About our Holiday Forest School sessions

SHARED EARTH LEARNING CO-OP FOREST SCHOOL ACTIVITIES AT VALLIS VEG, FROME

Scroll down to find out about where we are, what to wear and what to bring.

Our Forest School is for children of all ages and abilities. It builds on a child’s innate motivation and positive attitude to learning.

One of the benefits of Forest School is the high adult/pupil ratio, which encourages an attitude of shared inquiry and enjoyment of the natural world. Children are encouraged to explore and appreciate their environment, enabling them to think creatively and confidently. Forest School is child-led with opportunities to take risks, make choices and initiate learning for themselves, providing a chance to discover their abilities without fear of failure or criticism.

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We usually do half term and holiday forest school sessions for local children. A day outside, exploring, playing, foraging, cooking and creating.

Children aged 5yrs +

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sharedearthbookings@gmail.com.

Ethos & Benefits

Forest School is an inspirational process which offers children, young people and adults regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on experiences outdoors. Shared Earth Learning aims to nurture a love of the natural environment in all children.

 Benefits for children attending Forest School (ref: Archimedes Forest Schools manual)

· builds self confidence and self-esteem
· combines freedom with responsibility
· enables chance to experience the changing seasons and all weathers
· means participants can discover their abilities without fear of failure or criticism
· develops innate curiosity and motivation to learn
· helps children to understand, appreciate and care for the natural environment
· promotes children’s well-being and enjoyment of life

Experiences the children may be involved in while at Shared Earth Learning Forest School (ref: our experience):
· exploring Frome’s countryside
· making campfires, cooking and charcoal making
· creating things with natural materials
· building dens
· story-telling and quests
· environmental games
· trails and tracking
· simple tool use and green wood-working
· observational skills for natural history identification and drawing
· allotment skills and permaculture inspired growing

Typical skills a child may acquire at Forest School

· To light and manage a fire, including gathering kindling and suitably dry wood.
· To work safely with the fire.
· To move confidently and safely in an outdoor environment and to develop sound navigational skills.
· Basic food hygiene and cooking of a limited range of foods.
· Learning the natural processes of growth, maturity and decay in woodlands. To identify and utilise materials that are useful, whilst using wood in a sustainable way.
· The safe use of a range of tools - from penknife to bow saw.
· To construct a range of useful products from natural materials - anything from a toasting fork to a rainproof shelter.
· To carry a stick safely and be aware of who is around them
· To take responsibility for each other and themselves and follow routines for keeping safe
· To be able to articulate their feelings about the aesthetics of the woodland space and to make things with natural material which are complimentary to the woodland space.
· To evaluate the long-term impact of their activities and identifying how others might benefit from their contributions to the natural environment.

Info for our holiday sessions

What to wear

We recommend that everyone, children and adults, wear clothes that don’t matter, trousers and long sleeved tops to protect arms and legs, sturdy boots or wellies, and a waterproof coat and trousers - depending on the weather of course.

In cold weather please wear thick socks or 2 pairs, and hats and gloves. In hot weather please apply sun-block at home and bring a sun hat. It is a good idea to provide spare socks, pants and trousers as getting wet or muddy is highly possible. A carrier bag to put wet things in on the way home could also be useful.

Bring food

Children and adults are requested to bring a packed lunch, drink, and morning snacks in a rucksack that your child can easily carry ready for adventures. You are welcome to bring food to cook on the fire but in the interests of food safety, we would like any meat products to be pre-cooked at home for warming over the fire.

How to find us

For Holiday sessions we usually meet at 10am and pick up is at 2.30 or 3.30pm (depending on session, and unless otherwise arranged)

We meet at Wallington way - BA11 3EJ. (Leaving Frome towards Radstock – on the Vallis Road (A362) - Turn into the estate at the small roundabout: Wallington Way.) Someone from Shared Earth Learning will meet you by the gate to the entrance to the fields (marked as a public footpath the East Mendip Way). We will walk the children to the site and then back at the end of the day.

Shared Earth Learning is situated near Vallis Veg, an eighteen acre organic farm near to Vallis Vale. What 3 words: unpacked.dialects.expose. About 200m from the western edge of Frome. We normally meet by the roundabout at Wallington way - BA11 3EJ, and walk together to site.

If you need to get to the site

To get to the site follow the public footpath public footpath - the East Mendip Way - across/between the fields to another metal gate (with a kissing gate), turn right, walk through the trees and past the allotments towards the poly-tunnel. We are normally near the poly-tunnel or just to the right of it amongst the trees.

We encourage lift-sharing/walking/cycling.

Please note that Vallis Veg (who are not Vallis Farm) actively discourage driving on to their site for both environmental and neighbour reasons.

Please tell us if you would like to lift-share with other parents to Wallington way and are happy for us to share your details, or if you have mobility issues as these can be accommodated.

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All our sessions are run by qualified Forest School leaders who are DBS checked, First Aid trained and insured (as Outdoor activity instructors liability up to £5,000,000).

Costs

The cost of a full day holiday session is £40 per child. Sibling discount available. Subsidised spaces are available depending on your income. Please ask!

Our partly funded CIAT dates are £10 per session (for disabled children/ youths, including those with additional support needs and complex disabilities).

Spoon-carving is a half-day session costing £20 per person.

Payment in full is required to secure your child/ren’s place/s, which are allocated on a first-come first-served basis. Please note our cancellation policy – full refunds can only be offered up to a week before the session/s begin/s; with any less notice, we will only be able to reimburse half the monies paid.

We reserve the right to cancel a session at short notice (on the day in the event of severe weather) in which case we will fully refund all monies paid.

Consent form

The consent form is NOT a booking form but we must receive a complete one for every child in advance of their first session with us. We will send you the form when you book.

(Once we have a consent form you will not need to do another. UNLESS your details have changed).

Please call 07935068254 or email sharedearthbookings@gmail.com with any queries