Not all classrooms have four walls! At Holly Primary we are incredibly fortunate to have our own Forest School area on site. Mrs Jarvis is fully qualified to teach forest school sessions to our children and Miss Jackson is a qualified forest school assistant. Many children across the year groups can visit the site regularly.
Our Forest School is an innovative educational approach to outdoor play and learning.
Children can use tools, cook using the campfire, investigate our pond, build shelters and explore the outdoors in a safe and secure environment.
Research now backs up what forest school practitioners have known all along – that children and young people are stimulated by the outdoors and typically experience, over time, an increase in their self-belief, confidence, learning capacity, enthusiasm, communication and problem-solving skills and emotional well-being.
Forest School sets learning in a different context for children where they can undertake a range of practical activities and carry out small achievable tasks. At Forest School children can develop their team working skills and learn to become more independent. Those who are unfamiliar with woodlands and green spaces can become confident in using them and this can form the basis of a life-long relationship with the natural world.
Our forest school area contains everything you might expect and more. It is constantly evolving and growing.
Our Forest School promotes:
- Hands on active learning
- Resilient, confident and independent children
- Intrinsic motivation
- Risk and challenge
- Active, healthy lifestyles
- Children looking after themselves, each other and their world
- Communication and social skills
- Mental and spiritual health
And so the Journey Begins…