About us
All about us!
Who are we?
Josie Carding- Founder of Dens, Daisies & Discoveries.

Hello! Here's a little bit about me, and where Dens, Daisies & Discoveries has come from (this feels very self indulgent!).

I have always loved the outdoors- as a child I didn’t realise how lucky I was. My Mum managed 12 country parks across North Wales, including a public farm in North Wales.  My Dad was a gardener and horticulture instructor. I spent my childhood getting to know goats, mucking out pigs (yuck!), grooming donkeys, surveying butterflies, pond dipping, growing vegetables and going on reeeeeeeally long walks (which I now love!) with my parents, who always had to stop and discuss what type of flower ‘it’ was! This was normal to me.

As I grew, I began to realise that not everyone knew the names of trees, birds and flowers, not everyone had the chance to hang out and experience the great outdoors as I did. 

I was inspired and determined somehow to help others learn the amazing things that I knew- just through experiencing them. I undertook a Biology degree at Newcastle University, specialising in the Environment and Ecology where I spent much of my free time volunteering with the National Trust’s education team in County Durham, engaging children and adults in the great outdoors.
 
Following my Biology degree, I secured a job working with University Students and Staff in Carlisle, developing sustainability ‘green’ projects- including a project with local schools. I loved working with children, I enjoyed how in awe of the world they were, how exciting planting a seed could be, how passionate they could be about things so simple to adults- like shapes in the clouds! This was the spark and the missing link for me, I knew from here I wanted to work more closely with children, ideally in the outdoors.

I qualified as a Primary School Teacher in 2017, working and learning huge amounts in an inner-city Junior school for 2 years. I realised that the opportunity to get outdoors with learning were limited, not just by time, but by the confidence of parents and teachers too. Allowing the children in their care to learn through play and take risks within limits often felt too dangerous, teaching their children about the outdoors felt unknown and uncomfortable, because perhaps they didn't know much about it themselves.
 
This is where Dens, Daisies & Discoveries comes in! Providing play, risk and education opportunities within safe boundaries to build confidence in not only children, but parents and teachers too, to 're-wild' themselves and rediscover the huge benefits the natural environment has for learning. 

Dens, Daisies & Discoveries has been running since 2019 (with a little pandemic blip in the middle!), and is now growing from strength to strength. Working with families and Schools across Carlisle. We run regular Toddler groups, Holiday clubs and Home Education groups, alongside building our Schools portfolio- delivering full days and after school clubs too! Oh and did we mention birthday parties? We do love a party!

I hope to  see you in the Woods very soon!

Click here to see all our events and activities.

Qualifications

  • BSc Hons Biology with Ecology & Enviroment studies.
  • PGCE Primary with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
  • Level 3 Forest School Leader
  • Outdoor and Forest School first aider
  • Paediatric first aider 
  • Food hygiene Level 2

           “The more risks you allow children to take, the better they learn to take care of themselves." Roald Dahl.

          Why choose outdoor learning?

          Of course outdoor learning can be subject specific and tailored to outcomes, but simply being outdoors can provide opportunity to develop all of these wonderful things too!
          • Enhanced personal and social communication skills
          • Increased physical health
          • Enhanced mental and spiritual (sense of awe & wonder) health
          • Enhanced spiritual, sensory, and aesthetic awareness
          • The ability to assert personal control and increased sensitivity to one's own well-being.
          • Develop self esteem, take personal responsibility, co-operate with and respect the needs of others;
          • Extend personal horizons through greater appreciation and understanding of the world and its peoples around them;
          • Understand the need for sustainable relationships between people and their environment;
          • Enhance practical problem solving and team work skills.
          • Promote a positive and knowledgeable response towards personal health and well being

                            (Source: englishoutdoorcouncil.org)

                            "You are never too old to PLAY outside!"Unknown.

                            What is Forest School?

                            I truly believe that Forest school is magical, inspirational and amazing for well-being. There are currently multiple scientific studies going on worldwide to prove the benefits of being outdoors and especially in a woodland, for both physical and mental fitness! I know I certainly feel much calmer and less stressed amongst nature, don't you?

                            Forest School is an inspirational process, that offers ALL learners, young, old or in between, regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees.

                            Forest School is a specialised learning approach that sits within and complements the wider context of outdoor and woodland education.

                            The ethos is shared by thousands of trained practitioners across the UK and beyond. Its roots reach back to early years pioneers in outdoor learning and across the sea to Scandinavia.

                            At Forest School all participants are viewed as: 
                            • equal, unique and valuable
                            • competent to explore & discover
                            • entitled to experience appropriate risk and challenge
                            • entitled to choose, and to initiate and drive their own learning and development
                            • entitled to experience regular success
                            • entitled to develop positive relationships with themselves and other people
                            • entitled to develop a strong, positive relationship with their natural world
                            This learner-centred approach interweaves with the ever-changing moods and marvels, potential and challenges of the natural world through the seasons to fill every Forest School session and programme with discovery and difference. Yet each programme does also share a common set of principles, aimed at ensuring that all learners experience the cumulative and lasting benefits that quality Forest School offers.

                            Forest School (FS) follows 6 principles, set and reviewed by the Forest School Association which guide and unite Forest Schools across the country:
                            1. FS is a long-term process of regular sessions, rather than a one-off or infrequent visits; the cycle of planning, observation, adaptation and review links each session.

                            2. FS takes place in a woodland or natural environment to support the development of a relationship between the learner and the natural world.

                            3. FS uses a range of learner-centred processes to create a community for being, development and learning.

                            4. FS aims to promote the holistic development of all those involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners.

                            5. FS offers learners the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves.

                            6. FS is run by qualified Forest School practitioners who continuously maintain and develop their professional practice

                            (Source: Forest School Association)
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