What is Forest School and how does it enhance our curriculum?

Forest School is an inspirational process that offers all learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment. It is a specialised learning approach that sits within and compliments the wider context of outdoor and woodland education.

At Thornton, we teach Forest School lessons so that all the children have a chance to develop a wide range of skills that they wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to do so inside the classroom. It also supports our children's self-esteem and confidence and allows them the chance to achieve things they thought they might not have been able to previously.

We also use Forest School lessons as an opportunity to enhance other areas of the national curriculum and regularly carry out Science, Geography and Art related activities. We believe that outdoor learning is something all children should have regular access to in order to better develop their understanding of the world around them, apply learning from a variety of different subjects and sustain a healthy lifestyle.

Each week, the children in EYFS and Year 1 will spend a morning in our Forest School with our Forest School Teacher. The children in Year 2 – Year 6 will spend an afternoon each week in Forest School, on alternative half-terms, with our Outdoor Learning HLTA following the Wild Passport scheme.

WILD Passport

At Thornton Primary School, we use the WILD Passport scheme alongside our existing outdoor provision. This framework provides a progressive woodland skill curriculum, which supports the monitoring of learner skill and knowledge acquisition, as well as evidencing attainment. The scheme is split in to five specific skill sections: Woodcraft, Shelter, Fire, Nature and Rope. The children work through the curriculum pathway over a five-year period, moving from foundation to higher levels of competencies in each skill section, using over 125 learning objectives.

Link to the WILD Passport website: WILD Passport

Countryside Code

Respect –Protect- Enjoy

The Countryside Code is shared and referred to regularly throughout sessions to ensure children understand how to best care for the environment around them.