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Beechdale Nursery School

Beechdale Road, Consett, Co Durham, DH8 6AY

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Home / Forest School and Outdoor Learning / The Forest School – Let The Magic Begin

The Forest School – Let The Magic Begin

The beginning of our Forest School Journey:

2012 – 2013 saw an exciting time for Beechdale Nursery School it was the beginning of our Forest School Journey. Below you can read about the first year developments and successes of Forest School for the group of children involved and for staff.

You can also download an information leaflet all about Forest School here at Beechdale and find further information linked to Forest School; what it is, how it began and what benefits it has on children’s learning and development.


In the first year we aimed to begin Forest School sessions for all children after Christmas in the Spring term. By this time all the staff will be ready to deliever the sessions and a full timetable put into place to run the sessions for all children.

Before the Spring term we will have already began to deliver some sample sessions with a select group of children to be involved with an exciting project in partnerships with the Early Years Team – Education Department, Durham County Council. The focus of the project is to further develop reflective Forest School practice. The images below show the children in action after just the first session in our special woodland.


During the next school year 2013 – 2014 we were able to deliver Forest School to all the children in Nursery across the year in small groups of 12/13 children for a 6 week block.   All staff members worked alongside Gemma Cornes (Forest School level 3 trained) to help and assist the sessions, at the same time building their skills and confidence with the Forest School ethos.  This year was extremely beneficial for all the children involved and they showed big developments in their progress in all areas.  One member  of staff showed a real interest and passion for Forest School, as a school we thoroughly value the impact that Forest School brings to our children therefore we decided to invest in further level 3 training for Mrs Bowyer.

In 2014 – 2015 we saw further developments for our ever growing Forest School.  Mrs Bowyer was enrolled and successfully passed her Level 3 Leadership in Forest School and we had plans to extend her role to be the Lead Practitioner in Forest School not only in Beechdale Nursery but also in our newly formed federation with Consett Infant School up the road.  Mrs Cornes also had the amazing opportunity to go on a study visit to Denmark with ‘Inside Out Nature’.  Mrs Cornes gained recognition for her skills during the visit linked to learning environments in the Scandinavian Early Years Settings.  She came back with more enthusiasm for outdoor learning and put a few changes in place as a result of her visit.

IMG_4369_4608x3456    IMG_4378_3456x4608   IMG_4439_4608x3456   IMG_4411_4608x3456

IMG_4494_4608x3456   IMG_4498_4608x3456  All images from Nature Kindergartens in Denmark

All children in Nursery continued to have their 6 week block sessions across the year and  as previous years we saw huge benefits for all children.

2015 – 2016 – This year sees further exciting developments for our Forest School journey.  We now have Mrs Bowyer who is Lead Practitioner for Forest School who is responsible for leading and planning the sessions we have of Forest School.  Here at Beechdale Nursery all the children are now lucky enough to get the opportunity to have 2 – 6 week blocks of Forest School across the year.  This provides the children with the opportunity to experience the magic of Forest School in both the Autumn/Winter term and the Spring/Summer term – given the seasons we have this provides the children with a huge range of opportunities and learning experiences in the woodland environment.

Mrs Bowyer is also working closely with Consett Infant School and now delivers sessions to groups of children from their reception unit.  These sessions don’t just take place down in the Nursery woodland environment but at a local public site in Consett – Blackhill Park.  Please see the images below which show the site where the magic happens!

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Keep track of our Forest School journey by checking our website for regular updates.

  • Forest School..in the begining
  • The Success Of Forest School
  • Enjoy More Images of Forest School

In this section

  • The Forest School – Let The Magic Begin
    • In the Beginning
    • The Success of Forest School
    • Images of Forest School
  • Our Allotment
The Local Offer
Ofsted Outstanding 2012/2013
School achievement award
The Basic Skills Agency Quality Mark logo
Recognised for ICT logo
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Copyright © 2021 Beechdale Nursery

Beechdale Road

Consett

County Durham

DH8 6AY

Tel 01207 505752 · Email beechdale@durhamlearning.net


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