Forest School

Forest School at Coleshill Infant School

What is Forest School?

Forest School originates from Scandinavia and is an ‘inspirational process’ of learning. In an age when many children have few opportunities to be outdoors, it offers them a way to learn and experience a broad and balanced curriculum in a wood-land setting, with regular visits throughout the year in all weathers.

Sessions are designed to embrace the natural environment and the developmental opportunities it offers through fun and interesting activities. It provides a long-term holistic approach to learning and can benefit all areas of the curriculum, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners.

What are the benefits?

During sessions children will be given the opportunity to:

• Learn how to handle risks
• Use their own initiative
• Solve problems
• Co-operate with others

Forest School sessions can help to:

• Build self-confidence and self esteem
• Develop independence
• Enrich social skills
• Develops motivation and concentration
• Enhance knowledge and understanding
• Improve creativity and physical skills

We are lucky enough at Coleshill to have a newly established Forest School site within our school grounds. Sessions are led by Bizi Boyd-Hall, who runs Discovery Sprouts and supported by our teaching assistants. The Forest School sessions will follow a routine that the children will soon become familiar with, including a group discussion, activity and explore in the natural environment, child-led learning where they can follow their own interests and a final get together for reflection time before the session ends.

Forest School activities include exploring nature, hunting for mini beasts, identifying trees, making dens and developing their knowledge of the world around them. It may also include supervised tool use, making hot chocolate using the Kelly kettle and at the end of block of Forest School sessions a camp fire will be lit where the children can toast marshmallows.

What to Wear?

During the sessions, children will require appropriate layers, including:

                Season appropriate layers. It is a good idea to provide your child with layers, especially in cold weather.

                Long sleeved top

                Long bottoms

                Wellington boots or sturdy footwear with a pair  of warm socks (named)

                Waterproofs – waterproof trousers and jacket (named)

                Sun cream (if applicable and named)

We recommend these items at all times for both protection from the elements and from nature, itself. We believe that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. It would also be very useful of you could send in a bag for dirty/wet clothes.