We offer forest school that focuses on the holistic development of the child, particularly well-being and social skills, and that lasts for at least six consecutive weeks throughout the year.
Schools who choose to work with us can expect activities to be provided that are child-led with curiosity and interest extended and challenged through observation of strengths, preferences and development.
Typically children will attend forest school sessions six to 12 times a year, ideally throughout the four seasons.
Our provision is available:
In-school
After school; or
Visit us at one of our sites
Despite the name, forest school can take place in any natural outdoor environment, which may be on school premises or in the local area.
We work with the resources you’ve got and admittedly the wilder it is, the better the children’s experience is likely to be although school playing fields, hedgerows, farms and little corners of woodland also work. We provide a high adult to child ratio and tend to involve school staff in sessions allowing them the time and space to learn alongside the children.
Observation, rather than direction, is key, and children learn to care for the natural environment through their activities.
Our provision is for all ages and abilities and although younger children tend to access forest school as the trend dictates we see great success for older children, and children struggling with anxiety.
The benefits of forest school
Simply being outdoors helps people to feel calmer and research confirms there are benefits to our mental and physical health and well-being. Forest school helps children develop many skills that are hard to teach in the classroom including greater awareness of self and others, care and compassion, perseverance and resilience. Forest school can be very physical so it encourages children to be active, with lots of activities to develop both fine and gross motor skills.
We encourage children to assess, appreciate and take risks, making sensible, informed decisions about how to tackle the activities and experiences they encounter. They become more self-sufficient and begin to take care of themselves, which boosts confidence and self-esteem. There is a lot of trial and error in our approach and children not only learn to deal with failure, they develop the resilience to keep trying.
Activities
The scope for activities is huge, especially because forest school is child-led, but typical activities may include:
Nature observation
Sensory walks
Foraging
Shelter building
Mini beast hunts
Tree climbing
Campfire cooking
Story-telling
Role play
Tool use and woodwork
Nature art
Games
Team work / challenges
Fire building and lighting
Puddle and mud jumping
Curriculum enrichment
Plans to introduce a GCSE in Natural History have been approved by the Department for Education (DfE). The new qualification will enable students to develop a rich understanding of the natural world: from their own local wildlife, environment and ecosystem to critical global challenges like climate change, biodiversity and sustainability.
A visit to one of our sites will help link pupils to place and begin to ready them for a greater focus on learning about their natural world. Curriculum enrichment days like this help to bring topics to life and groups have a lot of fun.
We can help you with most things, here are a couple of examples to get you started: Poetry; Flora and fauna of the forest, The early world.
Maybe you’re looking for a lively way to engage groups in poetry, maths, or a topic like Vikings. Get in touch as we can help with most things.
Soil exploration
Navigation and maps
Biome of a forest
Come try
a session
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