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Welton Free Rangers - Forest School Nursery

The Mill Barn, Millards Hill
Midsomer Norton, Banes, BA3 2BW
+44 (0)1761 411328
Holistic Experimental Learning

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Welton Free Rangers - Forest School Nursery

  • Home
  • WHO WE ARE
    • OUR HISTORY
    • Our Story So Far
    • THE SITE
    • FOREST SCHOOL
    • Policies & Documents
    • Our Staff
  • WHAT WE OFFER
    • Session Times
    • Clubs and Courses
    • Fee Structure
    • FAQs
    • Early Years Entitlement
    • Tapestry
    • Free Rangers Nursery App
  • MAGAZINE
    • About Free Rangers Magazine
    • Buy Digital Copy
  • OUR BLOG
  • Our Shop
  • Food at Free Rangers
  • Contact Us

Forest School and the benefits of Risk Taking

October 7, 2015 Louise

Here at Free Rangers we believe that the great outdoors provides the children with high stimulating experiences, and gives them a great opportunity to develop their learning further. The Forest School ethos underpins all that we do here at Free Rangers.

The 3 principles of Forest School are:

  1. Using nature to provide a real context for learning
  2. Using children’s preferred learning styles, being active, learning through practical outdoor experiences and employing all their senses
  3.  Using nature’s resources to facilitate learning

Forest School is a holistic way of learning by connecting with the natural surroundings and environment. In the Warren, we are happiest when outdoors: whether we are exploring the toys in the baby garden, walks around the farm, or making discoveries in the local area; cycle track or the park.  We love to go on mini beast hunts around the farm. We enjoy building our confidence and gaining new skills when navigating along the obstacle course or climbing the mud slide. We spend time in the Fort, climbing up the steps or the tree stumps to climb to the top where we spend time looking and talking about the environment, focusing on what we can see and hear; thus stimulating our senses.

The majority of the activities that we take part in on a daily basis have elements of risk. As practitioners, we look at risk benefits. This is where we look at both, the ‘risk’ of the activities and focusing on the flip side, the benefits to the children, for example.

Climbing on a wooden balancing bean

Risk:

  • Falling off and obtaining an injury (low risk)

Benefits:

  • Developing gross motor skills
  • Developing the ability to manage own risks solving problems
  • Gain self confidence
  • Developing emotional wellbeing

This demonstrates how the benefits out way the risks, therefore this activity is of low risk and the babies gain a lot from the experience they have encountered. 

The babies took part in this activity: as a practitioner, you really see the benefits when the babies are problem solving. For example. You visibly see their ‘cogs turning’ when they are working out how to walk along the beams after they have managed to crawl the length of the beam. We also like to take it to the next level and manage a more challenging risk. This activity developed the babies’ gross motor skills: simultaneously, the babies use both arms to pull themselves up, whilst manoeuvring their legs to enable them to stand carefully, we praise the babies’ lots which provides a positive environment to develop their self-confidence and encourages them to feel proud and have a sense of achievement.

There are many risks at Free Rangers: climbing on the equipment, walking on the uneven ground, and avoiding stinging nettles and brambles are just a few. Allowing the babies and children to explore and manage their own risk-whilst learning about what may happen-gives them a greater understanding of the wider world.  All if which link to the outcomes of the Early Years Foundation Stage. 

I hope this has given you a greater insight to risk benefits at Free Rangers. 

Thanks you for reading

Lou






In The Warren, Free Rangers Forest School
← What did we see? What might you see?These are the sharp teeth... →
About Free Rangers Magazine
All profits will go towards building a forest school for primary aged children at Free Rangers!FIND OUT MORE

All profits will go towards building a forest school for primary aged children at Free Rangers!

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SEE MORE

Free Rangers
The Mill Barn
Millards Hill
Midsomer Norton
Banes
BA3 2BW
01761 411328

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Our History
Our Story So Far
The Site
Forest School
Our Staff

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Contact Us

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