Eligibility

If your child is three then they are immediately eligible for the forest school experience. There will be a consent form to be completed and signed; a full explanation of what your child will experience will be given by our level 3 forest school co-ordinator Jan Parker.  Your child will need to be out of nappies (unless covered by our special circumstances).

Attachments:

Eligibility for forest schools.docx

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136 Kb

Timetable and Routines

Due to COVID-19, our sessions are mainly outside, which is a development that we have found to fit in perfectly with our already increasing focus on using outdoor play and learning to achieve our aims and objectives. This is helped by our 3 distinct outdoor areas including a grassy play area with climbing equipment; a playground with learning sheds and ride on toys; and our fabulous Forest School area, complete with firepit, Mud Kitchen and a range of small trees and bushes to climb in, hide in or to make dens in. We also make the most of our picturesque rural setting by taking the children on short walks along the local footpaths. Music sessions were previously held on a Tuesday morning by our lovely external Music teacher but are currently run by our own multi-talented Staff at various times throughout the week. This will continue for the foreseeable future. Forest school sessions are on a rotational basis (please see the Forest Schools section for more information about this).

The morning timetable is flexible and runs as follows:

The Pre-School session offers children a range of activities.  The children are helped and encouraged with new experiences to gain skills as well as learning to work with others.

Outdoor activities contribute to Children’s health, their physical development and their knowledge of the world around them. 

Snacks: The Pre-School makes snacks a social time at which children and adults sit together.  We plan the menus for snacks so that they provide the children with healthy nutritious food.  Children are also given the opportunity to serve themselves and pour their own drinks.

Lunch: Any child can attend our afternoon sessions and lunch club from Monday to Friday. If your child only attends mornings on those days, she/he can also stay in our lunch club that runs until 1pm at a cost £5.00. Parents will need to supply a packed lunch for their children. Please note: No Nuts or Nut Products. These sessions can be booked as a one off, as and when, or as a regular place but please bear in mind that places are limited due to staff ratios and that it will be on a first come, first served basis.  Any children booked into the afternoon sessions will take priority.

Afternoon timetable:

Attachments:

Children's Events and Activities in Pre-School	[Cultural Capital Calendar 2021]	355 Kb
Healthy Eating poster	[Guidance for Parents on how to support healthy nutrition]	839 Kb

Forest Schools

What is it all about?

A Forest School is an innovative educational approach to outdoor play and learning. The philosophy of Forest Schools is to encourage and inspire individuals of any age through positive outdoor experiences. 

By participating in engaging, motivating and achievable tasks and activities in a woodland environment each participant has an opportunity to develop intrinsic motivation, sound emotional and social skills. These, through self awareness can be developed to reach personal potential.

Forest Schools have demonstrated success with children of all ages who visit the same local woodlands on a regular basis and through play, who have the opportunity to learn about the natural environment, how to handle risks and most importantly to use their own initiative to solve problems and co-operate with others. Forest School programmes run throughout the year, for around 36 weeks, going to the forest school area in all weathers (except for high winds). Children use full sized tools, play, learn boundaries of behaviour; both physical and social, establish and grow in confidence, self-esteem and become self motivated.

So Forest School aims to develop: 

• Self Awareness
• Self Regulation 
• Intrinsic motivation 
• Empathy 
• Good social communication skills 
• Independence 
• A positive mental attitude, self-esteem and confidence

Forest School, through its application of Accelerated Learning techniques creates a unique learning vehicle that is used to encourage a range of individuals, community groups and larger organisations to utilise their local open space for interactive play, health, recreation and personal development uses.

Children need time to thoroughly explore their thoughts, feelings and relationships. This time and reflective practice develops understanding of the world, the environment and everything within it through the use of emotions, imagination and senses.

Clicking on the link below will take you directly to the forest school official website. 

http://www.forestschools.com/ 

Staff

The staff that work at Sutton on the Hill Pre-School are:

All staff regularly access early years training courses. 
Staff also attend regular staff meetings to discuss matters arising, planning and children's progress and development.