Alresford Primary School

Forest School website last updated: Monday 24th April 2023

Forest School 2022/2023 session schedule

Please see below for the full 2022/2023 Forest School session schedule. This schedule is subject to short term changes and cancellations due to weather, staff absence, adult availability etc. Please ensure you keep up to date with your emails to ensure your child is prepared for their Forest School sessions.

Your child's class will be split into 2 separate groups to ensure the limit on child participants in a Forest School session is not exceeded. Your child's teacher is responsible for deciding the Forest School groups. The schedule below details when each group will receive their Forest School sessions. Please check with your child's teacher for details about which group your child is in.

All Forest School sessions will take place on the afternoon of the dates listed below. Forest School will begin at 1.15pm once the children have returned from their lunch break and finish promptly at 3pm. This will allow the children to return to class, change any clothing (if needed) and collect their belongings before class dismissal at 3.15pm/3.20pm (KS1/KS2.) 

In the event of a cancelled Forest School session, the children will stay in class and receive their normal curriculum lesson for that afternoon. We will endeavour to re-schedule any cancelled sessions if there is time and availability do to so - please note this may not always be possible. We do not re-schedule Forest School sessions for individual children in the event of child absence due to the strict limits on group numbers.

Should any amendments to the Forest School schedule be required during the school year, you will be notified via email from the school office. Any amendments to the Forest School schedule will also be posted below. Please ensure you keep up to date with any changes.

Year 2/Year 3 Forest School schedule - Spring term (January - March 2023)

Reception/Year 1 Forest School Schedule - Summer term (April - July 2023)

*UPDATED*

Latest schedule update: Monday 17th April 2023

Forest School information, polices and documents

Latest Forest School documentation update: Monday 29th August 2022.

Interested in being an adult helper at Forest School?

At Forest School, it is vital we have adult helpers.  Not only does having extra adults present ensure our safety and safeguarding measures are upheld, but it all allows for more activities to be able to take place during a Forest School session. Without adult helpers, Forest School could not go ahead.

In order to preserve the independent learning environment at Forest School, we must be careful not to overload Forest School sessions with too many adults as this can be detrimental to the child's independent learning development. Our ratio of adults:children at Forest School is 1:5 - this cannot be exceeded for any reason.

Adult helpers do not have to be just be parents - Adult helpers can be anyone over the age of 18 and willing and able to complete an enhanced DBS check. Adults may not attend Forest School until their DBS check is complete and returned to us. DBS check can take up to 6 weeks to complete - we have no control over the timing of this process. Therefore, the sooner the DBS process has begun, the sooner it will be completed and your Forest School journey with us can begin!

If you are interested in becoming an adult helper at Forest School, please read the documents listed in the 'Information for adult helpers' and 'adult helpers DBS check; sections listed above. If you are happy to proceed, please send an email stating your intention to become a adult help at Forest School to Mrs. L Baker - lbaker@alresford.essex.sch.uk 

Recruitment for the 2023/2024 Forest School sessions will begin in the 2023 Summer term. We are aiming to have all adults who are willing to participate in Forest School sessions by September 2023. 

Please see the table below to see which groups has available space for adult helpers. 

If not enough adults are able to participate at Forest School, sessions will be cancelled which will lead to huge disappointment for the children.

Forest School introduction videos

Please see the Forest School introduction videos below. These videos have been designed to offer an insight to the Forest School programme to both children and adults. These videos are unlisted on YouTube and can only be accessed by visiting the Forest School web page.

Wild Wellbeing 2022

During the 2022 Autumn term, we will be hosting Wild Wellbeing sessions in place of Forest School. These sessions will begin in September 2022 with a participation changeover in the October half-term break. A total of 6 Wild Wellbeing sessions will be offered to selected children in Key Stage 2 across 1 half-term. 

Selected children will be invited to attend these Wild Wellbeing sessions by their class teachers and the Senior Leadership Team. Selected children will be allocated a 1-hour time slot on either Monday or Tuesday afternoons during either Autumn 1 or Autumn 2 half term to receive their Wild Wellbeing sessions. Time slots can be found below. 

Selected children will be allocated into a group. As these sessions are still adhering to the Forest School principles and ethos, the strict adult:child ratio will remain at 1:5. As no other adults other than Mr. Milgate will be attending these sessions, each group will have a maximum of 5 children.

The entire Wild Wellbeing operation will be overseen by Mr. Dale Milgate and Mrs. Loretta Baker. Mr Milgate will be responsible for setting up, planning and delivering each Wild Wellbeing session. Mrs. Loretta Baker will be responsible for the administration behind the Wild Wellbeing sessions.

These sessions will be very similar to Forest School as they will allow the participating children to engage in a range of outdoor activities and craft but will allow the participating children to have a more personalised outdoor learning environment due to the group sizes. The Wild Wellbeing sessions will allow for all participants to engage in outdoor activities which encourage the development of their social, physical, emotional, intellectual, communication, emotional and spiritual skills.

Children who are selected to take part in the Wild Wellbeing sessions will receive a letter from the school office outlining their group and session dates. If your child is invited to attend the Wild Wellbeing sessions and you wish to withdraw them, you can opt out of the Wild Wellbeing by speaking to Mrs. Loretta Baker - lbaker@alresford.essex.sch.uk 

Wild Wellbeing Schedule

Please see the document below which details when each group can expect to receive their Wild Wellbeing sessions. As previously eluded to above, the selected children will be allocated a time slot of 1 hour on their Wild Wellbeing day.

Our Forest School areas

The photos below show the locations used for Forest School activities.

Our onsite Forest School area (photos 1 - 13) is managed and monitored by the Forest School Leader and school caretaker. This area is constantly changing to offer the children more opportunities for holistic growth and development. Our onsite Forest School area features sheltered areas, 2 designated log circles, a designated location for tool and fire use, places for reflection, areas for digging and planting, areas for climbing, a garden area and mature trees.

Our offsite area (photos 14 - 21) is located within Cockaynes Wood Nature Reserve and is managed by Essex Wildlife Trust and Cockaynes Wood Trust. The offsite area features plenty of mature trees, a designated log circle, opportunities for den building, a designated location for tool and fire use, reflection spaces and a vast array of plants and insects to be discovered. This area is not for public use and may only be used the permission from the managing trusts. This area is not owned by Alresford Primary School.

During the duration of the sessions, the children will be able to fully experience the effects of the outdoor environment and experience the changes associated with every season through first hand experiences.

Our Forest School on site area development

Our onsite Forest School area is continuously growing and developing. It is our aim to create a safe and inviting environment for Forest School sessions and activities and also create an outdoor space for learning which can is accessible to the wider school community. Take a look at the photos of our Forest School area below and join us on our journey as we continually update and develop our Forest School area! Check back soon for more development photos!

If you would like to contribute to our on site Forest School area development, please see the document entitled 'donations' above in the 'information for children and parents' section.

What have we been up to?

Take a look at the photos below to see what we have been up to at Forest School. Photos from individual Forest School sessions can be found below!

Forest School photos

At Forest School, we adhere to the same photography policy which is currently present at Alresford Primary School. Any child who does not have full parental consent to have their photograph taken and/or shared will not have any photos posted on this web page. If you would like to add/remove your child on/from this page, please speak to the school office or class teacher. Photos will remain on this page for the duration of the term and will be removed at the end of the final session. All photos are taken and handled by the Forest School leader - Mr. Milgate.

Please do not re-share photos from this page.

(If you receive a message stating 'This image could not be loaded', please try refreshing your browser and try again.)