What we learned from you: Outcomes from Vision Input & our first AGM

The past months we have been gathering feedback from core team, staff and parents / members to understand what things to improve and what is working well already.

RESULTS from the MEMBER VISION INPUT

Below are the main takeaways from the parent feedback form that we circulated in October and November. You can see all details in our Annual Report.

OUR TOP STRENGTHS

TOP VOTED:

1. Teaching kids about the land (13/15)

2. Explorative Play (12/15)

3. Teacher knowledge & Skill Sets (10/15)

Mid-Range Strengths

• Teacher/parent Communication (7/15) & Alternative to reg. school system (7/15)

• Affordability (6/15)

• Eco System Restoration Work (5/15)

• Complimentary to home school curriculum (4/15)

Under Other someone added the following strength: “Storytelling of Indigenous Teachings”

OUR AREAS in NEED OF GROWTH

TOP VOTED:

1. Office/parent communication (4/12)

   Program Curriculum (4/12)

   Subsidy Support (4/12)

2. Support for home Schooling Curriculum (3/12)

THE CURRICULUM: ASPECTS of QUALITY EDUCATION & SKILLS

What ASPECTS OF QUALITY EDUCATION would you like to see highlighted in our forest school setting?”

TOP VOTED:

1. Survival/traditional Skills (11/14)

2. Farming, Food Security (8/14)

   Conflict Resolution (8/14)

   Conscious Nature connection (8/14)

   Respect for nature, land and how to build upon stewardship, e.g. Nature Restoration work (8/14)
   

What SKILLS and WAYS OF BEING would you like to see as our main focus in teaching and supporting children in today's world? 

TOP VOTED:

1. Compassion, and empathy towards others and self (9/14)

   Emotional regulation and self- resilience (9/14)

   Team building and helping others (9/14)

2. Conflict Resolution (8/14)

3. Bushcraft / hands on skills (7/14)

   Respect for different perspectives and ideas (7/14)

E-mail Newsletter was voted most popular as a way to stay informed and up to date with NFS connections.

A SAFE & CENTRALIZED COMMUNICATION PLATFORM FOR FOREST SCHOOL: PARENT APP

Through the parent & team feedback we identified the need for a centralized communication platform. After exploring different tools we landed on the Canada-based Parent App, which allows for

• Easily sharing of photos with parents and among cohorts respecting everyone's privacy

• Sharing of observations by teachers

• Easy registration process and information management

• Easy check-in of kids / flow in knowing whether to wait or not

• Integrated scheduling and messaging

• Managing medical information

• Managing pick up information (who can pick up your kid)

• Tracking of information flows & communication threads
  

We hope this will reduce administrative burden on all ends, have personal data in a secured place, the need for more streamlined, cohesive communication flows, dissolving current creating bottlenecks, duplicated responses, and delays in relaying the information to the right person.

We are planning to introduce Parent App as our main communication platform with the registration process for Spring Break 2026.

Parent App Download links: Apple App Store | Google Play Store | Huawei

For those of you not able to use apps, there is a browser option, with the big caveat of not getting and sending time sensitive notifications on your phones.

We hope you'll like it!

AGM Recap

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Thank you so much to everyone who came to our first-ever Annual General Meeting! 

We were determined to hold this first AGM outside in our SEED neighbourhood forest classroom and immensely relieved when we awoke Saturday November 22 to hospitable weather.  Kara, Michael, Kristjanne and Jenni hauled tents and wheelbarrows, hot plates, tables, cups and shovels and plates and rakes to the meeting location with the help of Shelby Drope and other forest school parents.  Met by teachers Olive Kuma and David Proctor, as well as board incumbent Laura Moro and family, we hung bunting flags, cued up Madonna’s Celebrate on the Bluetooth, and commenced a morning of potluck, visiting, outdoor play and ecological restoration.  

Three new members for the Board of Directors of Nanaimo Forest School Co-op: Kara Rafuse, Laura Moro & Lindsay Coulton.

With the participation of approximately 17 families, Jenni, Kristjanne, Michael and Kara shared individual reports of our work and progress over 2025 while Olive and David supervised children at play so all us adults could do business.  Present members voted forest school parents Laura Moro and Lindsay Coulton and teacher/parent Kara Rafuse to 2-year terms on Nanaimo Forest School’s Board of Directors, where they join Jenni Ottilie Keppler, Michael Geselbracht, and Kristjanne Vosper representing stakeholders and members in our busy little cooperative.

Those of you who offered your perspective on our Parent Feedback Form are probably wondering which lucky parent won the draw for 50% off one semester of half-day enrollment.  Big ups to Myu Dawson who took home the prize.

Forest School GROVES

Groves are groups of two or more members that would like to collaborate on bringing a new aspect of forest school to live. They develop proposals which they present to the board for feedback.

As part of our Organizational Development we are wanting to offer more opportunities to parents and members for community engagement, mutual support and organizing around their needs, so the idea of "Forest School Groves" was born.

New Groves are

• Rain gear and wet weather clothing drive / swap Hand-me-down Clothing Library

• Mushroom identification walks

• Removing barriers for families to make forest school more accessible to everyone (Subsidies and grants)

• Contacting and getting involved with Youth Climate Change teens

• Securing a building/land for Nanaimo Forest School

Are you interested in joining a grove?

Then please write to us and we will connect you further: office@nanaimoforestschool.com Subject line: Joining a Grove - [Name of Grove]

Thanks again for sharing reflection on your family’s forest school experience, thanks to parents and families who participated in the AGM, and, finally, so much gratitude to every one of you, whether you made it out Nov 22 or not, for continuing to offer your child precious time in nature every week. 

We couldn’t do it without you! 

Every day is a gift.

Long live the forest and all her forest creatures!

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Last but not least:

RELEVANT DOCUMENTS

Link to the AGM meeting minutes here (PDF)

Link to the Annual Report – Nanaimo Forest School Cooperative 2025 (PDF)

Come, check out the Fall Term 2025 Wrap-Up (with lots of nice photos of what happened)