Forest Schools

Forest School is a child-centred, inspirational, learning process that offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions. It is a long-term program that supports play, exploration and supported risk taking. It develops confidence and self-esteem through learner inspired, hands-on experiences in a natural setting.

The process helps and facilitates more than knowledge-gathering, it supports learners to develop socially, emotionally, spiritually, physically and intellectually. It creates a safe, non-judgemental nurturing environment for learners to experiment. Forest School inspires a deep and meaningful connection to the world and an understanding of how a learner fits within it.

Our approach to risk means that learners constantly expand on their abilities by solving real world issues, building self-belief and resilience. We believe that risk is more than just potential for physical harm. There are risks in everything we do, and we grow by overcoming them. Forest School helps children to become, healthy, resilient, creative and independent learners.

We offer the children at Mountnessing Primary School the opportunity to develop a life-long love and understanding of the natural environment, inspiring them to be the future caretakers of the world.

What to wear?

Winter (Cold sessions)

• A vest / skins underneath their clothes. The closer the clothing is to your body the warmer you are. Layers are good!

• Long sleeved top / jumper

• Full length trousers / jogging bottoms

• Welly boots/warm snow boots (during the winter)

• Warm socks and a spare pair for layering or if they get wet.

• Gloves, snood / scarf and a woolly hat (during cold sessions)

Summer (Warm sessions)

• Long sleeved top

• Full length trousers / skins / leggings / light jogging bottoms

• Sun hat / cap

• Sun cream

The school provide waterproof suits to infant classes but these are mostly for protection and to keep them dry rather than for warmth. We work on the principles that “ there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing” although session times will be adjusted during cold weather if we need be.