FOREST SCHOOL
Forest School
A huge part of our ethos is cultivated from the importance and value of the natural world in educating our children. Being based in a city we have many families that have limited experience of 'the forest’ and ‘the wildness’. We are very pleased to be able to offer these kinds of holistic, child-led experiences daily to all of our children.
This year we have stepped it up a notch and gained our very own Level 3 Forest School Leader, Caitlin. Caitlin is an absolute joy and joined our team full time to enable all of our children, from our babies to our pre-school to experience all the outdoors has to offer under the experienced eye of a specialist forest school leader.
We are excited to be further enhancing our wilderness garden this year to create a really magical space filled with native plants and trees to create a mini forest for our children to enjoy and explore daily. Below we have listed a few of the many benefits outdoor learning gifts us.
Resilience and self regulation - the outdoors provides ample opportunities to practice resilience with the time to recover and try again. A slower pace, a sense of freedom and connection to the natural world all lend themselves to a positive and resilient mindset for children to challenge their current knowledge and physical skills.
Risk taking - Risk assessed, not risk free play is vital for children to develop fully. Children who are given support and trust in risk assessing learn their boundaries earlier and have more success in independent risk assessing in the future.
Respect and love for our world - Children begin to see the beauty and wonder in our world when we slow down and spend more time outdoors. It also allows children to start to develop an understanding of belonging to the wider world, and our connection to nature.
Encouraging a sense of community - Team work is always a big part of outdoor play, communication skills and friendships grow and flourish just as the environment does.
Emotional development - Reflection is an important part of the forest school approach, helping children skilfully express their thoughts, feelings and ideas, as well as the ability to listen to others..
Physical development - Both fine motor skills and gross motor skills are developed in the outdoor environment, as well as stamina.
