Forest Schools PDF download version

Intent

Forest School is a unique method of outdoor learning.

At Hawthorns School our aim is to encourage and inspire children through positive outdoor experiences. Children will have the opportunity to learn about the natural environment, how to handle risks and most importantly to use their own initiative to solve problems and collaborate with others. The children use tools, play, learn boundaries of behaviour - both physical and social, establish increased confidence, resilience and self-esteem.

Through the learning of new skills – and a celebration of those abilities not manifested elsewhere in the school curriculum – the children become more self-motivated and develop an increased affinity with the natural world.

Implementation

We aim to give all children a collective insight into the ethos of Forest School. Forest School builds on a child’s innate motivation and positive attitude to learning, offering them the opportunities to take risks, make choices and initiate learning for themselves. The Forest School learning environment provides opportunities for children to develop self-esteem, self-confidence, to form positive relationships with others, to develop a growing awareness of their emotional needs and the needs of others, to learn to cooperate and work with their peers and adults and to develop strategies in order to take risks within the boundaries of safety.

Forest School is about exploring and experiencing the natural world through practical activities. The children go out in all weathers, all year round, exploring and learning from the seasons and environment changes. Appropriate clothing will be worn and during high winds it will be considered unsafe to go into the forest. The children’s interests along with the varied natural resources in our woodland are used to stimulate creative thinking, problem solving and skill development.

One of the principles of Forest School is to promote environmental awareness and encourage sustainability. The children are taught about respect and responsibility for the world around them. Both the children and adults are encouraged to respect their environment and to be aware of conservation issues of the wild area around them. If appropriate, reclaimed, recycled and sustainable resources will be used to maintain and develop our forest school site. Encouraging children to care for the environment is an essential part of Forest School. In order to encourage the children to look after the site we will always leave it tidy and never damage anything growing in it. We will only collect things that are on the ground and leave the area as we found it when we leave.

Impact 

Forest School allows children to grow in confidence, as a result of the freedom, space and time they are given in their learning.  This allows each child to develop independence at his/her own pace.  Activities such as sharing tools, collaborative tasks and play help to teach children to work together as a group, strengthening their social skills.

The sensory experiences provided by Forest School help to prompt language development; indeed, some largely non-verbal children will only speak in the relaxed surrounding of the forest.  Improving communication skills has a positive effect on a child’s self-esteem.

Spend time in the woodland is exciting for a child, and has positive effects on well-being.  The increase in outdoor activity has a positive physical impact, in developing stamina and also the development of gross and fine motor skills.

Forest School fosters an interest in and affinity with the outdoors and a respect for the environment.  Encouraging such a relationship with the natural world will help in protecting the environment for future generations.  Engagement with the rhythms of nature is an excellent counter to the culture of instant gratification fostered by universal access to technology. 

Forest School is beneficial to class staff as well as pupils: observing the children in a different setting allows them to gain a new perspective and understanding of their class.

A positive experience of Forest School may also have wider impact of families, as more environmentally friendly behaviours may be taught. Families may also be encouraged to visit local wild spaces more frequently.

Taking children outside of the classroom removes, for many, the pressures of academia and allows them to play to their strengths, often demonstrating abilities that are valuable in that setting, but which would not be seen in classroom settings.  This is beneficial to children who struggle in the classroom, affording opportunity for them to learn at their own pace.