Forest School

The University of Northampton are excited to announce our new Forest School development for 2024 designed to connect children and adults with the outdoors across Northamptonshire and beyond. Our Forest School is situated on the UON campus and comprises 3 interconnecting areas: a Teepee (which can accommodate up to 30 people), a firepit & tripod area and a small woodland area.  These spaces can act as a communal gathering space for group interactions and provide an excellent environment for outdoor learning activities such as mental health and wellbeing pursuits, schools, early years settings and other community groups like Cubs, Brownies, arts and crafts clubs, community kitchens, yoga and meditation groups.

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What are Forest Schools?

Forest school programmes are nature-based educational experiences designed to connect children, young people and vulnerable adults with the outdoors. Forest schools can increase confidence, self-esteem, communication and problem solving through practical activities. Forest school can benefit your mental and physical wellbeing, and amongst children can increase time spent playing and reduce time spent on screens and sedentary behaviours. Furthermore, exposure to green spaces has been shown to improve mindfulness, connectedness with nature, improved sleep and reduced blood pressure. We hope that our forest school will support the health, education and wellbeing of the local community in realising these benefits through the packages we offer that can be tailored to the needs of your group.

What activities can I do at Forest School?

There are a great variety of activities that can be undertaken in the UON Forest School including:- woodworking, nature collecting, forest art, tree climbing, campfires, cooking, mud kitchens, bug hotels, den/shelter building and scavenger hunts.

Who can use the Forest School?

UON Students and staff:

The UON Forest School outdoor space will form part of the curriculum for our students on undergraduate and postgraduate education, geography and teacher training degrees. It will allow students to experience the delivery of teaching in the outdoors to local schools, nurseries and other organisations.  It will also provide research opportunities for students and staff wishing to take a closer look at the impact of outdoor learning, green prescription and health and wellbeing activities on children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Local Schools and Organisations:

The Forest School space can be hired out (by the hour or by the day) by local schools, nurseries, early years settings, childminders, youth and community groups, with the option of delivering independent sessions or working with our fully trained staff. Contact forestschool@northampton.ac.uk to enquire.

Conferencing

The Forest School space is an ideal venue and truly unique setting for hosting conferences, team building events and get togethers.  The UON Forest School was used as the venue for the second Annual Outdoor Learning Conference in the summer of 2024 organised, by Teach Outdoors.

Coming soon

• Forest School qualifications (Level 2) and outdoor learning CPD for schools and early years staff.
• Bookable workshops facilitated by our fully trained staff.
• A parachute shelter for rainy day activities, so you can stay dry and have fun whilst doing your forest school activities!
• Orienteering course in development to enhance our outdoor activities for children and young people.