Children explore great outdoors as Wolverhampton primary opens revamped forest school
Youngsters at a Wolverhampton primary school can enjoy exploring the great outdoors as its newly revamped forest school reopens.
Moorcroft Wood Primary School on Bull Lane, Bilston, officially welcomed pupils into the new-look outdoor learning space on Monday (November 11).
Work began around a year ago to give a makeover to the area, which has been out of use for more than two years.
With newly revamped paths and a refurbished pond, pupils were given the chance to explore the forest school on opening day.
They marked the occasion by taking part in craft activities, going on a 'leaf hunt' and even tucked into a hot chocolate around the campfire.
The space was declared open by Paul Drew, chief operating officer at the Lighthouse Federation, which the school forms a part of.
Moorcroft Wood's executive headteacher, Ann Adair, said the forest school will give children the opportunity to "get in touch with nature".
Mrs Adair said: "It gives them teamwork opportunities, for example you can build a fairy home, they will explore things like campfires and develop skills of knife work, all in controlled groups of about 10 children at a time with our forest school trainers.
"It is an opportunity for them to explore and understand nature, get to know about trees and the different species in there.
"Being inside isn’t what children want all the time - it's about mental wellbeing as well and to get them to really appreciate how beautiful nature can be."
Alongside it being built into the schools curriculum, youngsters will take in in turns to use the outdoor space, with each year group being invited to join a six-week long forest school programme throughout the year.
The renovation of the space was supported by an almost £2,000 donation from manufacturer Ibstock, which funded waterproof suits for pupils, essential tools, and other equipment to ensure that children could learn in the forest year-round.
The company also helped to renovate the log cabin in the space and has plans to build a barbeque and donate a pizza oven for future outdoor activities.
Meanwhile, volunteers from Unity Trust Bank helped clear the forest and renovate the school’s pond as well as donating £500 to purchase tools for pupils to use in their forest school sessions.
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