Our Forest School Intent Statement

At St John’s Meads, our Forest School provides opportunities for children to experience and celebrate success, as well as to be immersed in challenges that enable them to practice managing frustration and disappointment in a safe environment. We teach children how to understand and assess risk with growing independence as they mature into critical thinkers capable of making complex decisions safely with their own and others’ wellbeing in mind.

Our Forest School Aim for Skill Development

At St John’s Meads, we offer regular Forest School sessions to children, which allow them to celebrate success and overcome challenges. This helps them to develop holistically and gain confidence and independence in their Learner Skills and Forest School Specific Skills. Our PSHE and Forest School curriculum incorporates the whole-school values of Enthusiasm, Responsibility, Attitude, Perseverance, Collaboration, Focus and Independence.

By the end of Key Stage 2, our aim is for children to have acquired the skills to work as a group, under the supervision of an adult, and to safely set up, light and maintain a fire. They should also be able to choose and erect an appropriate shelter for a variety of weather conditions, create simple projects from natural materials and simple tools, and follow a basic recipe to prepare food over the fire.