Forest School is about children and young people building self-esteem and independence through exploring and experiencing the natural world in all weathers.

Activities are built up through small achievable tasks to improve confidence and these may include minibeast hunts, pond dipping, natural crafts, shelter building, knots, using tools for a purpose, fire building, cooking, nest box building and much more (depending on the age of the students). Our lottery grant includes money to provide skilled craftspeople to visit and teach their traditional country skills to the children. These will include willow work, falconry, clay brick making (we have an old brick kiln on site), using natural dyes to paint and pole lathes.

As the students take part in individual and team activities their social skills, communication and motor skills improve alongside their knowledge of the natural world and how to look after their environment.

The natural environment provides a stimulus for all senses, all areas of development and all learning styles; visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. It prompts the student to think for themselves and the learning becomes child-initiated.

Being outside also encourages children to take more risks than the indoor environment. This is managed carefully by the leaders and the children are taught to take responsibility for their own safety by being shown how to do their own risk assessments of their surroundings and the activities they will be undertaking.

Forest School is a long-term, repetitive process and cannot be completed in one session. Regularly visiting the same site and building on skills week on week helps children to relax and learn in their own way.