A new Forest School programme at Pocklington Pre-Prep has been helping three to seven-year-olds to grow in confidence and self-esteem through hands-on outdoor play and activities.
A copse of trees within the grounds has been allowed to grow wild in line with guidelines from the Forest School Association, which promotes varied and high-quality educational experiences in the natural world.
From September, Pre-Prep School children (from Pre-School to Year 2) have been pulling on their wellies and waterproofs to spend regular afternoons having fun in the area, led by Forest School Leader Emma Afford.
She said: “We want our children to grow up with a passion and motivation for learning outdoors and an in-built love and respect for nature and wildlife. They’ve absolutely loved having the freedom to explore our Forest School area, making their own discoveries and letting their imagination and creativity run wild through a combination of carefully planned activities, child-initiated learning and supervised free play.”
Forest Schools encourage youngsters to observe and comment on nature, as well as to develop the confidence to explore it and learn about the natural resources. They use their imagination and take appropriate risks within set boundaries, in a programme aimed at fostering resilience, independence and self-esteem.
Children’s comments include: “I love Forest School - it’s my favourite outdoor thing to do! You get to make stuff with outdoors things. I get to learn about plants and make shapes with things that you find outside, and sometimes you get to have a hot chocolate with a fire!” (Sawyer)
"I like Forest School because we get to be messy and make things. We made a fire by collecting sticks and we cooked marshmallows on it. My favourite thing we made was a Christmas tree, using big, medium and little leaves. I made a mud face by splatting mud on a log and used stones, dried grass, moss and twigs for the eyes, nose and mouth.
“I like being outside and we get 20 minutes to run around and be free, doing whatever we want. There's a badger hole but I've not seen Mister Badger yet!" (Davey)
“It’s fun! I really like being outside in nature and I love to get muddy. It’s always okay to be muddy in forest school.
“We get to make dens, drink hot chocolate from the kelly kettle, and I can’t wait to make a camp fire. We play games using things in nature - my favourite game was Catch the Flag. We built a prison of sticks and captured the person holding the flag.
“We learn about nature and how to treat our earth and be respectful of animals. Forest School is my favourite part of school.” (Nathan)
The Forest School has also been a hit with parents, with comments including: “I love that no matter what the weather, they are outside getting fresh air and experiencing life outdoors. That’s so important to us as a family in our day-to-day lives.”