Forest school needs room to grow (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Forest school needs room to grow

11:20am Friday 4th July 2008

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A WYRE Forest charity-run nursery is looking for land it can use for getting children out of the classroom and into the great outdoors.

Julie Roberts teaches Forest School at Sebright Cygnets Nursery in Wolverley and says it has all the benefits of the classroom but takes place in the fresh air.

She explained the early education of children could easily be adapted to an outdoor setting and it was a great boost for their development and confidence.

She takes a group of four-year-old children out every Wednesday morning, along with two adult helpers, and they get involved in activities such as building shelters and looking for insects.

Mrs Roberts said: “Sometimes when children are sat in a classroom and can’t do something they bury their heads in their hands.

“Forest School is about small achievable goals that can greatly improve a child’s self-esteem. It is very important for this reason.”

She added: “You come across children who are very quiet in a nursery setting but when you take them outside they come out of their shell.

Mrs Roberts explained many Wyre Forest children often did not get the chance to go out in the countryside, even though it was all around them.

She said parents no longer participated in as many physical activities as in the past and taking children out for walks was becoming rare.

The Franche Road nursery only needs to use land for Forest School for the next year, with an area currently being developed on site at Wolverley Primary School.

The sessions usually last for about two hours and 30 minutes and they are currently having to make do with an area of woodland opposite Wolverley Memorial Hall.

Mrs Roberts explained there were no real boundaries in the wood so they could not let the children go out and explore.

She hoped to be able to take the children somewhere nearby but said anywhere with ponds or waterways would be unsuitable, while the presence of several trees was essential.

Shelby Smith, a pupil of Forest School, said: “I like rolling down the hills and wriggly worms” and Thomas Jones added: “I love playing one, two, three – where are you?”

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