Monday-Friday
Porridge, Wholegrain cereal, Wholemeal toast, fresh fruit, or fruit puree
Menu
Forest School
Learning and growing in nature
The Greenglade Forest School ethos focuses on providing children with an opportunity to explore, learn, and develop in a natural outdoor environment.
Explore
Our Forest School mission
Working in partnership with parents, using evidence-based practice, to nurture healthy, resilient and confident young people who are eager to learn and fulfil their potential.
By the end of their time at Greenglade Forest School, we would like our children to develop greater independence by making confident choices, taking responsibility for their belongings and actions, solving problems, and communicating effectively with others. Through exploration and hands-on learning, they will build physical, emotional, and social skills, develop creativity, and expand their understanding of the world around them.
The environment naturally adapts to the children's progress, with activities designed to extend their skills while also providing opportunities for them to lead their own learning.
A typical day at
the forest school
Each day at the Forest School follows a gentle rhythm shaped by nature, curiosity and the children themselves. While no two days are exactly the same, the structure below shows how a typical session unfolds from arrival to reflection.
Arrival and journey to the Forest School
Children begin their day at the Hipperholme meeting point, placing their belongings in coloured boxes that match their vehicle for the journey to Denholme. The short trip sparks conversation about the weather, surroundings, and what they hope to explore, setting the tone for a child-led day.
Breakfast and getting ready
On arrival, children put away their bags and coats and gather together for breakfast. This calm, shared time encourages connection and often provides the first insights into the children’s interests for the day. Because Forest School planning is intentionally flexible, many of these breakfast conversations influence in-the-moment decisions about activities, challenges and invitations to play.
After breakfast, the children prepare for the outdoors. They independently select the clothing they need—wellies or boots, waterproof trousers, full suits, hats, gloves and other weather-appropriate items. Practitioners model and support where necessary, encouraging children to help both themselves and one another.
Fire circle, stories and Forest School rules
Before exploring, children gather at the fire circle for a story that sparks imagination and connects to nature, the seasons or current interests. The group then reflects on Forest School rules through open questions like, “What happens if you run on wet ground?” helping children make safe, informed choices. Risks are discussed to build awareness, while daily jobs such as composting, watering and harvesting encourage responsibility and connection to the site.
Exploration and play
Children then move into the woodland to explore independently with their peers. The first ten minutes are usually dedicated to free immersion, giving children time to settle, investigate and follow their natural curiosity.
Once the children are engaged, practitioners circulate gently, observing and supporting where needed. Their role is not to direct but to extend learning—through thought- provoking questions, modelling skills or offering gentle challenges that support problem-solving, creativity and resilience. This balance between freedom and guidance is central to Forest School philosophy.
Meals, routines and adult-led activities
As the session progresses, children are brought back together for tidying, hand washing and mealtimes. Practitioners decide the best place to eat based on the weather, the group and the time of year.
After snack or lunch, adult-led activities may be introduced. Placing these after mealtimes ensures that the natural flow of independent exploration is respected and never unnecessarily interrupted. Activities are thoughtfully designed to build confidence, independence, emotional awareness and social skills.
Reflection and journey home
At the end of each session, the children gather again for reflection. They talk about what they enjoyed, what challenged them, and what they would like to revisit on future visits. These reflections directly shape future planning and ensure that sessions remain meaningful, relevant and child-centred.
Children then collect their belongings, return to the vehicle and travel back, often sharing stories of their day’s adventures.
Forest School
drop-off and pick-up
Children can be dropped off at our dedicated meeting point in Hipperholme from 7:30am, where they will be welcomed by our Forest School team before travelling to the Forest School site in our Electric vehicles. The journey provides a calm and organised start to the day, preparing children for a full day of outdoor learning and exploration. At the end of the session, children return to the meeting point for collection by parents and carers.
What your child needs for the Forest School
At Forest School, appropriate clothing is essential to ensure children can learn comfortably and safely in all weather conditions. As sessions take place outdoors throughout the year, children are expected to be dressed for the weather rather than the season, with layers that can be added or removed as conditions change. In colder months, warm, insulating layers, waterproof coats, hats, gloves, and suitable footwear help children stay dry and comfortable while they explore.
In wetter weather, full waterproof clothing is essential, and we also provide waterproof trousers to support children in staying dry and fully engaged in muddy and rainy environments, alongside wellington boots. During warmer periods, lightweight clothing that still protects the skin, along with sun hats and sun cream, helps to keep children safe while they enjoy extended time outdoors. Across all seasons, sturdy footwear is important to support active exploration in woodland and uneven terrain.
A child sized backpack should include:
A spare kit bag should include:
- An extra pair of thermals/underlayer
- An extra pair of pants and top
- An extra jumper, hoodie or fleece
- 2 extra pairs of socks
- 2 extra pairs of gloves
- spare knickers/underpants
These are in case they have accidents and/or get wet through play. Please do not put medication in the children's bags.
Seasonal learning and individual interests
At Forest School, seasonal learning forms the foundation of our outdoor curriculum, providing children with continuous opportunities to observe, experience, and understand the natural world as it changes throughout the year. Rather than treating learning as separate topics, we use the seasons as a living framework that encourages curiosity, hands-on exploration, and meaningful connections with the environment.
Through direct experiences in woodland and outdoor settings, children develop a deeper awareness of natural cycles, build scientific understanding, and grow in confidence, independence, and respect for the world around them.
Risky play
Risky play is an integral component of Forest School, where children are encouraged to explore their physical boundaries and test their limits in a controlled and safe manner. The aim is to help children build confidence, resilience, and a sense of autonomy.
The Forest School practitioners are trained to assess and manage these risks appropriately, guiding the children in a way that encourages their engagement while keeping them safe. Children are taught how to assess risks for themselves, fostering responsibility and self-awareness.
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
The EYFS framework underpins all activities at Forest School, ensuring that the learning is holistic, child-cantered, and developmentally appropriate.
PSED
Children are encouraged to collaborate with others, share resources, and communicate their needs. This fosters positive relationships and emotional regulation.
Communication & language
Children are prompted to describe what they see, ask questions about the environment, and engage in storytelling based on their experiences. This helps to develop vocabulary and language skills.
Physical development
Outdoor activities like climbing, running, balancing, and digging promote fine and gross motor skills, encouraging healthy physical development.
Mathematics
Through activities like counting leaves, sorting natural materials by size or colour, and observing patterns in nature, children practice early mathematical skills.
Literacy
Children are encouraged to develop early literacy skills by sharing books, listening to and creating stories inspired by their outdoor experiences, recognising familiar signs and symbols in the environment, and making marks using a variety of natural materials. These activities help to develop speaking, listening, reading, writing, and a love of stories and books.
Understanding the world
Exploring the forest school environment enhances children’s understanding of the world around them, including ecological principles and living things.
Expressive arts & design
Creative activities like leaf printing, mud painting, and nature-inspired crafts enable children to express themselves artistically and engage with their imagination
Characteristics of effective teaching & learning
In planning and guiding what children learn, we must reflect on the different rates at which children are developing and adjust their practice appropriately. Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:
- playing and exploring - children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
- active learning - children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
- creating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.
Contact us to find out more
What’s on the menu?
At Forest School all our food is healthy and nutritious. We give our children a balanced diet, with meals made up of seasonal produce where possible. We want to teach children about healthy lifestyles and encourage healthy eating and therefore aim to educate them on the growth and responsibility of producing healthy foods. Menus change seasonally; through autumn and winter the children are provided with porridge for breakfast and lunch is always a hot meal.
During spring and summer, more meals are eaten outdoors. Fresh water is always available throughout the day from our very own borehole which was installed in 2022.
See a menu example
Breakfast
Lunch
Monday
Miced Beef chilli with rice OR Mixed bean and lentil chilli with rice
Tuesday
Vegetable curry and cous cous
Wednesday
Chicken, lentil & vegetable casserole with pitta bread OR lentil and vegetable casserole with pitta bread
Thursday
Cheesy broccoli past
Friday
One pot beef and rice with vegetables OR one pot lentil and rice with vegetables
Teatime
Monday
Crumpets, cheese and vegetable sticks
Tuesday
Picnic tea; cooked meats, cheese and crackers, warm vegetable quiche, cucumber and carrots
Wednesday
Bagels, vegetable and cheese sticks OR (Babies & toddlers only) Homemade soup and assorted sandwiches
Thursday
Fish fingers, beans or fish finger sandwiches and cucumber and carrot sticks
Friday
Assorted sandwiches, cheese and cucumber
Snacktime
Seasonal fresh fruit AND fresh nursery baking or healthy snacks
Where did forest schools originate?
Forest School originated in Scandinavia in the 1950s to connect children with nature and promote their development through outdoor learning experiences. The idea was initially developed by Danish early years educator Ella Flatau, who observed that children who spent time in nature were happier, healthier, and more confident than those who did not.
The Forest School concept was later adopted and further developed by Swedish educators, who began offering children outdoor programs based on Flatau’s ideas. These programs focused on developing children’s resilience, creativity, and independence through den-building, fire-making, and exploring the natural environment.
The Forest School approach gradually spread to other countries, including the UK and USA, where it has gained popularity in providing children with opportunities to connect with nature, develop new skills, and build confidence and self-esteem.
The Scandinavian approach to using the outdoors as a part of the teaching of early years settings has its roots in the work of Froebel, who inspired Danish pedagogues to start a kindergarten system that included natural environments and opportunities for young children to develop and learn outdoors. From this a more child-centred approach to learning and development evolved, leading to more humanistic beliefs around childcare and education.
Our staff are very fortunate that they have either been or will be going to Denmark to visit the local Pedagogues in action at the Forest Schools there. We understand they have a vastly different society to ours and so we cannot foster all the ideas and routines that the Danish offer but what we can re-iterate is that we will do our best to provide the most authentic opportunities for our children.