Forest School at Castle Hill

At the heart of Forest School is child-led and child-centred learning. At Castle Hill, we provide opportunities for our pupils to explore and develop their own interests in an environment which is non-judgemental and secure. We encourage our pupils to immerse themselves in something and to achieve a sense of self-actualisation where they take full autonomy of their learning and to manage and support this sense of being in others. Each session will be subject to a reflection and evaluation to ensure that personal development and wellbeing are at the heart of our Forest School delivery.

Activities are carefully structured to provide a range of media which will invoke imaginative thinking and allow creative processes to take place. This will be the case regardless of particular needs, abilities, motivations or individual interests.

The bedrock of our Forest School sessions is enhancing these key areas of development: Social Skills, Engagement and Independence. These are assessed for each pupil after each session, and tracking this progress informs future session intentions and planning moving forward.

As part of our commitment to offer a broad and meaningful curriculum, our pupils complete a self-assessment wellbeing ‘check-in’ and ‘check-out’ each session. This data is recorded and closely monitored, ensuring that the voice of each pupil is central in shaping part of the curriculum at Castle Hill.

Inclusion

Inclusion is central in our approach to Forest School. Every single pupil at Castle Hill is able to access a large space outdoors, regardless of their needs.

Our pupils have helped us to build over 150m of wheelchair accessible space. This provides a range of exciting areas for anyone to be able to explore.

Accommodation

We have a beautiful, fully accessible outdoor classroom, which is the perfect place to start and end each Forest School session.

Our changing cabin is where we keep our Forest School clothing and equipment. We provide all the outdoor clothing needed, ensuring everyone can access our outdoor Forest School space and stay warm and dry.

Continually evolving

Our Forest School provision is always expanding, with exciting new features and areas under development.