How will I see what my child did today?

In the Den, the same evening: a few photographs of your child and a line about the day, private to your family.

Do you take photographs at all, then?

Yes, for you. A camera comes out for a few minutes in a session, and the pictures go into the Den that evening. Our own phones stay in the kit bag while we are with the children.

Can I share my own pictures of my child?

Of course. They are yours. We ask one thing: no other child in the frame, because their parents have not said yes.

How will you find new families without social media?

The way this page describes: parents telling parents, a card passed on, a good article, a search that leads here. More slowly than a feed would, and we are fine with that.

Will this ever change?

No. If it ever did, this page would say so, in plain words, with the date. It is dated and signed below for that reason.

A promise: You will not find us on social media

And we will never ask whether we may post a picture of your child, because we will never post one. Not on a feed, not in an advert, not anywhere.

A smartphone lying face down on a mossy log, moss creeping over one corner, a robin standing on it.

What we promise

No photograph of your child will ever be posted
Not by us, not on our behalf, not cropped, not blurred, not "just the back of their head".
We will never ask you to tick that box
Many settings ask you to say yes to pictures of your child on their accounts. We will not ask, because there is nothing to say yes to.
We have no accounts, and we will not open any
No feed, no page, no reels, no "follow us for updates". Updates come to you, privately, in the Den.

Why

Our staff are caring, skilled and trained, and the only question in their heads should ever be: will the children enjoy this, will they have fun, will they learn? Never: will this look good on social media. It has always been that way with us, and it always will be.

Forest school is about attention: a snail on a leaf, the sound the stream makes after rain, a fire that needs watching. A feed is built to take attention away, as often as it can. We do not want to be part of that, and we especially do not want to turn a child's morning in the woods into something to scroll past.

A three-year-old cannot agree to being on the internet, and a picture posted once is posted for good. The law puts it plainly: children "merit specific protection with regard to their personal data". The pictures we take are for you and your family, in the Den, where only you can see them.

And we would rather be found the old way: by people who have been, telling people who have not.

The words in quotation marks are from UK data protection law.

An acorn sprouting in leaf litter: a root going down, a tiny oak seedling with two leaves going up.

How you will find us instead

Slowly, and by sources that are good for people.

over a coffee
Parents talking
Over a coffee after drop-off, at the school gate, on a walk. One family tells another. That is how a place like this grows, and how it should.
in print
On paper
An article in a magazine or the local paper, read at a kitchen table, passed on, kept. We will always say yes to a good writer with a notebook.
on the noticeboard
In the village
A card on a noticeboard, a word from a school, a listing on the Forest School Association's map, a search that leads here. Found, not followed.

You might be wondering

How will I see what my child did today?: In the Den, the same evening: a few photographs of your child and a line about the day, private to your family.
Do you take photographs at all, then?: Yes, for you. A camera comes out for a few minutes in a session, and the pictures go into the Den that evening. Our own phones stay in the kit bag while we are with the children.
Can I share my own pictures of my child?: Of course. They are yours. We ask one thing: no other child in the frame, because their parents have not said yes.
How will you find new families without social media?: The way this page describes: parents telling parents, a card passed on, a good article, a search that leads here. More slowly than a feed would, and we are fine with that.
Will this ever change?: No. If it ever did, this page would say so, in plain words, with the date. It is dated and signed below for that reason.

Pass it on

Word of mouth deserves something to hand over. Four cards on one sheet, each delivered by owl post: a line for the child's name, and room for a word from you.

1Print the sheet, on any printer.
2Cut along the corner marks.
3Write a word, and give it to someone who would love this.

Open the cards to printOne sheet of A4, four cards

Prefer them printed properly? Ask and we will put a few in the post.

A printed card: a barn owl in flight carrying a sealed letter, the words by owl post, a line for the child's name, the handwritten name Footprints in the Forest, a line about the forest school, the address forestschool.wales, the email address hello@forestschool.wales, and two pen lines for a word from the giver.

For convenience

We would rather you told them in person

We don't like to encourage phones and screens, and we never will. But a friend may be far away, or the moment may be now. So here is one button. On a phone it opens your own sharing, so this goes by message or email to one person, not to a feed.

to one person

WhatsApp
Text message
Email

What this means for you

You still get the day's photographs, the same evening, privately, in the Den.
Your pictures of your own child are yours to share as you like. We ask one thing: no other child in the frame.
If you like what we do, tell a friend, out loud.

See you in the woods, not online.

EllePromised 9 October 2026

Join the founding families

A promise: You will not find us on social media

What we promise

No photograph of your child will ever be posted

We will never ask you to tick that box

We have no accounts, and we will not open any

Why

Parents talking

On paper

In the village

You might be wondering

Pass it on

We would rather you told them in person

What this means for you