Education
Sir David Attenborough said: “No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced.”
We know that working with nature is the best solution for climate change. What’s more, Covid-19 has taught us that immersion in nature positively benefits both physical and mental health and the wellbeing of children and adults. With the screen culture taking such a prevalence in our lives, it’s vital to show people of all ages how to engage with nature.
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“My ethos when children come is first and foremost a sense of the wild, so wherever possible, not to use the word ‘no’ and just to let them go!”
The forest school has banks, ditches, a huge variety of self-seeded woodland and a ‘secret stream’ where the deer pass regularly in quieter moments.
I hope the children are able to feel a real sense of freedom and adventure. I also hope that by seeing all nature has to offer they will make it a part of their daily lives; that they will develop a love of nature which inherently brings with it respect and understanding of its importance, and the need to conserve it wherever possible.
The positive impact of such active learning on childrens’ wellbeing can be gleaned from testimonies such as the ones below…
We are hoping to run more full days at the Forest Schools for Children who have no links to the countryside. These visits are always offered for free. We have now had several garden openings and with the money raised put towards funding transport for schools that cannot afford this. Please get in touch if this is the case with your school.
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I am a trustee of Countryside Learning.
Since 2014 we have run a Countryside Learning day here in June. Around 200 children come for the day and experience the grounds of the garden, park, woods and walled garden. We run 6 workshops ranging from farming, fishing, wood management, garden and working dog training.
We try and make the day as interactive as possible with lots of running around and screaming while going from one workshop to the next!
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“We have been fortunate to experience some wonderful Forest School sessions at Millichope, under the careful guidance of Mrs Bury. We have covered many curriculum areas, including bridge building in DT, mapping work in Geography, and plant identification in Science. In addition to this, the experiences have provided an enormous amount of PSHE coverage as the children have developed communication skills, learned to negotiate and work as a team to achieve challenging outcomes.
These sessions have been of a particular value to children who struggle in a classroom setting. Mrs Bury has provided rich and varied opportunities in which they can succeed.”
— Anna Mullock (Year 5 & 6 Teacher, Longnor School)
“We visited the Millichope Estate in October for a day of outdoor activities, engaging in the many wonderful outdoor activities that were laid out for us.
In the morning, the children explored the forest school area, climbing up and sliding down muddy banks, walking through the stream, sawing wood, and collecting chestnuts which they later roasted on a fire.
In the afternoon, the children explored the wonderful grounds learning about the many plants and trees, before getting up close to the resident horses, where they were able to stroke and sketch them at a close distance.
Year 5 and 6 had the most wonderful day as you can see from the photographs. Antonia was extremely welcoming, knowledgeable and passionate about outdoor learning and the benefits of this to children’s mental health. We would absolutely love to return and would highly recommend!”
— Claire Standish, St Lawrence CE Primary School
“Children at Corvedale Primary School and Nursery are very lucky to have the opportunity to have weekly visits to Millichope Park Forest School site.
The setting for the site has been developed to facilitate the Forest School ethos, to create a safe, non-judgemental nurturing environment for learners to try stuff out and take risks. The Forest school approach aims to inspire a deep and meaningful connection to the world and an understanding of how a learner fits within it.
The Site at Millichope has an imaginative layout set in a beautiful and varied woodland. There is a ‘slippery Slope’, a log bridge to balance along and also a special low climbing tree all extremely popular with the children. The site has a large log seating square surrounding a fire area. There is an abundance of wildflowers, plants and differing trees which the children quickly learn to differentiate and name.
Close to the site there is a shallow meandering stream (The Secret Stream) which is stunning as you pass through the seasons. Particularly in spring when the wild garlic is a spectacular fragrant carpet of white (we collect this and make pesto on the campfire).
The whole area enables more than knowledge-gathering, it helps our children develop socially, emotionally, spiritually, physically and intellectually.
Class One and Nursery at Corvedale visit Millichope Forest School site weekly and over each term we take each of the three School House Groups which are made up of children from every year group from Year 1 to Year 6.
We feel that this experience in invaluable, building self-esteem, extending potential, expanding on the children’s individual abilities and encouraging them to become, healthy, resilient, creative and independent whilst they learn about their local environment.”
— Sue Rook, Corvedale Primary School
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Two Or More Outdoor (TOMO) is a specialist, nature-based alternative provision that is designed to support children who are unable to thrive in mainstream education.
The provision is based within an ancient woodland, where pupils access a broad and engaging curriculum that promotes resilience, self-esteem, creativity, collaboration and independence. We also have a farm site, which supports hands-on, practical curriculum learning.
Outdoor education is complemented by a dedicated indoor learning space within a converted historic granary. This neurodivergent-friendly classroom provides a calm, low-stimulus environment for focused academic work.
We are committed to closing the education gap for children who struggle to thrive in traditional classroom environments, creating a place where life skills, coping strategies and enjoyment are at the heart of learning.
