Awareness and care of our natural spaces

Outdoor Learning for All

At Truro School Prep, we believe that learning in the outdoor environment should be an integral part of every child’s journey. All children from Nursery to Year 2 participate in Forest School activities throughout the year. Nursery and Reception classes have one weekly session, which runs for the duration of a morning or afternoon. Years 1 and 2 receive a full afternoon session every other week.

As children progress through the Prep, they continue to foster a relationship where caring for and respecting nature is central to their learning. In school and after-school clubs and activities, such as Bushcraft and Eco Club, help to foster this ethos. In Year 5, our pupils complete the Ballerion Award, an environmental award scheme focused on wild places. You can read more about the Ballerion Award on the Year 5 Curriculum page.

Our Forest School offering nurtures creativity and curiosity through exploration and play, using a full range of experiences to explore and share creative thoughts, ideas and feelings. Our Forest School leader is a fully-trained teacher, who understands and meets all the different needs of our children.

At Truro School, we believe that through Forest School, children will:

• Develop a positive sense of themselves and others, getting to know themselves and what they can do and building a positive disposition to learn, understand and evaluate risks
• Develop the confidence to use their communication, language and emerging literacy skills for a range of situations and purposes
• Explore, enjoy, learn, practise and talk about mathematical ideas in a broad range of contexts
• Work at making sense of the world, encountering and exploring creatures, people, plants, tools and materials in natural and real-life situations
• Be active and interactive, developing sensory integration, movement, coordination, control and manipulation
• Nurture their creative curiosity, exploration and play, using the full range of experiences to explore and share creative thoughts, ideas and feelings.

Forest School Areas

We are extremely proud of the extensive outdoor spaces our children have on their doorstep at Truro School Prep. Used for Forest School and other outdoor learning opportunities daily, they include:

1) The Enchanted Garden; a fully contained area located behind Reception that includes a willow maze, bird hides, mud kitchen, fire pit and rope bridge. Our wildlife camera has captured regular visitors to this garden, including deer, foxes, badgers and squirrels.

2) Early Years Foundation Stage Area;  known as Yn Kessenyans (Cornish for ‘in harmony’), is a wildlife area, situated behind Willday House. It includes a handful of mature trees amongst some younger trees planted in 2012 by the children. Bamboo tunnels, cherry trees and willow are all features of this area.

3) Outdoor Classroom; a wonderful resource that gives us flexibility when unexpected weather occurs. This covered outdoor space was designed and built with the help of some of the older children as a part of their outdoor learning.

4) Sam’s Garden; the latest addition to our Pre-Prep outdoor spaces is Sam’s Garden, named after our friendly scarecrow who graces the terraces outside of the Nursery classrooms. Here, children have more chances to play and to nurture the vegetable plants they carefully plant during the year.

5) Main Woods; situated near the tennis courts, to the right of the school, our main woods consist primarily of broadleaf woodland, with some specimen trees present.

6) Side Woods; located alongside the sports field, this provides a sheltered outdoor space to learn and play throughout the year.

Forest School sessions are run with high adult to child ratios and are mindful of delivering a fully comprehensive Forest School experience.

Whilst our Forest School is led by qualified leaders, it does not report, assess or judge children. Children learn to develop and grow their appreciation of the outdoor environment whilst managing their own risks.