Welcome to

The Practical Forest School

We provide forest school programmes and events to schools as well as independent afterschool clubs and birthday parties in and around Horsham, West Sussex.

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We believe in the power of being outdoors. We believe that children should be free to play because play is learning. We believe that a stick can be anything, and that life skills like risk taking can be developed in a child-led environment.

Children around a campfire

We offer both forest school sessions and curriculum-led outdoor learning where children can get away from their desks. Let’s bring the National Curriculum to life and help kids understand their natural world.

We love the lightbulb moments when a child suddenly realises they can light a fire, or jump a stream, or walk a slackline… when they’re proud of the stick man, the carving, the leaf art that they’ve made.

We can bring those experiences to your school, either through curriculum-based sessions (think: meteorology, the natural world, habitats, history, science, biology) or through child-led free play sessions through afterschool clubs.

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T. has really enjoyed her time and learned new things and gained some confidence. It’s her favourite after school club ever she said.
Dina, parent of Y5 girl
L. loves Forest school! She enjoys being out in the fresh air, building dens, learning how to make bow and arrows, and cooking pancakes on the fire. Term after term she asks me anxiously if I have booked the next session. It’s her favourite after school club!
Elodie G., parent of primary girl
My daughter loves Forest School. It’s a perfect way to get her outdoors and appreciating the natural wonders around us.
 
The classes help build confidence and gives children freedom that they don’t generally experience in modern society settings. 
Parent of child at primary school club

Afterschool Clubs

Click here for Northolmes

Click here for Kingslea

Our blog

Find out what’s happening in the forest school world, get ideas for outdoor activities to use with your own groups, download printables and learning resources and follow along with our journey as we create outdoor learning experiences for children in Sussex!

Jon tying knots
Forest School Training

Knots for Forest School: New Training!

ByElizabeth

​​In our survey last year, 48% of participants said learning more about knots and rope work would help with their forest school provision. Well, it just so happens that as an ex-professional sailor Jon is a bit of a rope expert. For his stay-at-home-during-lockdown project in the pandemic he re-made this knot board from scratch:…

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