Forest School is a child-centered inspirational learning process,Forest
that offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions.
It is a long-term program that supports play,
exploration and supported risk taking.
It develops confidence and self-esteem through learner inspired,
hands-on experiences in a natural setting.
Forest School has a developmental ethos shared thousands of trained practitioners around the world,
who are constantly developing their learning styles and skills to support new and imaginative learners.
Its roots reach back to the open-air culture,
friluftsliv, or free air life, seen as a way of life in Scandinavia where Forest School began.
It arrived in the UK in 1993 and has grown from strength to strength since then.
Forest School is a child center
The process helps and facilitates more than knowledge-gathering,
it helps learners develop socially, emotionally, spiritually, physically and intellectually.
It creates a safe, non-judgemental nurturing environment for learners to try stuff out and take risks
Forest School inspires a deep and meaningful connection to the world and an understanding of how a learner fits within it.
What is quality Forest School?
There are many forms of outdoor education and all have enormous value, however, Forest School is unique in its reach, delivery and effect.
- Forest School is a long-term process of regular sessions, rather than one-off or infrequent visits; the cycle of planning, observation, adaptation and review links each session.
- Forest School aims to promote the holistic development of all involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners.
- Forest School offers learners the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves.