...
Enquire Now

Forest School Mottingham

Forest School

Our nursery and pre-school includes its own on-site Forest School

Make an appointment

Melanie Smith

Meet our
Forest School Leader

“Forest School is an inspirational approach to learning in the natural environment. The Forest School ethos respects the child’s decisions and abilities, supporting their pursuit of internally motivated learning.”

Check Availability

Forest School Mottingham

On-Site Forest School

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.

Forest School has a developmental ethos shared by thousands of trained practitioners around the world, who are constantly developing their learning styles and skills to support new and imaginative learners. Its roots reach back to the open-air culture, friluftsliv, or free air life, seen as a way of life in Scandinavia where Forest School began. It arrived in the UK in 1993 and has grown from strength to strength since then.

Out Forest School

We have our own beautiful 2 acre woodland which the children have regular sessions in all year round.

The children have created the spaces in the woodland and have a real sense of ownership.

There are several areas in the including:

  • A base camp area for group activities and reflections
  • A fire area where children can cook and sit around the fire
  • A tool area where children can practise sawing, hammering and knife work with 1:1 attention
  • A playground with swings, climbing trees, cargo nets and a see-saw
  • Den and shelter building areas
  • A writing area with a wide range of materials and prompts
  • Arts and craft tables for seasonal activities based on the children’s interests
  • Investigation areas for bird watching and invertebrate hunts
  • Role play areas with a stage and props
  • A story tent with a range of nature-themed books
  • Paths to navigate with obstacles and mud slides
  • A mud kitchen for messy and sensory play
  • Fairy garden
  • Dinosaur and digging area
  • Gruffalo trail

Benefits of Forest School

The benefits of Forest School are endless. It has been shown to have a positive impact children’s resilience, teamwork, well-being and self-esteem, as well as their ability to risk-manage and problem solve. It supports children in understanding and managing their feelings and behaviour with plenty of opportunities to talk, reflect and come together as a community.

Children become more curious and knowledgeable about the world around them and show greater empathy with animals, the woodland and the environment. There are ample opportunities for group games, activities and challenges, so the children become skilled at negotiating, changing strategies and working with others. By using tools, making fires and doing simple woodland management, the children assess and manage risks and have pride in their abilities.

What we provide:

The children engage in a wide range of child-lead activities across the curriculum. There is a mixture of entirely child-lead, spontaneous activities, as well as open-ended planned activities based on the children’s motivations and interests to support them in their next steps.

The children are taught tool skills with a 1:1 ratio. They also take part in fire and cooking activities suitable for their developmental stage.

Activities:

The children engage in a wide range of child-lead activities across the curriculum. There is a mixture of entirely child-lead, spontaneous activities, as well as open-ended planned activities based on the children’s motivations and interests to support them in their next steps.

The children are taught tool skills with a 1:1 ratio. They also take part in fire and cooking activities suitable for their developmental stage.

What parents provide:

Parents will need to provide sunscreen, appropriate clothing (sun hats, coats, etc.) and insect repellent if required. We will also need you to provide a secondary all weather suit for garden play when they are not in the woodlands.
outdoor play
Forest school swing
Forest school page
Forest school swing fun
Forest school mud
20230327_153433
worms
Family event- partnership page
TQWT0956
snow

“DISCLAIMER: All children’s parents/guardians have given consent for their child’s image to be used in our gallery. We never post photos of our children without parent approval.”

Rated Ofsted Outstanding

Nurture children’s
natural curiosity

We nurture children’s natural curiosity about the world and our ‘in the moment’ enquiry-based approach ensures learning is fun, purposeful and challenging.

Our positive, effective partnership with families, other professionals and the wider community provides a consistently high standard of care.

Check Availability

“When deepening their knowledge on the habitats of bats and other nocturnal creatures, inquisivitively find out how to support them in their own environment, learning about echo location. The range and breadth of the well implemented activities provided ensure that children make the best possible progress.”

OFSTED 2024

“Children flourish and thrive due to the inspiring daily opportunities and enabling environments. The environments are organised and stimulating, promoting children’s natural curiosity and interest in play and exploration”

OFSTED 2024

We are proud to have been awarded the highest food hygiene rating of 5 by the Food Standards Agency.

Seraphinite AcceleratorOptimized by Seraphinite Accelerator
Turns on site high speed to be attractive for people and search engines.