At Umberleigh Academy, we believe in the importance of children engaging in outdoor learning. In order to achieve this we run a Forest School programme throughout the year where children get the opportunity to learn about nature and take part in activities linked to holistic growth.  Forest school encourages children to learn through play, to explore and consider how to keep themselves and others safe. 

What is Forest School? 

The Forest School Association describes Forest School in the following way:

'The process helps and facilitates more than knowledge-gathering, it helps learners develop socially, emotionally, spiritually, physically and intellectually. It creates a safe, non-judgemental nurturing environment for learners to try stuff out and take risks. Forest School inspires a deep and meaningful connection to the world and an understanding of how a learner fits within it. Our approach to risk means that learners constantly expand on their abilities by solving real-world issues, building self-belief and resilience. We believe that risk is more than just potential for physical harm, but a more holistic thing, there are risks in everything we do, and we grow by overcoming them. Forest School therefore, helps participants to become, healthy, resilient, creative and independent learners.'

https://forestschoolassociation.org/what-is-forest-school/