programmes and how I could help to ensure that outdoor provisions becomes more accessible to  people from a range of wider cultural backgrounds.

I completed a survey early this year which came back with a high response indicating cost and lack of cultural diversity in Forest School being the main barriers. However the survey did not quite reach the wider community. 

The survey has been reviewed and improved to give clearer view on your opinions. 

This information will be used anonymously as part of a National Forest School Conference in order to analyse the issues arising around potential barriers to accessing Forest School or outdoor learning provisions for families from different cultural backgrounds. 

At the end of the study, your views will be summarised and evaluated and presented to the conference. 

To clarify: the questionnaire will not analyse or share individual responses but a will look at the overall total response. 

I may use the survey results for training purposes, sharing my conclusions from the research. 

By taking part in this questionnaire, you are agreeing to share your views for research and training purposes only.

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* 1. Do you live in Hackney? 

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* 2. How many children do you have?

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* 3. What age group is your child /or children? (under 5's or 5-11)

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* 4. Do you spend time outdoors with your child /or children? (if yes, please state where)

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* 5. If you answered 'no' to question 4, please state why.

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* 6. Do you think children spending time outdoors is beneficial? (please state you reasons why you think 'yes' or 'no').

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* 7. If yes to question 6, what (if any) are the barriers to your children spending more time outdoors?

There is a provision for children to access outdoors called Forest School. Forest School originated from Scandinavia known as Forest Kindergarten or Outdoor Kindergarten. A group of educators visited the Forest Kindergartens in 1990's and were inspired, creating a Forest School training programme for early years educators and teachers to train as Forest School Leaders, enabling them to provide outdoor learning experiences for children. 
There are many benefits to Forest School; risk taking, building self-confidence and self-esteem. Developing  communication and language, physical skills and a care for the natural environment, including improving children health and well-being. 

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* 8. Have you heard of Forest School?

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* 9. Has your child /or children accessed a Forest School? (if 'yes' please state where you accessed Forest School - through school or nursery, forest school nursery, holiday clubs or after school clubs)

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* 10. If you answered 'no' to question 9, why have you not accessed Forest School?

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* 11. Would you like to or consider giving your child /or children the opportunity to access Forest School?

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* 12. If not Forest School, are there any outdoor learning provisions you are more interested in accessing?

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* 13. What are/or would be the reasons preventing you accessing Forest School?

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* 14. What would encourage/enable you to access Forest School or Outdoor learning provision for your child/or children?

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* 15. If we wanted to get more children involved with Forest School and outdoor learning, who should we be speaking to/where would be best to reach out to? (eg. community centres, playgroups, babysitters etc.)

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* 16. What's the top priority for you when thinking about your child /or children's time in general? (enjoyment, cost, educational value, opportunity to socialise, friends already doing it, proximity to home etc.)  

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* 17. What ethnicity are you?

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* 18. What religion or belief are you or do you have?

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* 19. What is your age group?

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* 20. Gender

0 of 20 answered
 

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