Forest school is a child-led long term learning programme delivered by our qualified Forest School Instructor. Following a holistic approach to learning and development, it focusses on nurturing the ‘whole child’ through increasing their self- awareness, self-regulation, self- motivation, empathy and social skills.

Through reconnection with nature, children are involved with hands on experiences and taking learning right back to basics. Forest School allows children to become immersed in learning by actively encouraging risk taking, using their own initiative and pushing their own boundaries to develop key skills which will transfer not only in to the classroom but to the child’s wider learning.

It's beginning to look like spring in the Forest. We have seen the return of our resident woodpecker and lots of nests are popping up in the trees. The woodland flowers are starting to pop up all over which has tied in nicely with the children learning about plants in science and Forest School. We have got a flurry of wood anemones as well as wild garlic, lesser celandine and later on in spring we will have an explosion of bluebells and snowdrops. This term has seen us exploring parts of pants, function of plants in our woodland as well as life cycles and reproduction. In addition to this we have built forts, blanket swings and a new cafe in the stream serving potato soup!

We are looking forward to the new summer term and welcome some dry weather!

Autumn 2022

The Forest is looking bleak at this time of the year, however, thanks to the heavy rain fall and early morning frost we are continuing to enjoy our sessions and have spent lots of time this term exploring Fungus. The children have explored every inch of the woods and discovered lots of different species of fungus and have spent time using magnifying glasses to get up close and personal with their key features. We have moved onto the root systems of mycelium and have even had a growing our own.

During exploring time the children have caught different aquatic species including crayfish, shrimp and a fresh water bottom feeder. Dens have been made as well as wands and spears and there has also been a lovely field mouse spending time bustling around the leaves. 

Summer 2022

This term we have delved into the wonderful world of insects. The children have loved learning about the weird and wonderful life cycles as well as hunting and identifying lots of curious insects. We have spotted lots of dragonflies, aphids, spiders, centipedes, and worms as well as crayfish, shrimp, and water beetles in the stream.
In addition to all of this we have also discovered a group of sticklebacks in our stream which are thriving. We have cordoned off the area, so their habitat remains undisturbed to allow them to continue to thrive and grow.

Children from Class 4 have created an amazing functional gym using wood, string and large wood cookies and we have also created a cafe and armoury in Class 2 which creates shields using bark, silver pens and string. There has also been lots of tool use in the forest this year with children making mallets, tent pegs as well as bows and arrows. The Children are all extremely proud of what they have achieved this year in Forest School and cannot wait to see what autumn and winter 2022 has in store for them!

Autumn 2020 

Autumn in the woods is always a magical time. The ground cover is wonderful and the trees cling on to their lush green leaves as long as possible. The beautiful beach trees have grown lots this year as well as the orchard that was planted in 2018. Hopefully we will have some fruit to harvest in the coming years. The amazing cover makes it brilliant for games of hide and seek and 123 come to me!

Out resident dragon Sneezy is covered in a young beach tree which makes him hard to spot however soon the colder weather will set it and he will be on full display again.

Autumn also brings lots of lovely tasty berries to pick including blackberries and elderberries. The rosehips are also starting to immerge.

We have been:

Searching for animals

Use the pots and pans to create dreadful delicacies

Playing camo games

Searching for signs of autumn

Going on leaf hunts

Summer 2020

This summer has been very different for our wonderful Forest School. With the onset of the warm summer weather as well as the dramatic drop in footfall, the woodland has grown like a jungle!

We have a wide range of trees in the woods including Beach, Birch, Hawthorn and Oak- all at different stages of growth. This year has enabled the trees to grow without disturbance and with the new tree growth has come lot's of new habitats.

The children have noticed a massive increase in nesting birds such as robins and blue tits as well as lots of interesting insects such as dragon flies (around the stream) butterflies and beetles. Many of which we have not noticed before!

The growth has also provided some really great new hiding places for hide and seek as well as camouflaging our resident dragon 'Sneezy'.

We saw the bluebelles, wild garlic, jack o'the hedge and nettles come and go over the spring/summer months and are now looking forward to the picking the fruit trees we planted last year.

We have already harvested some Elder which we enjoyed smelling and we have also spotted some rare wild Orchids near the stream.

We have been:

Fishing with homemade rods

Playing games

Making boats

Insect hunting

Habitat hunting

Bird watching

Elder picking

Winter 2019/ Spring 2020 update

This arrival of winter in Forest School saw lots of children pulling on their warm winter woollies and braving the elements to enjoy the outdoors. The winter bought us particularly challenging weather with the arrival of Storm Ciara. The storm lasted only 24 hours but brought down aged trees, flooded the stream and caused lots of destruction to the neighbouring woodlands. The children worked hard as a team to move fallen branches and replant trees lost in the storm.

Spring has brought us lots of fantastic wild flowers as well as tasty wild garlic which we have picked and eaten!. We have also discovered lots of nesting bird sites as well creating and maintaining the existing habitats in the woods.

We have been:

Looking at the phases of the moon

Digging up worms

Creating wormeries

Building giant nests to keep us warm and cosy

Bird watching

Digging and splashing!

Enjoying warm drinks and soup

Helping to  move storm debris

Planting new trees

Reading stories

Making mud pies

Identifying fungi

Identifying moss 

Team building

Autumn 2018/ Spring 2019 Update

In Forest School we have been...

Toasting marshmallows

Making pewter shapes

Improving our tool skills

Using tools to make Pinball games

Exploring the depths of winter

Making bird feeders for the wild birds

Sharing warm drinks and social time

Using natural materials to light fires

Making Dampener bread