Forest School

It all started when…

"There is something elemental and magical about a piece of woodland".

Rules of the Forest are unique and different to rules of the setting, to continue to allow children challenges which promote their own theories and investigations, develop their curiosity and greater ability. Childsplay promotes experiences in a ‘natural woodland space’ as we believe in the philosophy of Forest School Learning and the holistic values it offers to young children’s learning and well-being.

A woodland space will aesthetically change on a weekly basis highlighting the senses to experiences the everyday setting cannot offer. The child-led approach highly embedded at Childsplay is also the philosophy of Forest school. At Forest School the children get involved in a range of activities which are actively available following on from their own interests and investigations of the natural woodland space. For example they might use tools to create art works, or listen and respond to a range of stories in order to improve language and communication skills. Learning about habitats, plants and animals develops knowledge of environments and the world around them, helping children to value and respect living things, flora and fauna. Carrying out team work, in which they learn to take turns and share, are important aspects of Forest School sessions - for example, negotiation skills and team work are well tested when you need a group of friends to help you move a log to where you want it!!! And… patience is a virtue when you want to cross a stream without falling in.

In turn this promotes progress in all learning areas as well as interpersonal and intrapersonal attributes. Forest School learning positively reaches many learning styles and Multiple Intelligences, maximising learning potential in a way that gives the learning back to the child and allows them to become independent active learners enjoying and excelling in the process.

Forest School at Childsplay

We have researched the approach to learning in a Woodland area as well as found the most suitable space to work in (not too far from nursery) in order to lead this approach and offer your children learning experiences in a woodland space. The woodland offers much scope for learning in nature and all appropriate arrangements have been made. The area of woodland is in Blaydon Burn.

The Burn has been occupied since the Bronze Age and has seen various industrial developments including coal processing, steel works, iron foundaries etc. However now the Burn is a nature reserve where lots of wildlife can be seen within the woodlands, grasslands and meadows. A voluntary group called “The Friends of the Burn” help maintain the site, repairing paths and walkways as well as raising awareness of the area.

The chosen site has a pond, waterfalls, a variety of trees and bushes, lots of nooks and crannies to explore which will provide excellent role play experiences.The children will be able to climb independently.It will challenge both staff and children, developing language, risk taking and incorporating all the practicalities of adverse weather.The site is a 10-15 minute walk from the road and is in easy reach of other areas of interest such as the river, boats, bridges and tunnels.

This is a natural progression for our outdoor curriculum at Childsplay following the development of our own outdoor space; created to offer the children the right to explore, make decisions and be inspired by enquiry. The nursery garden offers these wonderful opportunities, however it is static in its layout and formal boundary and the progression to a woodland space is the big wide world!

Research informs how the woodland environment is a unique educational opportunity, offering children first hand experiences which enable them to continue their individual growth by enquiry, team work and decision making. Forest school research acknowledges that young children need ‘to do’ to learn and the more ways we are able to offer new experiences and encourage children’s investigation, the greater the learning in skills for life.

To promote these early learning skills and techniques which nurture potential and independent learning, we have extended the children's opportunities by engaging in woodland experiences on a weekly basis. This is feasible by taking groups of 12 children over a period of six weeks in order to support continuity of their learning and progression. The children are between 3 and 5 years when they begin in this adventure and during this age bracket, will have the opportunity to revisit the woodland for two or three six week blocks.

We introduced Forest School sessions to Childsplay in June 2013 following a succession of staff developing their specialism in outdoor learning by training as Forest School Leaders at Level 3. The training has now been accessed by a team of five staff and there are plans for other staff to access this very valuable training. The team work together to document and evaluate children's learning, and the activities are inspired by the children's investigations from one week to the next. However within the programme there are 'rules of the forest'; taking care of each other, respecting the area and a focus on living outdoors, i.e. shelter, food and warmth. The six week planned programme takes account of these important aspects and this is reflected upon and reviewed termly. Working with the children as partners allows for the implementation of these aspects on particular weeks, for example, cooking on a fire occurs on week 6, however there is always scope for flexibility depending on the children's interests and this may be rearranged to suit the children's patterns of learning. We will review the progress developed over each six week programme and inform all parents if these initial plans or the structure of our programme is to change.

Read about our Forest School adventures on the Blog page.