Forest School

Littlegreen is lucky to have wonderful outdoor spaces including our own woodland which we use for Forest School and Bushcraft. Forest School is based on a Scandinavian idea that recognises the importance of a child or young person’s contact with nature.

Littlegreen has built Forest School into the curriculum and the vast majority of our pupils have a timetabled session at least once a week throughout the year and some have daily access as part of their personalised programmes.

We are lucky to have trained Forest School staff, Pierre Neollier, who is highly experienced both in his Forest School role but also in supporting pupils with social and emotional difficulties.

We use Forest School as part of our therapeutic approach to supporting our pupils with complex social, emotional and health needs and research shows us that the benefits of the outdoors and connecting with nature can have a really positive impact.

We find that Forest School helps pupils to:

Self regulate, reflect and be calm
Develop their self confidence and self esteem by carrying out small achievable challenges and tasks
Increase their self belief, their learning capacity, enthusiasm and problem solving skills
Develop communication skills and social interaction
Enjoy the sensory experiences provided by the outdoor environment and the activities
Successfully manage significant changes and challenges including life challenges
Develop enterprising behaviour and leadership skills
Connect positively with the outdoors and natural spaces

Our pupils enjoy a wide range of activities from identifying trees and plants to building dens and cooking meals. Each session inevitably concludes with a hot drink (usually hot chocolate).