Useful Info & FAQs

Aside from being fun, other benefits include:

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1. Physical Development: Forest school encourages participants to engage in outdoor physical activities such as climbing, balancing, using tools and build dens. This improves their motor skills, coordination, spatial awareness and overall fitness.

2. Cognitive Growth: Through hands-on, practical experiences, participants can enhance their problem-solving, critical thinking, imagination and creativity. The unstructured environment fosters exploration and experimentation.

3. Emotional Well-being: The natural setting of a forest school reduces stress, increases relaxation, and improves mood. It also builds resilience, self-confidence, and independence as participants take risks and succeed in challenging situations.

4. Social Skills: Forest school emphasises collaboration, which strengthens social interaction, teamwork, and conflict resolution. Participants often step into leadership roles, practising decision-making, communication, and peer mentorship. This helps with maturity and responsibility.

5. Connection with Nature: Spending time outdoors fosters an appreciation for nature and encourages environmentally responsible behaviour. Children become more aware of ecosystems, wildlife, and sustainability.

6. Risk Management: Participants learn to assess risks and make decisions about their safety, fostering risk awareness, self-regulation, and responsibility.

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1. Interactive and practical learning: The sessions are designed to deliver teaching in an engaging, practical and interactive way, encouraging children to enjoy the process, keeping them motivated and interested in their studies. 

2. Get a head start on homework for the week: We focus learning on relevant topics from the curriculum and base tasks around homework that's been set, with the aim to finish as much of their homework as they can in the session, aiming to get rid of the time pressure of homework and allowing families to have more quality family time together.

3. Snacks and dinner: we provide nutritious snacks and dinner, helping children stay energised and focused during the session.

4. Individual and group learning: Dependent on the nature of the task, the children will work independently, in pairs or in groups, to encourage teamwork, communication and social development. Where possible, we’ll try to take the learning outside.

5. Weekly feedback to parents / carers: Each child will be given weekly feedback on their progress, so parents know what’s been covered in the session and helps them stay connected to their child’s academic development. Any areas for development can be targeted at home and be built into the next session's learning.

6. Learning beyond homework: There will also be opportunities for children to complete optional competitions set by the School, if they choose to do so and after homework is done. Children will have the opportunity to participate in Forest School activities, which offer a refreshing and creative break from more formal learning. These activities foster creativity, problem-solving, and a love of nature, making Study Buddies more than just an academic club but an enriching experience for the whole child. If no homework is set by the school at the end of the half term, activities to help with pre-learning of next term’s topics in different subject areas will be planned and designed.

We have created a document outlining Everyone's Responsibilities to show how we, the parents / carers and the children can work together to make sure the sessions are as successful as possible.

With Forest School sessions and activities, there is strong practical element and inherent risk, for example from using certain tools. These elements are enriching for participants but we want our sessions to be safe first and foremost. We carry out formal risk assessments for our activities and you can find out more in our Risk Acknowledgement document.

Our outdoor activities run throughout all weather types, so it's really important participants have the right clothing and protective equipment to ensure they stay safe and comfortable and are able to get the most out of sessions. Although we will always risk assess, for example, if the weather is particularly extreme and review the best way to deliver the session. You can find more details in our PPE Requirements document.

We understand that from time to time, you might not be able to make a session. If you are unable to make a session, for example due to sickness, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing either: 

- buildandbloomforestschool@gmail.com (for Forest School sessions)
- studybuddiesfarnham@gmail.com (for Study Buddies sessions)

We will refund 50% of the missed session fee, up to a maximum of once every half term period. More details can be found in our Payment Terms document 

Upon registration for a block of sessions, full details of the payment terms, including cancellation and refund policies. Details can also be found in our Payment Terms document.

Build and Bloom Forest school is committed to outdoor learning for our participants, but also the conservation and support of the natural ecosystem we operate in. This is why we also create our own Woodland Management Plan, to help ensure mutual benefit between participants and their outdoor learning environment.

We collect your data for various reasons including being able to deliver our service effectively. We also ask for consent for taking and using photographs and/or videos of participants in our registration process. For more details please read our Privacy Notice.