Episode Details

Lewis & Gemma spiral into a midsummer head-cold haze and ask, “What actually makes a good rite of passage?” From hot pennies hurled at peasants to Year-6 mortarboards, nothing is safe.

• 🤧 Lewis can’t remember life with two nostrils; Gemma’s hen snores on the stairs

• 🌓 Solstice rituals, Charlotte Church’s democratic-school idea & smashing down the bit you built

• 🎓 Primary-school “graduations” in robes – why? And why the two of us skipped our uni ceremonies

• ⚒️ Ceremony vs. genuine rite-of-passage (and when rewards wreck intrinsic motivation)

• 🐚 Artefacts that work – tickets, twigs, rope from a den, tiny memories you can hold

• 🔥 Scout badges, “wild passport” challenges & the problem of clapping the billhook users

• 💸 Honiton Hot Pennies festival: mediaeval “mock-the-poor” day still closing Devon roads

• 🎉 Do rites need to be enjoyable? First car crashes, doctors’ first patient death & driver’s licences

• 📅 Upcoming CPD days: storytelling/drama/music (Sept 1), outdoor cookery, whittling & more

00:00 – Nasal misery & hen-house bedtime
06:00 – Solstice chat & Charlotte Church’s build/smash classroom plan
11:00 – Tiny graduations, big discomfort
18:00 – Tickets, twigs & meaningful take-aways
24:00 – Ceremony ≠ rite of passage: Happy-Birthday paralysis, mortarboards, Scout badges
31:00 – Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation (and Alfie Kohn pops up again)
38:30 – Honiton Hot-Pennies history lesson
46:00 – Wrapping up + new CPD calendar

Rites of Passage · Ceremony · Outdoor Learning · Intrinsic Motivation · Artefacts · Scout Badges · Solstice · Hot Pennies · CPD

#ForestSchoolPodcast #RiteOfPassage #OutdoorLearning #CeremonyVsProcess #HotPennies

What’s the oddest or most meaningful rite-of-passage you’ve witnessed? Drop us a voice-note or email admin@theforestschoolpodcast.com and we’ll play a few next episode.