Forest School at Yeading

Yeading Infants have been providing forest school since 2013 and have been able to
support training with many people from other schools and children centers. Currently our
school has three fully qualified forest school leaders who are very passionate about
providing every child in the school with at least 6 or more forest school sessions a year.
The school have invested in a dedicated purpose built classroom for forest school which is
currently being built, the children cannot wait for this to finish so that forest school sessions
can take place from there. The children have enjoyed watching the building come together
by the builders. This pod will provide the children with a space to get dressed, maintain
hygiene and discuss the session in a safe and dry place before and after.

What is forest school? (Intent)

Forest school is a specialised learning experience that respects wildlife and nature. The use
of the outdoors enables children to explore in a natural setting and develop a healthy
lifestyle. The high proportion of adults encourages children to build self-confidence, yet learn
from their mistakes in a safe managed environment. The children learn from cross curricular
links and set themselves small achievable targets. They learn to respect nature and each
other as Forest school encourages all round development. Forest school offers children
regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on
learning experiences in a natural environment with trees.
At the beginning of the year all parents are invited to an introduction to Forest Schools
session and they are required to sign a consent form meaning that Health and Safety
procedures are taken care of.

What does a forest school session look like? (Implementation)

Forest school always begins with putting on our waterproof clothing as the sessions run no
matter what the weather! As we walk to our amazing ‘Discover garden’ we sing our Forest
school song where we encourage children to notice the weekly weather. The children then
sit down at base camp where we talk to them about the safety rules of forest school e.g. No
pick, no lick, not crossing the fire circle and staying within the boundaries. We encourage the
children to think about the risks and hazards and how to manage them safely. After we have
listened at base camp the children get a chance to explore the discovery garden always with
an opportunity to learn a new skill, some new information or create something. Our forest
school session always ends with a ‘review’ which enables the children to reflect on their own
learning and think about what they might want to learn next.
During forest school we always create something, one of our favourite activities is making a
photo frame from sticks and string. Throughout this activity children are learning ng many
skills including whittling and knot tying.

What do the children learn from forest school? (Impact)

The children learn about Britain’s flora and fauna in an interactive way and they develop
skills such as tying knots, wood whittling and wildlife conservation in the forest. Forest school
helps children with teamwork, leadership and negotiating as well as problem solving and life
skills such as perseverance, resourcefulness and reflectiveness. The children often hear
stories at forest school of traditional tales and enjoy linking the woodlands from the stories to
their play. Some of our activities which we have enjoyed doing this year are making mud
faces, leaf crowns, leaf sun catchers and our favourite activity making a den.

What do I need to provide for my child?

Forest school sessions are run for all children from Nursery to Year 1, All of the Forest
school waterproof clothing is provided for by the school so all that we ask for is wellington
boots in your child’s size. If the weather is cold, you may wish to dress your child in extra
layers like a vest or a long sleeve t-shirt.