Children attending Nursery who are over the age of 3 have the opportunity to attend Forest School sessions. These take place in our school grounds, our Forest School site on the corner of School Lane in Hathersage and at other local sites.

What is Forest School, and why do we do it?

The aim of Forest School is to give children the opportunity to learn about the natural environment, how to handle risks, how to use their initiative to solve problems and how to co-operate with others.  Forest School runs throughout the year, in all weathers.  Research has shown that even a short block of outdoor sessions has a lasting impact on children’s personal, social, emotional, physical and language development which, in turn, positively affects their later learning at school.

Activities

Each session begins with a short walk to our selected site, occasionally we may make a mini-bus journey to Birley Lane  and after a quick reminder of the Forest School rules and boundaries, we chat about the activities of the morning.  Often we set a challenge for the children (such as moving heavy logs around with rope, or building a house for a creature), or work on a project, such as building a den.