At Boundary, our school vision is for all children to be ‘the best that they can be’. We build character and encourage our children to practise this outside of the classroom.  As part of this vision, all children have the opportunity to take part in Forest School sessions in our very own Forest School area, which is located within our school grounds. All sessions are run by a qualified Forest School practitioner.

What is Forest School?

Forest School originated in Scandinavia and was brought to the UK in the early 1990s. Sessions are always child led (to foster independence), long term (to build trust and relationships) and outside (to gain the many physical and emotional benefits from being in nature). The Forest School ethos aims to promote students’ confidence, social skills, sense of self-worth and emotional well being in an outdoor environment. Children are encouraged to find things out for themselves and how to appropriately self-manage risk.

What happens in Forest School sessions?

Activities are provided during a forest school session, but the emphasis is on the children choosing what they do. Activities might include den building, log transportations, cutting firewood and fire building, crafts such as making a dream catcher or clay creatures, group games, flora and fauna ID as well as stories and collaborative activities.

At Boundary, we use the WILD passport, which has been developed to allow us to monitor skills and knowledge progression in our Forest School sessions. The WILD passport is split into five specific sections: Woodcraft, Shelter, Fire, Nature and Rope. The WILD Passport is a skill, knowledge and competency based outdoor learning curriculum and progression monitoring system. Providing a five year curriculum, the WILD Passport has 125 Learning Outcomes split over five separate competencies to take learners from the very foundations of woodland skills right through to an advanced level. Designed as a stand alone programme or to support existing outdoor learning approaches such as Forest Schools, the WILD Passport provides a framework for evidencing learner progression and achievement. Further information about the WILD Passport can be found here: WILD Passport

Jenna Benson - Forest School Practitioner

At Boundary, we are lucky to have our own Forest school practitioner - Jenna - who has been with us for several years. Jenna is passionate about learning outside the classroom and was previously a Park Ranger.