Forest School: The same wood, every week
Term-time sessions for children from two to five, at least two days a week: the same small group and the same wood, week after week, in every season. This is the heart of Footprints.
At a glance
- Ages
- Two to five
- Who stays
- Children stay with Elle. You drop off and collect.
- When
- Term time, at least two days a week. Days and times on their way.
- Where
- Woodland near Chepstow and the Wye Valley. The exact meeting point goes to booked families only.
- Price
- On its way. Founding families hear first.
A session
Each one follows the same gentle shape: a welcome circle, time to explore, a snack by the fire, making and doing, a story, and a song to close. Children lead their own play, with Elle beside them.
Two days or more
Every child comes at least two days a week. It is how a small child settles: the same wood and the same faces, often enough that both soon feel like theirs.
Toilets and nappies
Nappies are fine. There is a compost toilet in a private tent, a potty for the youngest, a sheltered changing mat, and warm water and soap for hands. Whoever cooks never helps at the toilet.
Naps
If your child still naps, you choose how: in their own sleeping bag in a warm, sheltered rest space, or the Nordic way, outside under shelter in their pram or a hammock. Either way, a named grown-up checks on them.
What to bring
Their kit in one big bag, a packed lunch, and their library book. Everything else is on the kit page.
If Elle is ill
A second qualified leader who knows the children takes the session. If there is no cover, every family's session is credited automatically.
Before you start
Come and walk the woods with Elle first. Walks run once a month for a few families at a time, and founding families come first.
Help with the cost
Many families in Wales can get help with the cost of childcare. What there is, who can get it, and how it will work here.
You might be wondering
- What age can my child start Forest School?
- Forest School is for children from two to five. For little ones under two, there are parent and toddler mornings, with you beside them.
- How many days a week is Forest School?
- At least two days a week, in term time. It is how a small child settles: the same wood and the same faces, often enough that both soon feel like theirs.
- Where is it?
- In woodland near Chepstow and the Wye Valley. The exact meeting point goes to booked families only.
- What happens when it rains?
- We go out in sun, wind and drizzle, with a shelter, a fire and a warm drink on the cold days, and every child has the same good waterproof kit.
- What does my child need to bring?
- Their kit in one big bag, a packed lunch, and their library book. Everything else is on the kit page.
- Who leads the sessions?
- Elle Peate, a qualified teacher with the highest Forest School and childcare qualifications, with qualified forest school leaders beside her, every one of them checked and trained.
- Can we use childcare funding?
- Many families in Wales can get help with the cost of childcare. Before places open, the funding page will say exactly which schemes you can use at Footprints.
- Can we see the woods first?
- Yes. Come and walk the woods with Elle first. Walks run once a month for a few families at a time, and founding families come first.
Join the founding familiesNo commitment, and you can leave at any time.
The other sessions
Parent and toddler
For little ones under two, with you beside them the whole time.Find out more
Holiday days
Forest days in the school holidays for children from two to five.Find out more
Birthday parties
A forest party for a child turning two, three, four or five, with their friends.Find out more
