Beyond the Classroom

Outside and active

We give our nursery children many chances to get outside each day to connect with the natural world and play imaginative games.

Forest School

At forest school children experience their surroundings directly – the rain on their cheeks, the mud on their knees or the snap of a twig when it breaks.

In this busy, modern-day world, children are often over stimulated, moving from one activity to another without having time to draw breath. Forest school, held in our woods ‘the boundaries’, creates a contrasting environment where the children lead the learning and investigate the nature that surrounds them.

We see a tremendous amount of imaginative play, such as building fairy houses and various tracking games. We also love their curiosity about the woodland treasures – be it a worm or a lacy, leaf skeleton – and the way they become experts of the natural world.

We see calmer, happier and healthier children at nursery after a forest school experience.

“It has been a real eye opener for me running the Forest School sessions. The children’s excitement is infectious and the benefits are huge! Apart from learning new skills, making independent choices and having the opportunity to take supported risks, it is wonderful to be able to give children the gift of time.” 

Jackie Grout, Forest School Leader

Free flow

Our nursery backs onto our secret garden, a safe outdoor haven for children to explore, get muddy and play games.

For rainy days, we also have a secure, undercover outdoor area.

Healthy, happy children

There are fun movement sessions for growing bodies that help develop concentration and confidence.

We take children out and about to the school gym to practise our balancing, dancing and jumping. To encourage catching and throwing skills we play with balls and beanbags.

Nursery children in their final term enjoy swimming in our pool.

Finding sticks - forest school
Finding sticks - forest school
Inspecting bug - forest school
Play area Nursery
Secret Garden - nursery
Girl playing outside nursery
Meet Maya