Why have Forest School as part of Sparkling Minds Pre-School & Day Nursery?

As owners and Management and Leadership team, we reflected upon our current provision and while contemplating how we could offer ‘more’, Forest school seemed the most obvious, natural addition to our new business venture.
We purchased the setting at a time where many children had been unable to explore during their earliest years (which had been spent in COVID lockdown and social restrictions). Many children are part of busy families; hence the need for our full-time childcare. Access to the great outdoors is often limited due to lack of time or house location and this has been shared in parent feedback as one of the reasons parents have chosen our setting over others.

Some children have become less resilient as many parents have naturally become over-protective in a world that appears so dangerous at times. We know that being active in nature promotes curiosity, calm and improved wellbeing which is something we include in our ethos. We would like to offer opportunities for our children to develop resilience, lead play and explore without the toys that can often limit their curiosity and creativity. The open-ended experience of Forest School may well be strange to children who are accustomed to having constant interaction and stimulation, but we hope that offering this addition will give our children ‘something more’ and stand them in good stead for their future school and life experiences. The young brain can develop many more connections through sensory experiences and physical movement and we believe that Forest School can support this alongside our main provision.

Our Forest School follows the core values at Sparkling Minds. Sessions are run by a reflective, professional and qualified Forest School Leader and Assistant(s). The highly ratioed sessions offer fun, holistic and explorative experiences through a learner-centred approach with the benefit of being held on the adjoined section of land. We hope that children will soon become familiar with the ecological environment and learn to understand, appreciate and build positive attitudes towards nature.