Forest School
Forest School at St James'
At St James’ we believe that all children should be developed as a whole child, in a holistic and supportive manner. The staff involved in providing Forest School are passionate about the positive impacts that time in a woodland environment, with uninterrupted play can have on the social, emotional and holistic development of a child. We follow the six principles of Forest School, established by The Forest School association:
1. Forest School is a long-term process of frequent and regular sessions in a woodland or natural environment, rather than a one-off visit. Planning, adaptation, observations and reviewing are integral elements of Forest School.
2. Forest School takes place in a woodland or natural wooded environment to support the development of a relationship between the learner and the natural world.
3. Forest School aims to promote the holistic development of all those involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners.
4. Forest School offers learners the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves.
5. Forest School is run by qualified Forest School practitioners who continuously maintain and develop their professional practice.
6. Forest School uses a range of learner-centred processes to create a community for development and learning.
From September 2025, Mr Purcell has been running a full Forest School programme for all children across the school. During these sessions, children have experienced a holistic approach to education in order to boost resilience, confidence and perseverance. This has been done through many skills, including: shelter building, fire safety, outdoor cooking, knots, tool skills and natural crafts.
Prayer and Liturgy
As part of our Catholic ethos, our sessions have built in prayer and liturgy to coincide with our community gathering, at the end of each session. With a large focus of Forest School being on the environment and connecting with nature, we link our weekly Prayer and Liturgy to this element by listening to the liturgy and responding in creative ways such as, writing on trees, shaping natural materials during prayers, watching the flame of the campfire and finding quiet places to reflect in our woodland.
Each week, we will add some photots to the year group album, as well as on the year groups prayer and liturgy page to show this.
Previous Forest Schools experience 2023 - 2024
Click the links below to see our wonderful Year 1 and 2 children taking part in Forest School.
Year 2
Year 1