Forest School

“Forest School is a child-centered inspirational learning process, that offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions.”

Forest School Association

I trained as a Level 3 Forest School Leader in 2017 and since then, I have been running weekly Forest School sessions. I am experienced, enthusiastic and I have Outdoor First Aid training and Paediatric First Aid. I can come to your school to run regular Forest School sessions which would include cooking over a fire, forest play, tool use and supported risk taking.

I am currently leading Forest School sessions two days a week at a school in North London, N12, teaching children from Nursery to Year 8.

“There is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing”

Billy Connolly

What are the benefits of Forest School?

  • Enjoyable for children
  • Knowledge and understanding of the environment
  • Improves confidence and self esteem
  • Improves independence
  • Improves social skills
  • Increases motivation and concentration
  • Improves language and communication
  • Improves physical development
  • Improves mental health and wellbeing

What can I offer your school?

I am willing to come to your school to plan, organise and run Forest School sessions. I am able to teach all year groups and I am willing to discuss the duration time for each session and how this could fit into your timetable. Forest School is intended to be taught in small groups with long term, regular sessions and ideally for each class this could mean having one session every two weeks throughout the year or perhaps once a week over one term. As a Primary School teacher, I understand the time constraints surrounding timetabling the curriculum and I am willing to work with you to find how this could work for your school.

What is needed for Forest School sessions?

  • Access to a woodland or forest site (if you are unsure if your site is suitable, I am happy to assess the area).
  • Each session will need the support of myself and at least two additional members of your school staff depending on the year group and the number of children.
  • I will always carry a ‘happy bag’ which holds my first aid kit – the children enjoy taking turns to carry this to the Forest School site.
  • I will bring any equipment needed for each session which can include craft equipment, tools, safety gloves and equipment for building a fire.

What would a typical Forest School session look like?

  1. Register and make our way to the Forest School site.
  2. Welcome the children to the session before explaining any activities on offer. Encourage them to think about what they did in the last session.
  3. Revise our rules and boundaries of Forest School.
  4. The children enjoy forest play (their own independent activity) or join in with an activity provided.
  5. I will regularly call the children back by saying “1, 2, 3 where are you?” to do a head count and to also discuss what the children are doing.
  6. Towards the end of the session, we will feedback on what went well in the session, what did not go well and what we could do next time to improve that.
  7. All sessions end with a mindful moment before returning to school.