Mrs West

At Barnwood CE Primary, we are very lucky to have a Forest School within our school grounds. Our Forest Schools (known as Wellie Wednesday) area is on the little field. We have a base camp and various areas including grass, digging, over-grown and a mud kitchen. Our fully trained Forest Schools teacher is Mrs West. The Reception children are timetabled to our Forest School on a weekly basis and have a wonderful time learning about the natural environment and how to handle risks. The children develop their teamwork skills through games and activities and express their creativity through environmental art.

Forest Schools makes a difference to our children because it

• increases self-esteem and self confidence
• supports the children in learning to work together
• encourages an improved understanding of the outdoors and how to look after it

• increases the children’s skills and knowledge in every area of the curriculum

The experience of Forest Schools is very valuable to our children. We are so fortunate at Barnwood to have this fantastic facility on our school site. The benefits to all children are striking, particularly in developing their confidence and independence.