We are over the moon that Great and Small Forest School was rated OUTSTANDING by Ofsted in September 2018! Please follow the link below to read our amazing Ofsted report.... (should the link not work, please copy and paste into your browser)
https://files.api.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50028313
Great and Small Forest School:
Monday to Wednesday - PRESCHOOL + SESSIONS
9.00am - 3.00pm Forest School sessions for children aged three upwards. We say Preschool 'plus' because older children who are home educated are welcome too. We can advise which day would be more suitable for older children to mix with similar aged peers. Please see our Forest School tab for more information.
Shorter, morning sessions for children aged three upwards where funded hours can be used.
Monday leaders: Leanne and Matty
Tuesday leaders: Lisa and Matty
Wednesday leaders: Leanne and Matty
Thursdays -
10.00am to 12 noon Home Ed Family sessions:
These weekly sessions, led by Matty, offer parents and their children to take part in hands on, creative and enjoyable forest school activities, play and exploration in the woodland. These sessions are aimed at slightly older, home educated children where they can have fun with their parents and mix with similar aged peers in a beautiful natural environment. Sessions are booked in advance as a block booking through the Ticket Tailor booking website. Please email [email protected] for booking information.
Fridays -
Parent and Child sessions led by Leanne, 10.00am to 11.30am.
These sessions are a lovely way to spend some quality time with your little adventurers in our beautiful woodland playing and exploring the Forest School way. Within the child led sessions, resources will be on hand for your little one to follow their interest and lead their play. Leanne is on hand to scaffold and to provide warm drinks and snacks next to a lovely campfire. Although there is no lower or upper age limit for these sessions, we advise that children are comfortably and steadily walking as the woodland is not buggy friendly. Wearing appropriate clothing and footwear for whatever the weather may be is essential!
As places are limited and group sizes small, we ask that bookings are made and paid for in advance to secure your place. Bookings are made through the Ticket Tailor website . Babies in carriers are free of charge. Please email for the booking link to book.
Great and Small Kindergarten:
See the tab dedicated to our new kindergarten nursery provision for more details!
Forest School training:
Victoria Cocken (Director and founder of Great and Small Forest Education Limited) has teamed up with Acorn Training based in Milton Keynes to offer level 2 and level 3 Forest School training. Unlike most other courses throughout the country, the level 3 course delivered by Victoria is slightly different in that it takes places over four sets of 2 training days and one x 1 day which take place in both a classroom and woodland environment. This method has been delivered by Acorn Training for several years receiving fantastic feedback as it provides continuous feedback, support and assessment in carried out throughout the training days rather than during additional 'assessment days'. This is hopefully easier for the trainee to juggle with work/home life and Victoria is always on hand providing feedback and support throughout the course. The portfolio of evidence is then required approximately three months after the last set of training days - all in all, the course takes about 9 months. The course content has recently been revised in line with the FSA's recommendations and is accredited through Laser Learning.
Dates:
Next course starts from Monday 27th September 2021. Due to a cancellation, there is 1 space left. Contact for more details.
We will also be running a course starting in the new year. get in touch to express your interest.
Price: £775.00. This price includes all training days, ongoing support throughout the course, all administrative and training materials.
Please email Victoria on [email protected] for further information or to book your place on this course.
Birthday parties
OUR PARTIES HAVE BEEN ON HOLD BUT THEY ARE COMING BACK SOON! WOOHOO!
As a parent, organising your child's birthday party can be hard work! Why not let us take that pressure off you? We can offer parties for up to 12 children of all ages, for two hours in the woodland at a weekend (subject to availability). These parties can be tailored to your child's interests...we've had themes such as pirates, dinosaurs and fairies so far, but we are pretty creative so feel free to offer a suggestion of a theme. The parties generally include several games and/or activities and crafts, campfire cooked snack/lunch (hot dogs or homemade vegetable soup) or a cold buffet selection (sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps, veggy dippers and houmous etc), toasting marshmallows, lots of exploration, plenty of mud and loads of fun! Parties cost from £TBC for two hours with up to 12 children. The price includes loads of activities and crafts to take home, campfire cooked lunch or a cold buffet, toasting marshmallows, a birthday cake and candles, sweetie or hot choc cones for all the children to take home.
Seasonal Specials:
We love a seasonal special! This may coincide with the summer holidays, Easter, Halloween or Christmas! These are open to be booked by anyone and details of such events will be posted on our facebook and instagram pages (search, like, follow, share Great and Small Forest School or Great and Small Forest Education). These are usually very popular and get booked up quickly so keep an eye on the social media pages for upcoming events.