Forest School Ethos

The ethos of Forest School is based on a fundamental respect for children and young people and for their capacity to instigate, test and maintain curiosity in the world around them. It believes in children's right to play; the right to access the outdoors (and in particular a woodland environment); the right to access risk and the vibrant reality of the natural world; and the right to experience a healthy range of emotions, through all the challenges of social interaction, to build a resilience that will enable continued and creative engagement with their peers and their potential. It is an approach to education that makes use of the outdoor environment to create a unique learning tool.

Forest School sessions provide increasingly diverse opportunities for children to benefit from a supportive curriculum that can help children build positive values and attitudes about themselves, about learning, and the environment in which they live. Children are given appropriately challenging and achievable tasks that build their confidence, skills and independence, and are given the time to thoroughly explore their thoughts, feelings and relationships. This time and reflective practice develops inter and intrapersonal skills, which are well documented as being directly linked to learning skills.

Lydiate Primary School aims to provide:

• the inspiration to be curious, fascinated, interested and inventive.

• the freedom to explore different ways of ‘being’, feeling, behaving and interacting as participants are given the physical, mental and emotional space to be active and interactive.

• opportunities to meet challenges and learn to assess their own risks.

• the opportunity to developing imagination, resourcefulness and being inventive.

If you would like to know more, get in touch with Mrs Parry who is the Forest School Lead.