Forest School and Outdoor Learning

Intent

At St Oswald's we are blessed with amazing outdoor spaces. Our pond, meadow,nature area, orchard, outdoor theatre, story-telling twigloo, log circles, greenhouse,poly tunnel and planting area are just some of the outdoor spaces we use to enhance our learning experiences. We have a brand new fire pit which includes a brick built area for the fire and a wooden structure which provides shelter and enables us to have a fire whatever the weather.. We have an outdoor classroom called The Lodge which houses our wellies, some equipment and we can work in there if we need a bit of shelter!

Every pupil develops a real passion for the outdoors and celebrates their local, natural environment. We intend that every child develops a knowledge of and a passion for their local habitat, nurturing it with care. We also aim for all our children to embrace the physical and personal challenges that working outside will present. We have a fully qualified Level 3 Forest School leader at St Oswald's.

Through outdoor learning we aim to support this philosophy by

Fostering the enjoyment of the outdoors
Embrace physical challenges
Develop fine and gross motor skills
Develop personal and social skills
Develop a range of skills such as knot tying, shelter building, fire lighting, lashing, weaving
Develop a knowledge of local flora and fauna
Fostering an awareness of seasonal change
Encouraging children to take risks in a supported, safe environment
Using our outdoor spaces to contextualise leaning across the curriculum
Ensuring learning is matched to the differing needs of all children as well as specific groups such as Pupil Premium etc.
Encouraging children to be active and have a healthy lifestyle
Ensuring children develop an understanding of keeping safe
Developing problem solving and resilience through practical tasks
Encouraging pupils’ personal involvement enabling them to improve their attention span, persistence and commitment

Implementation

All children participate in outdoor learning and some children ,currently mixed groups of Year 1 and 2 children participate in Forest School Sessions. We also provide Forest School sessions for Reception pupils. Activities and sessions happen whatever the weather except for strong winds or heavy snow due to safety. Regular training of teaching and non-teaching staff allows all the children to receive a high quality session and ensures all staff understand the potential learning opportunities the outdoors has to offer. Adult led tasks may involve the teaching and application of practical skills. There will also be child led tasks which will support personal, social and emotional learning or demonstrate the independent application of prior teaching and learning.

Impact

Children will develop their skills in

problem solving
working in a team
shelter building,fire lighting,cooking,knot tying,lashing, weaving
fine and gross motor movement
creativity

Children will develop their knowledge and understanding of

being active and healthy
being safe
seasonal change
local flora and fauna
how outdoor learning links with other learning in the classroom

Children will develop their attitudes including

being resilient
being self reliant
being self confident
taking a risk
persevering

Children at St Oswald's will have the opportunity to access our outdoor spaces to enhance all areas of our curriculum. Have a look at our galleries below to see our outdoor learning and Forest School sessions in action.