For our Madingley pupils weekly Forest School enables children to step outside the classroom and take a pause, not from learning but from the ‘buzz of life’. In the City each child has a weekly session every half term with Mrs Squirrel, during which they experience a different sort of learning.

Forest School enables the mind to be free, being out of doors allows time to reflect and take on different physical challenges. Taking safe risks and engaging in physical exploration enables a different part of the brain to be used. The weekly ‘sit spot’ enables children and staff to stop and focus on the ‘now’, as they sit in silence away from others, immersed in their environment. What can they hear? A chance to clear the mind of everything but that moment - something from which we could all benefit.

The evidence of the success of Forest School for wellbeing lies with the children themselves: smiling faces, engaged explorers, the desire to go again, collaboration, active learning and readiness to learn on their return to the classroom. The obvious question, ‘When are we going again?’ makes every session more than worthwhile.