Starting school can be a significant threshold for children and their families. When this threshold is met with intention, creativity, curiosity and ceremony, it can support children and families in expansive ways. Branch of Knowledge | Tree of Wisdom is a nature-based ritual that celebrates and supports a young person’s rite of passage in starting school, and their life-long journey of learning and growth.

In this ritual you and your young person will head out to a site of choice, to engage in a ceremony in which your young person is gifted with a collection of talismans, that will adorn a branch they have foraged from the forest, to contemplate ideas of learning and growth, and to acknowledge and celebrate their innate wisdom, sense of self and interconnectedness to all things, through symbolism, ceremony and creativity.

Branch of Knowledge | Tree of Wisdom was initially created for my sons, to support their rite of passage in entering the world of formal education and the transition to school. I wanted to find a creative way to offer them a perspective on learning that extended beyond the classroom walls and that acknowledged and celebrated their innate wisdom, alongside the ever present support, companionship and conversation with the natural world and wider community.

The ritual was a joyous and empowering experience for my children and offered a creative framework to navigate and support the transition to school. The ritual was designed so it could continue to be engaged with and added to over time, offering a creative frame for reflection and articulation of their learning and development as they grew.

Having seen the benefit for my own children, I have a created an accessible resource in collaboration with artist Kirsten Moegerlein. The booklet guides you step by step through the ritual and offers ideas, poetry and reflections on wisdom, learning and how ritual can support, animate and kindle curiosity, creativity and connection in our lives.