What is Forest School?

Forest School is a specialised learning approach that sits within and complements the wider context of outdoor and woodland education.

At Heartwood Forest School all Participants are Viewed as:

• Equal, unique and valuable
• Competent to explore and discover
• Entitled to experience appropriate risk and challenge
• Entitled to choose, and to initiate and drive their own learning and development
• Entitled to experience regular success
• Entitled to develop positive relationships with themselves and other people
• Entitled to develop a strong, positive relationship with their natural world

The Forest School Ethos has Six Principles

1. Forest school is a long-term process of frequent and regular sessions in a woodland or natural environment.
2. Forest school takes place in an environment to support and develop a relationship between the learner and the natural world.
3. Forest school aims to promote the holistic development of all those involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners.
4. Forest school offers learners the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves.
5. Forest school is run by qualified Forest School practitioners who continuously maintain and develop their professional practice.
6. Forest school uses a range of learner-centred processes to create a community for development and learning. 

At Heartwood CE VC Primary and Nursery School, all the children take part in a weekly or fortnightly Forest School session, where their learning takes place outside in our wonderful, environmentally rich, onsite woodland setting. This enables children to experience and connect with nature.

The children will achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences, trying more risky activities such as tree climbing, building fires, using real tools and den building. 

'The best classroom and the richest classroom is roofed only by the sky'

Margaret McMillan

Outdoor Learning

In England, Ofsted suggest that outdoor learning is an embedded part of good practice. They suggest that outdoor learning should be directly related to our curricular learning. This is supported through further expectations and policy from DfE and DEFRA – where the focus moves onto sustainability in a wider context, supported through first hand learning experience outdoors.

Our approach to Outdoor Learning is to use the outdoors for learning, so children can extend their key skills of communication, problem-solving, creativity, thinking, leadership and cooperation.

Aims and Objectives

• To raise the profile of Outdoor Learning across the school and develop an entitlement for all children.

• To ensure high quality provision through planning and evaluation of outcomes for children.

• To deliver a wide range of progressive and frequent learning activities outside the classroom for all children, across a range of subjects.

• To provide opportunities for children to develop their gross motor skills and their general health and fitness.

• To empower children to take ownership of their learning, allowing their minds and bodies to thrive.

• To encourage children to develop the skills to solve problems, developing resilient and reflective learners.

• To develop skills of communication, cooperation and collaborative learning.

• To provide a challenging, safe and secure environment within which children can take and manage risks.

• To encourage close links with parents and the school in celebrating our outdoor space and the rich learning that can take place within it.

• To encourage children to care for their environment