Warlingham Park School’s Forest School is a classroom in the forest and the leaders provide a safe woodland environment with the aim to not only increase their knowledge of the importance of forests and woodlands, but it has also been proven to develop self-confidence, self-esteem, team work, motivation, language skills, pride and understanding of their surroundings.
Forest school is led by our Level 3 Forest School Practitioner Mrs Shepherd who is passionate about outdoor cross curricular learning and is pursuing her ambition to teach Forest Schools.
During the sessions, children are encouraged to work with others to carry out activities such as: den/shelter building, role-play, exploration, practical and creative skills and tasks. These activities are often linked to the work done in the classroom in many subject areas, such as English, history, science etc. Children also have the opportunity to work safely with different tools and experience building a campfire.
Examples of what the children get up to at the Forest school include:
- How to use tools safely and getting familiar with wood and learning some basic skills.
- Following the rules and working together to create dens, swings and digging areas in small groups.
- Learning to use tools safely such as a hand drill, pruners and secateurs.
The children love building dens, so are taught how to make different shelters to use in different situations, which they have enjoyed testing out. They have also started adding bracken to them to try and make them waterproof.
It is a great experience for them and Warlingham Park School’s grounds with the woods surrounding them make the perfect setting for a Forest School.
