Free Rangers Nursery

The nature loving team behind our Forest School delivery 🍃 🌳 🐞 🕷️
Claire - Forest School Coordinator
Watching children discover a newt or create their first spark with a fire steel is always magical. Forest School reflects everything I value about child-led, hands-on learning. Encouraging curiosity, creativity and a connection with nature helps children develop skills and memories that will stay with them for life. Outside work, you’ll usually find me camping, gardening or building dens with my family.
Favourite flora: Cow Parsley
Favourite fauna: Buff-tailed Bumblebee

Ottilie
I have been part of the Free Rangers family for nearly seven years and have worked in the baby room throughout that time. Since beginning my Forest School training in 2024, I have loved bringing gentle, sensory-rich outdoor experiences to our youngest children, nurturing curiosity and exploration.
Favourite flora: Sunflower
Favourite fauna: Red Fox

Amber
I love being outdoors, whether walking or exploring in a camper van, usually by the beach. Forest School gives children the chance to discover and care for the natural world through fun, hands-on experiences. Sharing muddy adventures and campfire cooking with the children is always a highlight.
Favourite flora: Hibiscus
Favourite fauna: Whale Shark

Scarlett
New member of the team! I’ll edit this once we know Scarlett’s favourite flora and fauna!

Jo
I have been Forest School trained for four years and love sharing the wonders of nature with children of all ages. Helping children develop a strong connection with the outdoors and seeing the positive impact this has on their confidence and wellbeing is incredibly rewarding.
Favourite flora: Cherry Blossom
Favourite fauna: Otter

Lucy
I love what I do and feel incredibly lucky to share my passion with children. Forest School creates deep connections with nature and nurtures confidence, resilience, creativity and a lifelong love of learning. Its magic and wisdom stay with us long after childhood.
Favourite flora: Silver Birch
Favourite fauna: Bumble Bee

The Hummingbirds are considering a name change after they meet a new resident in their base.

June has brought abundance!
This morning a squirrel and a rabbit were spotted in the Dragonflies’ base by Simon and as the pre-school enjoyed their Forest School session one of the children spotted another grass snake basking on the heat of the compost heap, we all agreed it was different to the one we spotted last week in The Universal Farm; different patterns.
Damsel flies have turned the pond darting, electric-blue, whilst beneath them, wide-legged, the newts seem suspended in water.
All we did to enjoy rubbing shoulders so closely with these marvellous creatures that teach us so much was to help nurture the space for them all to flourish. Now we can sit back and enjoy noticing them all.

Forest of Imagination 2026
International Arts and Imagination Network (IAIN)
The power of the arts and their vital role in education.
Keynote from Debbie Yeboah
A conference that was joyfilled and full of hope, exploring themes of engaging children and communities in the arts to transform thinking and create possibilities.
Put this in your diaries for next year as Entry Hill in Bath is transformed into a wonderful play space.
Also a chance to hear from Dr Natasha Kidd and Dr Penny Hay and see the end of year degree show! Sorry I couldn’t tag all the artists in - most names on photos.
Did you know the cells that are responsible for the metamorphosis of caterpillars to butterflies and moths are called imaginal cells! Whilst the caterpillar’s body dissolves into a mush like fluid, the imaginal cells awaken, link together, and use the old tissue to build the adult butterfly. So, if that can happen, we can surely change the world to ensure we all thrive together.

Experiential learning in progress.
Watching and supporting as some of our babies experience different textures and natural materials on their feet and hands and marvelling at their curiosity to make marks and manipulate these mediums.

May’s newsletter from Fleur, with a recipe for Thai Green Curry 😋
This month’s food education work looked at taste and the names of different tastes. This obviously involved multiple taste testing sessions.

This image is from the archives!
But, nonetheless the weather is here and the Dragonfly doors are starting to be opened once again! Wings are spreading!

Week 1 of our work trialling Early Years Library. Were part of a trial to use their especially developed resources to enhance and improve practitioner delivery, focusing on Numeracy, literacy and social and emotional development.
(PEDAL is part of the Psychology, Education and Learning Studies Research Group at the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge.)

A lovely thing to support! 🐝

Park Cinema: A Celebration of Nature on Screen
Sunday 7th June
15:00 - 18:00
Join us in Midsomer Norton for a FREE outdoor screening in the beautiful setting of the Midsomer Norton Town Park Amphitheatre! Find out how we can give back to wildlife and to ourselves as individuals and communities.
Featuring:
🐝My Garden of a Thousand Bees, our longer feature film in partnership with Wildscreen charity. This film “follows acclaimed wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn as he sets out to record all the bee species in his tiny urban garden in Bristol, England.” You will see “bees laying tiny eggs preparing for the next generation, green-fanged spiders feasting on male flower bees and a female yellow-faced bee attacking a Gasteruption wasp”
🌿A short film of the Somer Valley Rediscovered greenspaces and where to explore
🚲A look into the Active Way project who have been supporting health and well-being through active travel
🌳An introduction to Great Western Forest programme

Book here - https://www.bnhc.org.uk/festival-of-nature/event/park-cinema-a-celebration-of-nature-on-screen-midsomer-norton/