We are Forest Schooling UK
We are an Alternative Provision enabling young people struggling in mainstream education to access environments in which they feel comfortable to explore their feelings. We run two sites in Kingston upon Thames in South West London, and welcome referrals from The Educational Inclusion Support Service in Kingston & Richmond (EISS), as well as directly from Schools and Home School parents in local boroughs.
Referred children have an identified need of Social Emotional Mental Health (SEMH). We include children that don’t currently hold an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP).
We understand that all children are different and we celebrate that in all that we do. It doesn’t matter if they have a diagnosis, a label or are just happy wanting to be themselves. We believe all children need a safe space to explore their emotions and work out how they feel about the world. Sometimes this can’t happen in a traditional classroom setting.
Our urban woodlands and allotments allow primary aged children a safe space to explore what makes them tick and how they feel about all of their emotions.
Mission, Vision and Ethos
Our Vision
We recognise and understand that we are all individuals. We work together with young people to provide an emotionally secure environment in which they can develop a sense of self, empowering them to go on to achieve in their educational journey.
We achieve this through our mission
Flourishing
We strive to equip all children in our care with the emotional skills needed to meet their full potential and to flourish through a concentrated, innovative and specialised approach.
Safety
We keep all of our young people safe, emotionally and physically, to ensure they are able to become happy and healthy adults.
Understanding
We will ensure all of our young people are understood by others, understand themselves, and have a broad understanding of the world and others around them.
Kindness
We are kind and considerate to each other's differences and abilities.
Our Ethos
We believe that until children are emotionally secure they are unable to access traditional classroom education. Our holistic and child-led approach has an emphasis on pupils’ social and emotional wellbeing as well as their communication development. This is essential in supporting them to be ready to access learning.
Mu daughter Aysegul attended the christmas club and the chicken/rabbit feed this christmas. She told me that it was the greatest day of her life. Thank you guys for teaching our kids to have great time out in the nature. :)
gokcen
My daughter always has a great adventure and always wants to go back.
Christine
Ava absolutely loved the session. She was kept busy and enjoyed a variety of activities. We’ll definitely come back.
Cheryl
Harvey always comes away happy and lively! He loves the freedom, the independence and the adventure of forest school and it’s so good for him to get that fresh air and time to be messy and young! Thank you Laura and Kay
Jo
Em had an amazing time as always. Thank you for all the adventures and for helping build her confidence.
Leo
From a child - I loved forest school, and all the activities that they do there. I can’t wait to come back! My favourite bit was the crafts (and the chickens! And the climbing, and the hot chocolate…just all of it!!)
Gabi
Loved it ! My daughter came out skipping with joy everyday. She loved ‘everything about it’ but a major highlight was petting the chickens. She asked if we can book for Christmas already :) thank you !
Stephanie
My son was absolutely happy, and he wants to come again. He probably never touched a chicken before.
Zina
We loved feeding the chickens, we were a bit nervous at first as they were really hungry but once we got in and they were fed we were all very happy. Olivia picked up Croissant and Fluffy bum. Maya found 8 eggs!
Emma
This has been my kids' favourite camp of the summer. They love that there is free play and they can choose what to do. They're very fond of Laura and Kay, and they enjoy the choice of activities, whether it's building a fire, being with the chickens, or braving the slackline.
Kate
My daughter has been attending forest school for a few months and absolutely loved every session. There are so many fun, creative and messy activities - den building, camp fire, storytelling, feeding chickens to name a few. She comes out with a big smile after every session.
Maria
Our daughter loves forest school! It’s the only type of holiday camp we can get her to go to. Come rain or shine she’s happy to go and comes home full joyful stories of all the fun she’s had and friends she’s made. We can’t recommend Forest School enough!
Siobhan