Garthorne Road Nature Reserve
Forest School sessions are child led to accommodate individual learning styles and schemas. Children are encouraged to make choices, and follow their own learning.
The adults’ role is to facilitate their learning. A small group of pre-school children have been visiting our Forest School site on a weekly basis at:
We have been able to resume Forest School sessions at the Nature Reserve.
We are very pleased that Seedlings Day Nursery can carry on using the Forest school site at Garthorne Road Nature Reserve.
We applied for and were granted a special one-year license with added environmental considerations and risk assessments. Certain activities, like digging will be restricted to reduce the impact on wildlife. From April we are extending the times:
There will be two sessions on Tuesdays:
- Morning 9.30am-11.30am
- Afternoon 2.30pm-4pm.
All children should arrive by 9 am on Tuesdays as the first group will need to leave at 9.15 to use the time well.
By adding an afternoon session, we aim to take all pre-school children weekly rather than fortnightly.
Feedback from Ofsted
What do the children think about Forest School?
“Children are excited, enthused and exceptionally eager to share their experiences.”
“For example, when they return from the outdoor learning school they excitedly say, ‘We saw a grass snake.’ They hold up their arms and shout, ‘It was this big!'”
Ofsted report, May 2018
The importance of safety
“Children have an excellent understanding of keeping themselves safe.”
“For example, they very confidently and correctly answer staff questions about safety as they prepare to visit and play in the woods and use equipment at the outdoor learning school.”
Ofsted report, May 2018
