Forest School springs into life this term

Forest School trip

Outdoor Learning has become the heart of our holistic approach to learning at Westbourne Junior School over the last three years. We now have a bespoke outdoor curriculum, made up of fortnightly sessions throughout the year for all forms from year 1 to year 6. This involves an extension of the children’s classroom learning, with outdoors in all weathers and seasons and regular Outdoor Learning trips where each form is taken off site to give the children an even richer wealth of experiences and develop their skills.

Year 5 and 6 have the opportunity every four weeks to have an enrichment session where they work to improve and maintain our Outdoor Learning Area, working together and learning new skills along the way. We also have a Forest After school club, where our KS2 children have the opportunity to engage with a pure ‘Forest Schools’ programme, helping them develop in key areas such as socially, physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.

We also like to share our special skills and spaces with the wider community where we can, often offering free experiential sessions to nurseries, schools and businesses in the area. In March we’re delighted to be hosting a teach-meet where fellow teachers from across the city come together and share inspiration and ideas. This is organised by the Wildlife Trust.

By Mr Magenty, Forest School Coordinator