Enabling Environments: Outdoors - Speak Out

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Children at St Mary’s Pre-School in Horsham, West Sussex are finding that there is no better place to have a chat than up a tree. There, with a new perspective on the world and a new-found confidence that comes with having climbed a tree, children are happy to open up to practitioners about their home life, what they like and what they get up to in their spare time.

Over the past two years, St Mary’s Forest School leader, Liz Miles, has been running weekly three-hour sessions for every child in the academic year before starting school. In that time, she says, the two most significant observations have been children’s ‘growth in confidence in speech’ and the development of interactive play among children who previously played alone.

Climbing trees is just one of the many activities that have benefited the children, but it is one of the best. ‘It’s as if standing high in a tree and looking down on the world unleashes some kind of freedom in some children – and makes them feel elated,’ says Ms Miles.
‘Others might discover they can master the skill of sawing, drilling or fire-lighting – and this gives them a great sense of achievement.’ Ms Miles, who trained with Sussex Wildlife Trust, was instrumental in helping the pre-school become one of the first early years settings in the UK to be awarded Recognised Provider Status by the Forest School Association (FSA) (see box below).

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