Countryside Skills
What makes King’s Stanley different to other schools is that all our pupils take part in Forest School sessions throughout the year, known as Countryside Skills. These outdoor sessions engage children in seasonal activities and tasks, providing opportunities to explore and learn in nature.
Our progressive curriculum ensures that children develop their understanding of the natural world while being introduced to new tools, skills, and challenges each year. From whittling flagpoles to constructing towers and catapults, pupils build on their knowledge and confidence. These sessions also serve as an exciting way to extend classroom learning, with activities such as building an Iron Age settlement, conducting river study fieldwork, and even smelting and casting metal.
Equally important, Countryside Skills fosters teamwork, social development, self-esteem, and confidence, making learning an enriching and immersive experience.
Outdoor Learning encourages children to:
- develop personal and social skills
- work through practical problems and challenges
- use tools to create, build or manage
- learn how to manage failures
- build confidence in decision making and evaluating risk
- develop practical skills
- understand the benefits of a balanced and healthy lifestyle
- explore connections between humans, wildlife and the earth
- develop their language and communication skills
- improve physical motor skills
- improve their concentration skills
