All children will be timetabled to access our forest school site, Griffin Wood, throughout the school year across the curriculum.

In PE, children in KS2 explore Outdoor Adventurous Activity (OAA) where they develop teamwork and social skills in the outdoor environment. Children in EYFS and KS1 will visit the Griffin Wood site as part of their Science, Geography and DT curriculum.

When learning outdoors, children learn to assess, appreciate and take risks and make sensible, informed decisions about how to tackle the activities and experiences they encounter. They learn to be self-sufficient and take care of themselves, which boosts their confidence and self-esteem. Through trial and error they learn to deal with failure and develop the resilience to keep trying: a vital skill in the classroom as well as outside.

Learning outdoors supports many areas of the National Curriculum. For example, being outdoors year-round helps children learn about weather and the seasons, which are part of the programme of study in geography, studying mini beasts and plant life relates to the science curriculum, and working on tasks like den building and woodwork links with design and technology

Children also benefit from the simple act of being outdoors. Research has shown that it improves mental and spiritual health, communication skills and social relationships, among other things.

Here at CTK, we are continuing to develop our own woodland setting so that the children may benefit from all that the outdoors have to offer. We will go outside in all weather, except extreme storms, following the mantra “there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing”!

EYFS – Friday afternoons

KS1 – Regular lessons throughout the year embedded into the curriculum

Year 3 – Spring term (January – February)

Year 4 – Spring term (January – February)

Year 5 – Autumn term (September – October)

Year 6 – Summer term (April – May)

KS2 classes may also attend regularly throughout the year to support wider curriculum learning.

As Griffin Wood can be very muddy and wet (even when it isn’t raining) please make sure your child comes suitably prepared. We ask all children from Reception to Year 6 to leave a pair of labelled wellington boots in school at all times. There are some spare pairs in school but we cannot guarantee that there will be a pair to fit every child and this may result in their school shoes or trainers becoming muddy.

OAA during PE lessons will take place on days when your child is already in their PE kit. We encourage children to wear layers, for example shorts under their tracksuit bottoms, as this will allow them to be comfortable both indoors and outdoors. As your child will remain in these clothes for the remainder of the day, it is important to have waterproof outer layers also. We are able to provide some waterproof clothing if your child does not have their own, including waterproof trousers for KS2

It is likely that the coats and shoes that children go out to forest school in will become wet and muddy. For this reason, we advise against wearing very expensive clothing during these lessons.