Forest School

Our Vision

We believe that every child should experience the wonders of nature, so we are committed to providing our pupils with the opportunity to visit our Little Wood to explore, play, learn about and fall in love with the great outdoors.

Through hands-on learning and imaginative play we hope our pupils will recognise the mental and physical health benefits of connecting with nature and will want to conserve and protect our natural world for future generations.

Our Little Wood

Forest School sets children free to follow their natural curiosity in the great outdoors. Our beautiful Little Wood, set in the grounds of our school, provides a fantastic environment for our children to engage in the wonders of nature and the natural world. We provide Forest School sessions for all our children from Reception to Year 4.

The Forest School philosophy is to encourage and inspire positive outdoor experiences. Children have the opportunity to learn about the natural environment, how to evaluate and manage risks and most importantly to use their own initiative to solve problems and co-operate with others.

In regular sessions, all year round, they learn through play and exploration; teamwork and risk-taking; looking and listening, to immerse themselves in outdoor learning and benefit from the positive effects on wellbeing, that being in nature offers!

What is Forest School? 🌿

Forest School is a child-centred approach to learning that gives children opportunities to develop socially, emotionally and practically through play, exploration and supported risk-taking in a natural environment.

We are extremely fortunate to have ‘Little Wood’ and our vegetable garden on site, giving the children wonderful opportunities to connect with nature and learn first-hand about the seasons, food and the world around them.

During Forest School, children might enjoy pond dipping, bug hunting, gardening, foraging, natural crafts and a whole range of outdoor skills. A particularly important part of our sessions is learning about fire building and cooking on the fire. These experiences help children develop practical skills, confidence, independence and a strong sense of community and self-sufficiency.

Most importantly, Forest School gives children the freedom to choose, explore, have a go and learn from their experiences in a safe and supportive environment.

How does it run?

Every Forest School session begins with a gathering around the fire circle. Sometimes we start with a whole-group game, followed by an introduction to the activities available that day.
The children are then free to choose which activities they would like to take part in and move between them at their own pace. Activities usually include:

🌱 Gardening & cooking

🔥 Fire building

🪵 Natural crafts, often using tools

🐞 Nature learning

🌳 Wild play

Towards the end of the session, the children help to tidy up before returning to the fire circle. We come together to share what we have been doing and enjoy food that has been cooked during the session.

When does Forest School take place?

Sessions run in the afternoons from 1:00–3:00pm:

Tuesday: Year 1–2

Wednesday: Year 3–4

Thursday: Reception

The specific dates for each class are available on the school calendar.

We’d love to have volunteers join us for any of these sessions and help make Forest School a fantastic experience for the children! 🌿

What Should My Child Wear?

The below kit is required for children to take part in Forest School sessions, regardless of the weather.

These items are essential to keep your child safe and comfortable.

Without the correct kit, children WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE PART in Forest School sessions.

Waterproof trousers
Coat
Long sleeved tops
Wellies
Spare clothing, particularly socks should be provided as activities can often be messy and involve water or mud.
Hats and gloves should be worn during the colder months.

If you are having problems sourcing, or providing this kit for your child, please contact the school office in advance of the session as the school might be able to help.

Can you help? We need volunteers!

Forest School needs you – without volunteers, the sessions will not be able to go ahead, or may have to be adapted to work for the number of adults available.

To make sure every child can safely access the full range of activities, we need at 4 – 6 volunteers for each session. Mrs Waller, our Forest School Lead, and one teaching assistant will be present, however, without our wonderful volunteers to help support the children, supervise activities and help keep everyone safe within the Forest School site, we sometimes have to limit the provision to lower risk activities.

Volunteering is also a lovely way to be part of our school community, spend time outdoors and enjoy some of the best moments with the children. A lot of our parents enjoy the sessions just as much as the children!🌿

We are incredibly grateful to the small number of amazing volunteers who already support us regularly. We would love for you to join our Forest School team! Every session you can help with makes a real difference to the children’s experience.

Time commitment

We understand that many of our parents and carers work, so we want volunteering to be as flexible as possible. If you, or perhaps a relative or grandparent, have some flexibility and would like to join us, we would love to have you!

There are several ways you can get involved, sessions run from 1-3pm:

🌿 One-off

🌿 Once every 2 or 3 weeks when your child attends

🌿 Every week

For safeguarding reasons, anyone volunteering more than once per half term will need a DBS check, which can be arranged through the school office.

If you are able to join us, please sign up for as many sessions as you can, by putting your name on our:

FOREST SCHOOL SIGN UP SHEET

Every bit of help makes a difference, and we would be delighted to welcome you to the Forest School team! 🌳