Forest School

Subject Leader- Jennie Dunkerley.

Forest school is an educational approach that takes place in a natural outdoor setting, focusing on child-led learning through play, exploration, and hands-on activities. Forest school can encourage emotional, social, physical, and cognitive growth and build confidence and independence. It helps children connect with nature and is especially beneficial for children who may disengage with a traditional classroom environment.

Our values at Hinchliffe Mill school can be incorporated into the ethos of forest school:

Honest- Children are encouraged to express their thoughts and feelings freely, which nurtures honesty. We encourage trust-based relationships and have small group sizes which help create a safe, trusting environment.

Communication - Communication is central to forest school—and not just in the sense of talking. It includes listening, observing, expressing feelings, resolving conflict, and collaborating. The forest school setting encourages rich, meaningful communication in ways that often don’t happen in traditional classrooms.

Respect- Respect is one of the core values deeply embedded in forest school philosophy—more than just a rule, it's part of how the entire learning environment is structured. It includes respect for nature, respect for one another, self-respect and respect through autonomy.

Confidence is one of the biggest benefits of forest school. The entire approach is designed to help children build genuine, internal confidence through real-world experience, choice, and trust. It encourages child empowerment to take calculated risks in a non-competitive environment.

Responsibility is naturally and meaningfully woven into forest school life—children aren’t just told to be responsible; they live it through their choices and actions in a real, hands-on way, such as being responsible for tools and equipment, for themselves and others.

Supporting one another is a core value in forest school, not just taught but practiced through collaboration, shared challenges, and peer learning. The natural environment and the open-ended nature of forest school invite children to rely on each other.

Resilience- forest school is an educational approach that takes place in natural environments, aiming to develop children holistically through regular outdoor experiences. One of its key benefits is how it fosters resilience—the ability to bounce back from challenges, adapt to change, and persist in the face of adversity.

Risk assessments and hand book will be following shortly.