Forest School
We at Padbury Preschool will aim to deliver at least 1-2 Forest School sessions across the week. One session will take place off-site at the nearby allotments, sometimes we may go to the local park or woodland. We will also make use of our area in the preschool and school garden. These sessions will take place all year round.
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We want children to experience the natural environment and connect with nature. Have an understanding of plants, and wildlife and this will link back to our curriculum 'Understanding the World around Us' and will link in with all other areas PSED, Communication & Language, Literacy, Maths, Art & Design, and Physical development.
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We want this to be a safe, exciting, and challenging time and that the children will gain confidence and resilience in themselves and become more independent creative learners.
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Rationale for Delivery of Forest School
At preschool we would like to enhance the outdoor experience for the children, allowing them to go off-site to explore the local environment in the woods. This will include regular visits to the nearby woodland area with high levels of supervision. This will promote the holistic development of resilience, self-esteem, confidence, independence, and creativity. It will give children an opportunity to support risk-taking, child-centered learning, exploration, and play.
What is Forest School?
Forest school is an inspirational process that offers children regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees. It is an ethos, an atmosphere, a community of people coming together, forest school compliments the wider context of outdoor learning.
Forest School has 6 principles:
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It’s a long-term process of regular sessions in all seasons
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It takes place in a woodland or natural environment
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It is a learner-centred ethos that promotes development and learning
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It supports holistic development including emotional, spiritual, social, intellectual, communication & language, and physical development
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It supports appropriate risk-taking in safety while being supported by adults
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It is led by a qualified forest school leader.
A typical forest school session/what happens at forest school
This will include getting to the site safely, being aware of self and others, and avoiding harm by listening and following instructions. Children will have the opportunity to explore the site and we will come together as a group to find out what we are doing and what is available. At this time we will discuss safety rules and boundaries.
We have a list of activities that we do at forest school but not limited to just these. We will have the opportunity to use various tools to make things, and take part in group games and activities. There will be a time to regroup towards the end of the session for a snack, during which time we can talk about what the children enjoyed and any ideas they have to do in future sessions.
Activities that we include are:
parachute games, nature art bird feeders, working with tools, mud painting, nature poppies, scavenger hunt collecting a nature rainbow, stick sorting, nature crowns/bracelets, nature painting, leaf threading, leaf/bark rubbing, mud sculptures.
This is only a small sample of the many fun things we do.
Forest School Lead - Sonya
