• PARENTS
    • Whiteboard: Notices
    • Pupil access from home
    • From The Office
      • Vinehall Strategic Plan
    • Calendar & Term Dates
    • Handbooks
    • Future Schools
      • ISEB Common Pre-Tests
    • Holiday Clubs
    • Vinehall Media
    • Friends of Vinehall
    • Uniforms
    • Magazine 2019-2020
  • FIXTURES & RESULTS
01580 880413 |
Vinehall School
Vinehall
MENU
  • x
  • About Us
    • Headmaster’s Welcome
    • Vinehall Shields
    • Staff
    • Governors
    • Our Sustainability Vision
    • Destination of Leavers
      • Scholarships
      • Future Schools
      • ISEB Common Pre-Tests
    • Inspection Reports
    • Policies
    • Vinelines
    • The Vines Society
      • History of Vinehall
      • Alumni
      • Gifts & Legacy
      • Gilbart Travel Bursary
      • Contact The Vines
    • International Classical Concert Series
      • Outline of Previous Artists & History
      • Annual Programme of Events
      • Contact The VHICCS
  • Admissions
    • Make an Enquiry
    • Arrange a Visit
    • Relocating to East Sussex / Kent
    • Open Events
    • Fees
    • Scholarships and Bursaries
    • Parent Testimonial
  • Nursery
    • A Day at Nursery
    • Wrap Around Care
    • EYEE Funding
    • Little Vines Playgroup
    • Nursery FAQs
  • Pre-Prep
    • Reception Year
    • A Day in Reception Class
    • Year 1 and 2 (KS1)
    • Transition into the Prep School
    • Pre-Prep Sports and Activities
    • Pre-Prep FAQs
    • Outdoor Learning
  • Prep
    • Sport
    • The Arts
    • Clubs and Activities
    • Rewards
    • The Shape of the Day
  • Boarding
    • Full Boarding
    • Weekly Boarding
    • Flexible
    • International Boarders
    • Activities for Boarders
    • The Boarding House Team of Staff
    • Boarding FAQs
  • Curriculum
    • Academic Story
    • Academic Innovation
    • Remote Learning
    • Remote Learning Guidance – Lent 2021
    • Study Skills 
    • Year 7 and 8 Curriculum
    • Art
    • Computing
    • English
    • Design Technology
    • French
    • Geography
    • History
    • Life Skills
    • Latin
    • Maths
    • Music
    • Science
    • Sport
    • STEM
  • Wellbeing
    • Mindfulness
    • Health and Wellbeing
    • Self-Esteem, Resilience and Mental Health
    • Buddies and Guardians
    • Digital Resilience
    • Pastoral Praise and Pupil Voice
    • Form Times
  • School Life
    • Pre-Prep News
    • Juniors News
    • Prep News
    • Boarding News
    • Term Dates and Calendar
    • School Meals
    • Uniforms
    • House System
    • Pastoral Care
    • Bus Routes
    • Trips & Visits
    • Facilities
    • FOV
  • Contact
    • Staff Vacancies
    • Map & Directions
Vinehall School > Forest Schools

Forest Schools

What are they?

Forest Schools and their like embrace opportunities offered by the outdoors to extend learning and play beyond the classroom door. At Vinehall our wonderful grounds inspire learning across the curriculum, encouraging children to become more aware of and engage joyfully with the natural environment throughout the seasons in an exciting and creative adventure.

Why do parents like them?

The outdoors is a wonderful antidote to the demands of our modern life and helps to connect our generation of children with the pleasures of the natural world. Used well Forest Schools are one way of offering a structured approach to using the outside, engaging children in a different way and providing a safe way of exploring the ‘wild’.

Parents should be urged to look beyond glossy Forest School marketing to find out more about what happens in practice; there are plenty of ways to promote children’s well-being through the outdoors, encouraging happy and healthy children. We are enormously fortunate in being situated in glorious grounds – but any school can make the most of the environment around them. We ended our summer term by bringing families together, smoking a wild salmon over the camp fire and participating in a competitive den building evening. Great fun was had by all!

Why do schools like them?

The outdoors provides an opportunity to bring the curriculum alive and to explore the potential of the (free!) natural materials around us. Imaginative activities can be woven into the curriculum which engage all children regardless of age. For example, our Nursery have created fairy gardens and made potions, as well as enjoyed a bear hunt (or two) in the woods. Reception classes have discovered who laid the egg in the forest (it was a dinosaur!), noticed seasonal changes and been able to embed their mathematical skills using twigs to compare and measure.

Some of the children’s activities link to storytelling, such as building bridges in a team for the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Older children have pretended to be ‘hunter gatherers’, linking with their history topic, collecting fruits and berries to cook over the camp fire. Camp fire activities are wonderful, not just for enriching topics, but for promoting safety and for bringing together the ages. We have all enjoyed cooking marshmallows and singing around the fire, picnics and treasure hunts, gardening, sport, pond-dipping, parachute games and so much more.

How successful are they?

Outdoor learning engages the children’s interest and encourages hands-on investigation and observation to promote learning at a deep level, even if it gets messy. It provides an opportunity to promote important life-skills including building resilience, confidence, independence, risk-taking and collaborative learning.

Qualities such as open-ended problem solving, have-a-go attitudes and a space in which to trial ideas without worrying about making mistakes, are all valuable formative experiences for our children’s future lives.

How do they work following the traditional school curriculum/assessments?

Staff are encouraged to be creative when delivering learning opportunities; they weave in activities to cover set objectives while engaging the children’s interest and developing important life-skills and knowledge.

If we can nurture a sense of wonder and encourage our children to appreciate the natural world around them, as future leaders at any level they will have a heightened awareness and empathy for our special, yet vulnerable planet. Therefore the outdoors has the potential to support a holistic learning and global change.

Contact Us

Contact Us via Email or Phone

26
Mar

Have a look at some books!

Read Full Article
26
Mar

Lockdown Creates Digital Artists

Read Full Article
26
Mar

Green Fingered Fun

Read Full Article
26
Mar

A Theme of Voyages

Read Full Article
26
Mar

Teaching Pre-Prep about Easter

Read Full Article
26
Mar

The Pirate of the Curry Bean

Read Full Article
26
Mar

Arriba Arriba – Cookery Club gets a Mexican Flavour

Read Full Article
26
Mar

Earth Hour, Lights Out

Read Full Article
26
Mar

Live Music Returns to Vinehall

Read Full Article
26
Mar

Vinehall Sport: Highlights of the week.

Read Full Article
26
Mar

Computing Update – Pythons in the Fridge

Read Full Article
26
Mar

The Vinehall Bake Off Winners are…

Read Full Article
View MapClose Map

Distance

Robertsbridge Station: 2.7 miles
Battle Station: 4.6 miles

Gatwick Airport: 52 miles

Vinehall School
Vinehall School

Contact

  • School Office: +44 (0) 1580 880413
  • Information Line: +44 (0) 1580 883058
  • Admissions: +44 (0) 1580 883090
  • Head’s PA: + 44 (0) 1580 883057
  • Pre-Prep Office: + 44 (0) 1580 883094

Useful Links

  • Alumni Events
  • Gifts & Legacy
  • Gilbart Travel Bursary
  • History of Vinehall
  • Vinehall Shields

Accessibility

  • High Visibility
  • Standard Visibility
  • Print View
  • Sitemap
  • Policies
top-20-awards-2019

© 2021 Vinehall School
Charity No: 307014

Sitemap / Privacy Policy

School Website Design : innermedia.co.uk

This site uses cookies: Find out more.
Vinehall School