Why Forest School?

Simply put: Forest School nurtures happy, independent, confident children who are eager to learn more.

Research suggests that young children learn best from experience, by using their senses actively rather than passively, and it’s via these experiences that the learning remains with us unto adulthood. Providing varied outdoor experiences can help with this development. Free, unstructured play gives children space and independence and a chance to imagine and learn social skills, while adult-guided activities such as tool use build new skills, vocabulary and the ability to manage risk, creating a positive self-identity and laying foundations to be a successful lifelong learner.

The Aishling Forest School ethos of outdoor educational learning aims to maximize social, emotional and developmental potential by allowing learners to manage risk, have more independence, in guiding their own learning, achieve goals, be active and play and learn through direct experience with nature. Within this context, Forest School leaders assess each learner’s interest and learning styles and engage with them to facilitate their full learning ability.

Our Forest School is also a compassion-scaffolded program, where leaders guide and mentor learners towards the continuation of being respectful, mindful, aware and empathetic towards all of nature’s living beings.

Forest School learners are encouraged to see, feel, taste, smell and hear nature. Outside the confines of four walls, without the distractions of electronic devices and excessive supervision, learners can move, explore and discover at their own pace, connecting to the natural world- a place not created by man, that had deep spiritual meaning for our ancestors.