Forest Schools

[FuschiaEmerald]

I'd like to hear from anyone who has used a Forest Primary school or if these even exist.

Our 4 year old is struggling a bit at school with emotional behavioural issues. He starts Year 1 in September and our local primary is very formal when it comes to structures and academics. His teachers have suggested he may benefit from Forest School.

I have done a bit of research and am a bit confused. If Forest schools do not conform to the national curriculum, how do they measure their pupils abilities and ensure they reach their academic milestones for secondary school? How do they support the transition into a secondary school formal structure and provide a ground basis for professional life ie - there are expectations you have to fulfil?

Our 4yo loves nature and wildlife and wants to spend all of his time outdoors. We want him to be happy but also want him to have a solid academic foundation.

I welcome any experiences or opinions. Thanks

In my area Forest schools are mainly just for the odd day or perhaps fortnightly trips (so alongside regular primaries- kids just visit for the day)or holiday clubs. Some run weekend sessions too but there don't seem to be any full time forest schools.

That’s my experience too tbh. Holiday care or preschools. I haven’t come across much past preschooler level or in term time.

The only schools I have seen that feature these regularly are prep schools. Our daughter attends an outdoor forest nursery school and lots go on to the local prep that has a beach and forest school. I’d expect that state schools can’t fund daily trips to the beach and don’t necessarily have the space in the grounds for large forested areas.

There are also alternative KS1 providers near us that do daily forest school using a ‘Steiner Waldorf’ curriculum for children up to 7.

I thought Forest School was more in addition to regular school? My daughter had forest school at both nursery & now at primary. It’s something they did a couple afternoons a week at nursery and they do one afternoon a week at school with the rest of the time being regular school & nursery. Trained forest school teachers come in & they do outdoor education basically, hands on stuff in the woods using natural materials to build, count, mark make etc. They have campfires & toast marshmallows. It looks lots of fun.

As an ex primary teacher, I’m almost certain there isn’t forest schools that run solely as that.. 🤔

My granddaughter did Forest school, but it was one afternoon a week at her state primary school.
Each class did it for one term. It's not a permanent thing as far as I know.

But please don’t send your kid to a Steiner school for means of an alternating education.. we had one near my work & it got condemned & closed down by the council for completely & utterly failing children on the fundamentals of reading & writing. There were 11 year olds who couldn’t read & could barely write 😬All in the interests of following the child’s lead and not making them do anything they didn’t want to do .. 🥴 I’m all for kids learning in different ways & not all entirely fitting the education system but kids do sometimes need to do stuff they don’t want. It’ll severely limit the rest of their life if they can’t read, write or do basic maths just because they didn’t fancy it when they were a kid 🤦🏼‍♀️

(slight detour from the topic ha)

I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick (pun intended). In my experience “Forest School” is a term used for regular days or half days learning outdoors. So my son’s (private) primary do it 4 afternoons a term.

If there is such a thing as a full time Forest School in your area then they’ll have a website, but I’m not sure they exist. What the teachers probably meant was either move to a new school that offers Forest School sessions, or do something like that at weekends, maybe via Beavers or something like that?

Or possibly his own school will be doing Forest School in the future and they are saying that he might enjoy it?

Can you move him to a more appropriate primary school? He should be outside a lot of the time anyway in EYFS.

My ds's state primary school do forest school one afternoon per week and use it as a tool to teach curriculum based things, they also do drama one afternoon a week on the same basis. Other forest schools in my area are more one off sessions, they also run a home education group session but never heard of any sole forest school primaries. Are there any schools near you that have more varied ways of approaching/teaching the curriculum?

Qualified Forest School Leader here.

There are private schools that base themselves in outdoor learning and some of these use the words 'Forest School' in their school name. They would provide some kind of curriculum, be it Montessori or other.

There are outdoor groups called 'Forest Schools' because they are led by a trained Leader and adhere to the ideology and principles of the movement that is Forest School. A setting without a trained FS leader cannot call their outdoor learning 'Forest School'. These sessions are designed to be several hours every week for an extended period of time for the same group of children. Many schools (and lots of state schools offer this) provide a half-term for each class or similar, which is not really how Forest School is designed to be.

Forest School can be excellent for children with behavioral or additional needs, whether they are diagnosed or just identified by the class teacher. It sounds like it could be useful for your child. However, finding a state school who offer it as part of their provision in a way that will be meaningful for your child (1 hour a week for six weeks is not going to be overly meaningful) will be tricky. Some outdoor education places offer after-school Forest School, but I think for it to be beneficial you will have to check that it is child-led and that he can attend every week for half a year or more.

Happy to answer any other questions if I can be of help.

DS1 is a very outdoorsy, active child. We didn't think our catchment school (quite academic, formal) would suit him so have applied out of catchment to a small, rural school with year-round weekly forest school sessions. I wonder whether there might be other primaries nearby that have a stronger outdoor offering, or a more rooted in play based learning, that would suit your DS better than his current school?

My son attends a forest school, we are Brighton based so might be lucky that we have one. It runs from ages 3-5 as a kindergarten and then from ages 5-8 as part of home education.

I think there are very few in the country that have weekly home Ed groups above the age of 8 though.

ours follow EYFS but also the Scandinavian forest school philosophy so very worth reading up on that if you are interested. From ages 3-5 education is very explorative and child led whichever setting your child is in.

Thank you all so much for your responses. I did get the wrong end of the stick (great pun).

I have a much better understanding now, certainly lots to think about. We are living overseas at the moment and trying to buy a house in Nottinghamshire so I wanted to find a school that was right for my DS's SEN. I'll do more research, definitely will do Scouts/Beavers when he's old enough as he's obsessed with Bear Grylls (who isn't?)

OP I would ask for advice on one of the busier pages (eg Chat) on here for specific Nottinghamshire schools that could meet your son's needs well, if you're not wedded to a very specific area within the county.

Have a look at Liberty Woodland School - I haven't come across any other fully outdoor primary schools in the UK yet. Not much use for your son though unless you're based in SW London and can afford the fees (it's currently private).

Tbh, it sounds like the teachers aren't recommending a school change for him as such but just saying that he might find doing 'forest school' as an extracurricular activity or after-school club beneficial (for expending energy/reducing stress levels).