Forest Foxes Visit Champion Forest School
- Leicester City in the Community deliver ‘Forest Foxes’ in primary schools across Leicestershire
- The visit comes as part of Highcliffe Primary School’s Forest School Practitioner’s Forest School training
- Griffydam Primary School is a Champion Forest School located in the National Forest
- Pupils took part in a variety of outdoor learning activities throughout the day
Leicester City in the Community invited Forest Foxes participants from Highcliffe Primary School to enjoy a range of outdoor learning activities at a Champion Forest School.
As a Champion Forest School, The National Forest Company have recognised Griffydam as excellent providers of the Forest School programme, and are able to pass on their knowledge of learning outdoors to fellow primary institutes.
Located in The National Forest, children took part in friendship bracelet making, den building, roasting marshmallows and creating small villages in the woodland area.
Tracy Moore, Forest School Lead at Griffydam Primary School, discussed how it felt to host Highcliffe and Forest Foxes.
“It’s really exciting,” she explained. “It’s so wonderful to see the children just immediately go into that zone of happiness when they connect with nature. It’s about getting the children to recognise that it’s not just free play and complete freedom.
“There has to be things that we connect with and be respectful of the environment.”
Partnered with Forest School Association, the National Forest Company and Natural England, as well as the Department for Education, Department for Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) and Premier League Community Fund, Leicester City in the Community aim to get children outside and connected with nature through outdoor learning.
As part of Forest Foxes, Leicester City’s charitable arm has helped teachers in Leicestershire train to become a Forest School Lead in their respective schools, as well as delivering the outdoor learning programme across numerous primary schools.
Highcliffe’s visit to Griffydam Primary School contributes towards their Forest School Practitioner’s Forest School qualification, while giving Forest School Leads ideas for new sessions.
Jade Frearson is a Forest School Practitioner at Highcliffe Primary School, working towards her Forest School qualification.
“You get to see different approaches and different activities that I’m definitely going to take back to our Forest School,” she explained. “The programme is fantastic – we had Leicester City in the Community come into the school and do six sessions with us, and the children absolutely loved it.
“It’s really set the foundation of how I will do it in the future once I’m signed off with my course.”
Watch Highcliffe’s visit to Griffydam HERE. To find out more about the Forest Foxes outdoor learning programme, please contact Environmental Sustainability Coordinator, Dr Alex Evans: alex.evans@lcfc.co.uk.