RIMU offers a full time Forest School which takes place at our Elsie Marshall branch.
The outdoor area has been specially developed to accommodate the Forest School programme where all children from 2+ can benefit. Once the children become 3+ they can participate in our weekly offsite Forest School activities which usually take place in the afternoon.
As the Elsie Marshall site also operates as a normal nursery, children will have the option to select full day Forest school and full day nursery. For example, if your child does 3 days a week, they can do 1 day Forest School and 2 days in the nursery. This flexibility gives the children a wider range of access to different nursery activities.
The Programme
Our Forest School is a child-led, outdoor play program that is based on the belief that children learn best by doing. It’s all about making the most of the natural environment to create opportunities for children to develop and grow in self-confidence and independence.
Forest School gives children the chance to learn through play and exploring, encourage them to make choices, develop problem solving skills and develop their imagination. It also helps them to become more resilient by developing new skills such as balancing on logs or climbing trees!
The sessions are run throughout the nursery school day. Your child will be taught how to stay safe outdoors using games, songs, and stories. The main aim is for your child to enjoy themselves whilst learning new skills at their own pace.
Forest School supports children to:
- To build self-esteem and confidence
- To become independent learners
- To stay safe and establish own boundaries for risk taking.
- To show creativity, innovation, motivation, and problem solving
- To be able to explore at their own pace.
- To develop resilience
- To develop communication and language skills
Frankie Eavis and Aisha Ahmed are also Forest School Practitioners.
