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From bush kindy in Clearview to working with Claire Warden: Janette Lester’s story
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Freya Lucas
Jan 17, 2025
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In 2024 Early childhood teacher/Educational leader Janette Lester (aka Netty) was a well known and respected member of the Clearview Early Learning and Kindergarten team, best known for establishing and running the popular bush kindy program.
In 2025, she’s embarking on a new adventure, working in a Forest School program led by renowned author, motivational keynote speaker and education policy adviser Dr Claire Warden at Auchlone, an outdoor nursery in Crieff, Scotland.We caught up with Ms Lester recently to learn more.
From the bush to the forest
Established in 2017, the bush kindy program at Clearview has become an integral part of the service’s curriculum, with educators completing the one day Introduction to Forest School workshop offered by Nature Play Qld to solidify their practice, with two educators going on to become Level 3 Forest School leaders. The Bush Kindy program encourages young children to engage in unstructured risky play and use different tools including:
- Educator supervised woodwork benches with real tools and accessories such as hammers, nails and saws, drills, and electrical saws.
- Loose parts play – providing children with items such as plastic pipes, milk crates, large reels, ropes, pulleys, wooden boxes, sticks, logs, etc.
- A fire pit, where children can cook a variety of foods under the supervision of our educators and learn about the value of fire, and to remember how to always respect its power.
- Allowing children the opportunity to climb, jump, and challenge their unique individual physical skills
- Using climbing apparatus in different ways.
These nature play sessions, bush kindy adventures and spending time outdoors, away from the traditional classroom setting, the educators believe, assists with the overall development and wellbeing of all children. Regular visits to the same natural settings enable children to connect to their surrounding environment. By nurturing connections with nature and others, the service hopes to foster stewardship of the earth and a sustainable future.
In recognition of their efforts Clearview Early Learning and Kindergarten has been voted runners up for the QORF Outdoor Education Nature Play Award and have won the Outdoor Educator Award -The Fear of Risk.
Moving to Scotland “I lived in Australia for the past 35 years and for the past 8 of those I ran the bush kindy program at Clearview,” Netty explained.
“I was trained as a forest school leader by a UK team, called, Forest School Learning Initiative (FSLI), which gave me a UK qualification. From this point, I became interested in how forest school worked in the UK. I became aware of Dr Claire Warden through networking, my connection with Nature Play Qld and Cottonwood Learning, through conferences and through personal research.”
“I stayed in contact with FSLI and showcased my bush kindy program with educators starting their journey. I was interested in how Claire managed to run a successful program in a very cold climate and tried to connect when I visited my daughter in Scotland.”
Unfortunately the visits to her daughter seemed to always coincide with the Scottish school holidays, leaving Netty without the opportunity to see the program in action, or to meet with the educators involved.
“As I have many family members still residing in the UK, I visited there almost every year for holidays, and always wanted to go back to live, work, and travel, whilst I was still young enough to do so,” she continued.
“At the beginning of 2024 my husband and I decided that this would be a good year to give this a go, as we lost our old dog, which freed us up a little. My husband is already retired so mid year we went for an already planned holiday, to get him established at my daughter’s house in Scotland and I began looking into the steps I needed to work there. Luckily for me at this time a job advert came up for Auchlone, Claire’s outdoor nursery in Crieff. I immediately applied, and despite the fact that I wouldn’t be available or established for work before the end of the year.”
The rest, as they say, is history, with Netty now beginning the new Scottish school year working with Auchlone.
What aspects of Dr Warden’s work resonate the most with you?
“What attracts me most about Claire’s work and what resonates with me, is advocating for children to play and learn outdoors, regardless of the weather,” Netty said.
“Although the climate in Australia is as far removed as it can be to the climate in Scotland, children are still the same and still need to have time for unstructured play to learn and develop. The heat in Australia can be quite debilitating and leave you unenergized and unmotivated, however, children adapt to the heat and continue to play and learn regardless of the weather.”
Given the increasingly strong impact that technology is having on children, she continued, “it is becoming increasingly more difficult to offer children an authentic childhood, where they can play and learn outdoors, however I think Claire’s program does this well, as did mine at Clearview.”
“I am very passionate about children playing and learning outdoors with plenty of opportunities for unstructured play. Most children’s lives are surrounded by adult intervention, such as swimming lessons, sports, dancing etc…all these activities are paramount in children’s development, however they are all directed by adults, therefore not giving them the social, leadership or problem solving skills that help guide them through their childhood and learning.”
What are some of the benefits of bush kindy and Forest School?
“Through programs like bush kindy and Forest School, the children become very resilient, able to resolve conflict independently, take on leadership roles within groups, develop holistically, and create rules for games.
“We did not need to take resources on bush kindy sessions as the children used the environment as the third teacher. They were imaginative in their play, using only items from nature to enhance it, such as a fallen tree becoming an ice cream shop, where ice creams of all flavours were rocks and money was leaves.”
These play scenarios could continue for months at a time when visiting the same site, with the children learning about the environmental impact of rubbish in the environment (which they collected as they engaged in play and learning), about how the weather impacted local surroundings (such as during times of heavy rain, where the creek would swell and move rapidly).
Children engaging in these types of programs become confident risk assessors, exploring their environment and becoming more aware of things which are safe and unsafe, such as which trees are able to be climbed, or what heights feel safe and comfortable to them.
“Through being outside children become environmental stewards and care for their natural world and gain understanding of why it’s important for our future,” Netty said.
“Our bush kindy program was very unique as it was so unstructured, as educators we still planned and would create provocations to inspire children, but generally the children were able to extend their own learning and continue with their interests each session. We were able to cater to all individual needs, children needing additional support were catered for with extra educators, children who needed a sleep had bedding, children who still required a nappy had provisions to change them if required.”
What are some of the things you’re hoping to achieve during your time at Auchlone?
“I am hoping that I can carry over the success of the bush kindy program in Scotland and learn about their environment and how their extreme cold weather impacts,” Netty shared.
“With Scotland’s different, more prominent seasons and the impacts of this on flora and fauna, I am looking forward to seeing how children’s resilience is evident in the wet, cold climate and how this impacts their general health, as I believe that children will become more prone to sickness being in a closed in space where germs can be spread easier from one to another, such as in an air conditioned or heated rooms.”
“I am also interested in parent perspectives and how they perceive early childhood in Scotland, as our program at Clearview was sought out for families who wanted outdoor learning for their children.”
Learn more about Dr Warden’s work, or Auchlone.
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