The Forest School Ethos Open Study Day at Bridgwater and Taunton College Childcare Centre (Somerset)

Stronger Practice Hub Event

This Open Study Day at Bridgwater and Taunton College Childcare Centre will focus on supporting children’s personal, social, and emotional development, communication, and language through the ‘Forest School Ethos’.

Bridgwater and Taunton College Childcare Centre is a full-time Nursery operating on the grounds of the Bridgwater College campus in Somerset. We have been established since 1992 and provide childcare to children aged 4 months to 5 years in the local community and to the staff and students at the college. Graded Outstanding by Ofsted, we strive to ensure all our children and families are supported and encouraged to always reach their full potential.

We have been advocates of forest schools since a group of our nursery nurses visited Denmark to look at their preschool system back in 1993. The practice and ethos inspired them, and the largely outdoor, child-centred/play-based pedagogy employed by the Danish pre-school pedagogues. Our approaches have had to be adapted since then, but we still ensure forest school is an integral part of our children’s time with us.

The objective of the day is for us to share how we embed ‘Forest School’ into our own practice and to discover how it supports children’s personal, social and emotional development, wellbeing and communication skills.

Aims of the Day

•  To develop a strong understanding of the difference between Forest School and Outdoor Learning.
• To empower practitioners to confidently deliver interventions that support children’s PSE and CL development.
• To create a plan that will support a forest school session with a focus on PSE/CL.
• The wellbeing benefits of Forest school for both practitioners and children.

Timetable for the Morning

9:00am: Welcome, introduction, tea and coffee
9:15am: Learning Walk (opportunity to look around the rest of the nursery and the practice on the floor)
9:45am: Group 1 – practical forest school session (bring your wellies!) Group 2 -theory based session discussing the benefits of forest school and how to incorporate into your setting.
10:45am: Break
11:00am: Group 2 – practical forest school session. Group 1 – Theory based sessions discussing the benefits of forest school and how to incorporate into your setting.
12:00pm: Reflections of the day.
12:15pm: Finish

Please Note: This training day is for early years practitioners working in settings or childminders in our Stronger Practice Hub area. There are 16 places available. We will prioritise settings and childminders in areas of deprivation. Places will be confirmed two weeks before the event.

If this event is sold out, you can email sph@beyth.co.uk and express your interest in attending. Please tell us your setting name and postcode.