14/09/2026
You never quite know what you’ll find when you step into a woodland you haven’t explored before.
Today, I took over as Forest School Leader at a Primary School following the retirement of their previous leader.
After a summer without regular use, nature had begun to reclaim the Forest School site — and there is certainly some work to do! But that became part of the learning.
With the help of an enthusiastic group of Year 6 pupils, we began clearing some of the overgrowth. They did a sterling job, and by the end of the session, we could see the seating area again.
What I particularly enjoyed was hearing the children confidently identify some of the species growing around them, while also showing curiosity about those they didn’t recognise. It was a great reminder that caring for a space and learning about it can go hand in hand.
After the hard work of clearing, we used creative leaf printing to capture some of the species we had discovered, beginning our own visual audit of what is growing on the site.
There is plenty more to uncover, restore and learn from over the coming year — and I’m looking forward to seeing how both the site and the children’s connection with it develop.
