Reflect on the influence of legislation on working practices within early years settings.

many aims of the initiative but some can include; to develop on the way children learn, allowing the children to experience a new learning environment and to encourage children to develop social, emotional and physical well being. All of the aims coincide with government legislation as Forest Schools can contribute to four of the five outcomes that are part of the government framework, Every Child Matters. Be healthy – In a Forest School children are physically active a lot of the time, and their stamina improves as they go through their outdoor activities. Their experience can also help to lead to the development of healthier lifestyles as children ask parents to take them on trips to woodlands outside school times. As the children gain confidence and improve their self-esteem, this can increase their emotional and mental well-being. Stay safe - The ‘wild’ and yet controlled safe environment of Forest Schools ensures that children taking part naturally learn how to assess risk. They are encouraged to make sensible and informed decisions about how to deal with unfamiliar and unpredictable situations (such as exploring or climbing trees, using tools to build shelters and dens). Much of the learning comes as a result of the opportunities they have for testing their own abilities in a real-life context. Enjoy and achieve - Forest School sets learning in a different context for children, in which they can undertake a range of practical activities and carry out small, achievable tasks. Children can develop their team-working skills and also learn to become more independent. Those who are unfamiliar with woodlands can become confident in using them, and this can form the basis of a life-long relationship with, and enjoyment of, natural spaces. Making a positive contribution - Forest School helps children to develop their confidence. As they become familiar with Forest School they can take their new-found confidence into school and into other areas of their lives. Forest School can be particularly effective for children who do not do well in the classroom environment. Children learn to solve problems and be creative and imaginative, thus showing enterprising behaviour. In addition to this, the benefits of the initiative to children are endless. The initiative can increase confidence, increase, motor skills, improve knowledge of risk and risk management, learning practical skills and producing craft items to take home, increased environmental awareness and seasonal awareness and an increase in ability to work as part of a team and also on self-initiated projects. All of which can result in increased confidence and self-esteem. As well as benefiting children, the initiative can support practitioners practice as it can increase confidence in leading outdoor sessions, increase confidence in assessing risk and managing safety in the outdoors and increase their knowledge of skills to create fun and educational sessions in the outdoors. As well as this, it provides the opportunity for practitioners to develop new relationships with the children and to work with them regularly in a different setting which can allow for better more qualitative observations to be carried out. In my setting we have a forest school and from my own experiences in observing “lessons” in the forest I could see that the children were more engaged and seemed happier in the outdoors. Furthermore, from my settings forest school I can see that parents/carers seem just as interested as the children are. The settings forest school increases the amount of visitors and parent helpers coming to the school. The initiative has an impact on the settings policies because since the initiative was introduced to the school, a forest school policy was made which enforced that children in the forest must have parental permission, be wearing high visibility jackets and to make sure that there is the correct staff to child ratio. The policy supports practitioners in there practice as it gives them strict guidelines to follow and can direct planning. For example, planning is done to adhere to the policy.