Enrichment

Weston Green’s Forest School programme provides children with regular opportunities to expand their learning beyond the classroom and to explore their natural surroundings.

Led by our fully qualified Forest School Leader Mrs Allsopp, Forest School sessions currently take place onsite and in our local woodland for pupils in Pre Prep and Lower Prep.

Forest School aims to develop each pupil’s appreciation and respect for nature and provides invaluable opportunities for developing problem-solving skills and critical thinking, as well as working together as a team and developing the skills and knowledge to stay safe outdoors. From this foundation of safe practice, the children are encouraged to take risks through woodland crafts, tree climbing, following trails and den building.

Regular, dedicated outdoor learning experiences also help to ensure pupils remain enthused and engaged in all other areas of their learning and help to build their confidence and self-esteem. Find out more about the benefits of Forest School.

Read our latest Forest School news.

Watch a short video of Reception at Forest School:

Throughout the school year visits are made to many sites of interest. These change according to the curriculum but have included:

• Garsons Farm – pumpkin picking
• The Look Out Discovery Centre
• Imber Court Picnic and visit to the horses
• Hampton Court Palace
• Bocketts Farm
• Kew Gardens
• RHS Wisley Gardens
• Space Dome Experience
• British Museum- Egyptians trip
• Visit to the Natural History Museum (Earthquakes and volcanoes)
• Bignor Roman Villa
• Black history museum trip
• Chertsey Museum
• River Trip to Juniper Hall
• Brooklands Museum
• West Wittering beach trip
• Christmas theatre trips
• Parliament Trip

We welcome a wide variety of visitors to the school, amongst these have been:

• Hobgoblin performance and workshop
• Circus skills experience
• ZooLab – a range of insects and reptiles come to school for the children to learn about and hold
• African drums workshop
• Representatives from the Fire and Rescue service
• Author visits
• Music Workshops

We have special days when the children spend a whole day fully emmersed in the topic they have been learning about, which often include dressing up! Workshop days include topics such as:

• The Titanic
• The Seaside
• Crossing Continents and Oceans
• The Ancient Egyptians
• The Great Fire of London
• The Stone Age
• The Vikings
• The Tudors
• The Romans
• The Victorians

The pupils also use the local environment to support the curriculum and may be seen out looking at various types of houses, life on the local pond, conducting traffic surveys and of course getting into the natural world at Forest School.

Year 3

We start residentials in Year 3, as it marks the children’s transition into Upper Prep. They spend one night away on their highly anticipated residential trip to Henley Fort. Independence, risk-taking and teamwork are just a few of the skills developed throughout this trip and the children are always excited to spend the night in a yurt with their friends. They participate in many exhilarating activities, such as rock climbing, archery, challenge courses and woodland survival and then get to re-tell the stories of their daring adventures around the campfire at night.

Year 4

Soon after starting Year 4, the children get to spend 3 days and 2 nights at the Thames Young Mariners. The children take part in a range of exciting and challenging activities which often include kayaking, raft building and woodland skills. Evenings are spent enjoying the campfire and the children get to sleep inside giant Teepees! It’s a great opportunity for them to develop their team building, resilience and risk taking skills.

Year 5 and 6

Mill on the Brue is set in 25 glorious acres of Somerset countryside and provides activities that promote team building, resilience, communication and most of all fun!  Years 5 and 6 will spend an exciting and challenging week at this wonderful outdoor adventure activity centre where they will experience unforgettable outdoor activities, scale heights, paddle the river and explore underground.

At Weston Green, we aim to ignite a life-long love of sport for each and every child through the following:

• A co-ordinated sports curriculum from Pre Prep through to Upper Prep
• High quality coaching with well qualified staff and coaches
• Excellent coach:player ratios
• Skills-based sessions which allow each child to learn and achieve success
• Regular use of a range of facilities including Old Cranleighans Sports Club
• Experience of competitive sport for all pupils, through regular participation in fixtures against other schools, school tournaments and house matches, plus an annual Sports Day and swimming gala
• A wide range of enrichment clubs run by sports coaches and teaching staff
• Opportunities to represent the school through regional and national competitions

As part of our continuing school development, we recently relaunched a new programme of sport.