WHAT IS NEST?
Nature Education for Sustainable Todays and Tomorrows is a Davis Bay Elementary Program conceived to offer families a nature and place-based learning opportunity at the elementary grade levels. NEST is rooted in a philosophy and pedagogy supported by research that underscores its emotional, social and academic merits.
Nature Education? Outdoor education?
The nature and place-based emphasis of NEST leads to much of NEST learning taking place out-of-doors – in a meadow, a forest, by the creek, in parks, on trails, at the estuary, on the beach…. NEST is not an ‘outdoor school’ where one might expect to find an emphasis on outdoor adventure pursuits such as climbing and high ropes challenges.
NEST is not an “outdoor school” where one might expect to find an emphasis on outdoor adventure pursuits such as climbing and high ropes challenges. However, in NEST we do consider the more-than-human world a co-teacher, a great source of inspiration, and often develop our learning journeys through experiences, encounters, and inquiries we acquire while learning on the land.
If you are considering enrolling your child in NEST, it is because you wish for the primary or intermediate curricula to be delivered to your child with nature as the learning lens and often in an outdoor setting.
NEST teachers, like every teacher who thoughtfully and intentionally develops their classroom program, strive to provide a learning context that will ensure students have the greatest possibility to feel success, pride, and belonging.
CONTEXT
The place-based nature of NEST means that the inherent risks for student safety are different than in a traditional school building. Outings are the standard of day-to-day schooling rather than the exception.
TRANSPORTATION
Many NEST families bring their children to school themselves or rely on car-pooling for transportation. While there is a school bus, the routes are limited and may not be viable for your child. Transportation can be a challenging hurdle for many parents so scoping out and understanding your options ahead of time is another important consideration.
CONSIDERATIONS
• In NEST, learning places change daily: learning plans, times and spaces can be unpredictable – weather, place-based, safety and staffing changes due to absences are factors demanding constant reassessment and readjustment by NEST teachers; children are buddied, grouped in many different ways, multiple times in a day or week.
• NEST is largely social and collaborative. (Classes pair with each other for outings, children are buddied to travel to learning spaces, multi-age groupings and/or collaborative pairings are the norm for most activities.
• Our day-to-day learning takes place outdoors so day-to-day risks to safety may be different than in the regular school program. Students will be crossing roads and highways, learning on the banks of a creek or at the estuary and the ocean’s edge. Our amazing team of teachers have specific training in Nature Based learning as well as Wilderness First Aid. Our outdoor classrooms include ts’ukw’um (Wilson Creek), Davis Bay Beach, Chapman Creek trail and other nearby locations.
