We are lucky at Abberley house Nursery to be able to access our wonderful woodland area on site, where our Woodland Learners sessions are run by our experienced Nursery Manager and Deputy Manager and supported by the nursery staff. 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

What is Woodland Learners?

Woodland Learners are 'outdoor learning' sessions based in our very own woodland. It is a wall less classroom where the majority of what the children play with and create come from the natural environment they are in.  It’s a place where children get to experience first-hand the world around them using all their senses, having the opportunity to lead their exploration and learning with practitioners following the children’s interests, to expand their knowledge. 

 

We are blessed with outdoor space at Abberley House and are lucky enough to be able to offer our very own dedicated and experienced 'outdoor learning' team. 

​

We believe that being outdoors has huge benefits for children, both physically and mentally, and the growing phenomenon of outdoor plays has numerous advantages for educating children in the fresh air. Below are some examples of how children benefit from learning and playing outside:

​

• Building confidence and independence.

• Feeling empathy for others and nature.

• Physical fitness.

• Health benefits.

• Improved mental health.

• Learning by experience.

• Exposure to manageable risk.

• Better sleep and mood.

• Learning about spiritual meaning.

​

What will the children learn?

Woodland Learners sessions not only supports play, exploration, and personal, social and technical skills, it also provides the opportunity to practice skills across all areas of the children’s learning, as well as see first-hand the importance of nature and to build empathy with the world around them. Through the activities and resources provided, the child-centred open-ended learning means it is accessible for all. 

The staff also support the children with the risks they take, sometimes by helping them by talking through ways to problem solve, show them safer ways to do something or offering encouragement to believe in their choices and be able to manage their own risks. This in turn helps them to develop confidence, resilience and self-esteem, all of which creates happy children that want to learn, therefore become successful learners.

 

The Woodland Learners experience is not just play outside. By going to our outdoor fire pit and creating charcoal we are learning about heat and temperatures, steam, creating our own risk assessment and much more.

 

What to expect?

The children are free to explore the woodland area, accessing resources and activities such as our digging areas, logs to balance on, log piles to create dens for themselves or for the animals and creatures that might visit us when we are not there. We also have resources to enhance the natural items found by using their imagination to create craft, projects or anything with a purpose.

 

The children will also have the opportunity to participate in cooking on the fire and tool use with 1 to 1 support from our Outdoor Learners leader. This helps teach the children how to be safe and learn valuable skills for life. 

 

To maximise the children’s learning, we plan to run Woodland Learners through all the seasons, so we can see first-hand the changes all around them. We will make sure all the children and staff are dressed appropriately for whatever weather we find to make it an enjoyable experience for all.