Forest School offers a holistic approach to learning in an woodland or other natural outdoor setting.

Learning in Forest School is often, but not always, focused on the woodland environment itself, with learners discovering the natural environment and developing a relationship with it through building shelters and camps, exploring fauna and flora and becoming involved in conservation activities. This focus can be aligned with learning across curricular areas while simultaneously supporting personal, social and emotional education.

By promoting child-centered and child-led learning that is active and collaborative, Forest School enhances learners' orientation to and capacity for learning as well as developing independence, self-confidence, and responsibility. And by engaging learners in practical, outdoor activities, Forest School contributes to physical competences and well-being.

Forest School was established in Denmark and Sweden in the second part of the last century and, having been taken up in the UK in the 1990s, its popularity has grown as its value and versatility has been recognized. Forest School is supported by the Department for Education and Skills and the recent establishment of the Forest Education Initiative, which includes the Forestry Commission and the Woodland Trust among others, is set to further support the growth of Forest School in this country.

Tipi made by students