Forest School

Forest School was introduced to Great Britain by Bridgwater College in the 1990s and has rapidly grown in popularity, especially with early years and primary schools.

Forest School offers children, young people and adults, regular opportunities to achieve, and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands on learning experiences.

Forest School provides an excellent opportunity to bring learning to life, allowing children, young people and adults to explore and learn in a constructive way. By doing this, the process increases self-confidence, self-esteem, improves individuals' ability to work co-operatively and counters a lack of motivation and negative attitude towards learning, while offering the opportunities to take risks, make choices and initiate learning for themselves.

During a typical Forest School session, I...

1. Establish the needs of the learner group.
2. Set small achievable tasks; such as hide and seek, building shelters, learning how to use appropriate tools, lighting fires, cooking.
3. Teach basic woodland skills as a method to try and boost their self-confidence and raise their self-esteem.
4. Show how to use natural materials and develop practical and intellectual skills, which can all be linked with the National Curriculum.

Forest School is suited to people of all ages and has been found to be particularly successful with children and young people who may struggle to achieve in the more formal classroom setting. Participants work outside where they are supported in their learning, encouraged to explore the outdoor environment and appreciate nature. They use tools and learn boundaries of behaviour, both physical and social. It has been found that the combination of freedom and responsibility is particularly beneficial to those with little confidence or challenging behaviour. Forest School allows participants to grow and discover their abilities without fear of criticism or failure.

I am a qualified Forest School Leader, Level 3, a qualified ITC First Aider and have worked with the children/staff of over thirty different establishments. Discuss what you want from the session(s) and then leave the rest to me.