Forest Schools
At New Horizons School we are very lucky to have our own garden and surroundings that include beautiful woodland and areas of outstanding natural beauty. Making use of this to support children’s learning and emotional development is part of our curriculum and ethos. As a result we give every child the opportunity to experience Forest School during their time in primary school.
The woodlands offer a unique teaching and learning environment that is constantly changing and captures the children’s curiosity, stimulates their senses and nurtures their well-being.
We believe in the philosophy that underpins the Forest School movement where every child is encouraged and inspired to develop their personal, social and emotional skills through participation in tasks and activities which are motivating and achievable. These can be set-up as child led activities, group work or 1:1 co-adventurer tasks all of which include hands on experiences and outcomes discovered by the child.
At Forest School all participants are viewed as:
- equal, unique and valuable
- competent to explore & discover
- entitled to experience appropriate risk and challenge
- entitled to choose, and to initiate and drive their own learning and development
- entitled to experience regular success
- entitled to develop positive relationships with themselves and other people
- entitled to develop a strong, positive relationship with their natural world
Through regular Forest School sessions, we aim to build emotional intelligence, self-awareness, an ability to recognise and manage emotions, develop resilience and skills of empathy. It is hoped that these skills will be transferred to the classroom and support children in all areas of their learning and emotional development.
Every child across our Primary School will have a 6 hour Forest School experience. Younger years, the children will have their session at the school garden site. Upper key stage 2 children will have their session at our off-site locations developing further skills including tool use.
