Wild Forest School

Children (c) LRWT

Wild Forest School

1,200 schoolchildren engaged since 2015
39 primary schools worked with
5 wild areas created at schools
7 schools entered storytelling competition

Thanks to players of People's Postcode Lottery

Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust has received valuable funding from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, enabling us to run our Wild Forest School project since January 2015. Wild Forest School provides fun, engaging opportunities for children in Leicester - some of whom have never had the chance to explore the outdoors – to experience the natural world and discover nature through a range of wild activities.

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What we've achieved

Thanks to the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, The Wildlife Trusts are inspiring and connecting people to nature through precious species and wild places, provide thousands of children of all ages with opportunities to spend time in nature through a series of Forest School and outdoor learning activities and will stand up for and defend wild places when they face significant threat.

To find out more about how players of People’s Postcode Lottery support The Wildlife Trusts, click here

Since 2015, Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust has worked with nearly 1,500 children in Leicester, thanks to the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery. With the help of funding, the Trust has been able to provide children from ages 2 to 16 with the opportunity to learn about and experience nature in ways that simply weren’t possible before.

We have worked with 39 groups of primary school children. Teachers say that Forest School helps with regulating emotions, communication, listening and physical skills; boosting confidence, becoming more independent and building friendships.

Wild Stories

We recently ran a short story writing competition for KS2 children in Leicester city.

7 schools entered 26 stories. The stories were judged by:

  • BBC Radio Leicester presenter Jimmy Carpenter

  • Leicester Mercury News Editor Linda Steelyard

  • Environmental Education Co-ordinator for Leicester City Council Lee Jowett

  • Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust’s Grow Wild gardener Matthew Herbert

The three winners were:

  • Phoebe from Christ the King Voluntary Academy won 1st prize - a storytelling chair and area for her school.

  • Rafi from Leicester Preparatory School won 2nd prize - a story trail for his school grounds.

  • Ruqiya from Sparkenhoe Community Primary School won 3rd prize - a bundle of wildlife themed books.

Read the winning stories below

Wild art

In 2021, we challenged Leicester City primary school pupils to create a piece of art that shows off our wonderful UK wildlife, and they didn’t disappoint!

13 schools submitted 59 artworks. They were judges by:

  • Graffwerk Aerosol Artist, Izzy Hoskins

  • Wildlife Artist and Print Maker, Richard Jarvis

  • Graduate Project Officer for Leicester City Council, Hollie Campbell

  • Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust’s Head of Engagement, Jamie Perry

The judges were very impressed with the artworks – they are all excellent and it was very difficult to choose the winners. The top three winners received their own set of art materials, as well as a fantastic prize for their school. The first prize was a wildlife graffiti mural, created by an artist from Graffwerk. The second a wildlife chainsaw sculpture and the third a bumper pack of art materials for the winners class. 

Read more here

Testimonials

We have worked with 39 groups of primary school children. Teachers say that Forest School helps with regulating emotions, communication, listening and physical skills; boosting confidence, becoming more independent and building friendships:

  •  "“A" was always excited and Forest School has helped him to regulate his emotions and be able to communicate his feelings maturely.”
  • “Forest School has really helped "E’s" confidence and she is now more likely to share her opinions and ideas.”"
  • “C" got to be a lot more independent and less adult led than he is at school and this   really impacted positively on him.”

Our Wild Tots sessions have been encouraging parents and their young children to spend more time outside together:

  • “I think this group is amazing. Every week we are having so much fun. Thank you for having us.”
  • “[My son] has started communicating much better. He is comfortable with his surrounding and experimenting [with] things around him.”

21 teachers from 17 Leicester primary schools took part in our outdoor numeracy and literacy training sessions in 2017. 80% of teachers strongly agreed that the sessions had inspired them to use the outdoors for learning more frequently. Positive comments included:

  • “Imaginative, creative ideas for both literacy and maths – adaptable for all ages.”
  • “Fantastic ideas that are easy to resource but rich in learning that is directly linked to the curriculum.”

Read our winning Wild Stories

The Day in the Life of a Squirrel, by Phoebe

Hi, I’m Scampy, I live at the bottom of the garden of a big house, where a little girl called Pheobe lives. Every day I wake up to hear the sound of Mr & Mrs Blackbird tweeting with their babies in the nest. The first thing I do when I wake is say hello to my Mum, Dad and my big brother Waggy. Every morning my brother and I have to go out and collect our breakfast from the bird table, which is situated in the middle of the garden just past the apple tree. I love getting the food as there are so many different types to collect, such as: fat balls / nuts / bread / suet and if we’re lucky there is some left-over dried fruit.

My favourite is the fat balls, the only way that you can get them is to hang upside down. I hang onto the table with two legs and my tail, then I lean forward and drop down, using my paws to grab hold of the fat ball holder which is like a cage. I have to hold on really tight so that I don’t fall off and land in a heap on the floor below. I fill up my cheeks with as much food as I can before I let go of the cage and swing myself back up onto the table. It’s a long way down to the floor – I have to jump from the table to the nearest branch.

My Dad tells me to be careful when I go out as the garden can be a dangerous place to play in, especially with the other animals in the garden, like magpies, crows and pigeons as they try to steal the food from us. The most dangerous place is the rickety rackety shed as it could fall down at any time and it would squash us into jelly if it ever fell on top of us.

My journey back to our home can be exciting as I have to jump from the branches to the bird table and in and out of the bushes at the same time as racing my big brother. We race to see who is the quickest and the best jumper and the prize for getting home first is getting to eat the best food that we have collected. There is a huge black round object in the middle of the garden which has a metal frame around it, it is very springy and we have so much fun bouncing on it to see who can bounce the highest.

I mentioned the girl Pheobe whose garden it is, she is very kind and friendly as she makes sure that the food is put out every day for us to collect. She tries to talk to us but we can’t talk back in her language, we can only squeak back to her. I would love to be able communicate with her, maybe one day…

The Tale Of The Red Squirrel, by Rafi

Once upon a time there were two brothers.  The eldest was called Max and the youngest was called Ace. One summer’s morning, mum was in the kitchen and the boys went outside to play in the garden. Suddenly Max and Ace spotted a red squirrel opening a peculiar blue door at the top of their tall, old oak tree at the bottom end of their garden.

Not only did this surprise them, but the red squirrel was dressed with a black top hat, a monocle on his right eye, a green, red and brown tartan waistcoat, a gold pocket watch tucked into his waistcoat, a black cape with a red silk lining, and a black walking cane with a silver handle. The red squirrel looked down at the boys from the top of their tree and said in a very posh English accent, “Good morning chaps. What a beautiful day! How are you my dear good neighbours?”

Max replied nervously, “We are fine, thank you. What is your name?” The red squirrel replied, “My name is Master Squiffy Jennings. May I ask what are your names, gentlemen?”

Max and Ace told Squiffy their names. The boys wanted to know if there were any other animals that were also dressed and could talk just like Squiffy too. Squiffy told them that he would introduce them to all the talking and dressed friends who lived locally. Squiffy said he would also introduce his other friends who did not live in the human world but, lived in another world through the magic door inside the tall overgrown hedge at the bottom of the boys’ garden. The boys were excited to meet Squiffy’s friends.

Squiffy had some shopping to do that morning and so he was happy to take the boys with him to meet other creatures just like him. Their first trip was to Uncle Robert’s garden, their neighbour, where behind his poplar tree lived a hedgehog called Penelope with a general grocer’s shop. Squiffy purchased his packet of butter.

Then Squiffy took them to Aunty Jane’s garden, their other neighbour, where behind her willow tree was a den where Fred the fox had a tailor shop. Here Squiffy had his clothes tailored. Their next visit was to another neighbour’s garden where a mole called Maurice lived under the ground next to the pile of terracotta pots.  He sold the best honey in town. Their last visit was to next door Uncle John’s garden where a badger called Bert lived next to the brook. He sold the best mushrooms.

The boys were so happy to make new friends with all the creatures they had met that day. The boys waved goodbye to Squiffy as he disappeared up the tree and through his blue door of his home with his groceries. The boys skipped happily into the kitchen and told their mum all about their outing. The boys were excited to meet up with Squiffy on another day and to go on more adventures.

The Striped Fox, by Ruqiya

Alice Moon and Oskar Sarn silently crept into the old farmhouse. They were the best of friends. As soon as they pushed the door open, Rosie Sarn, Oskar’s mum, was standing in front of them.

“Where have you been?” Rosie asked.

“In the forest,” they both informed her simultaneously. The children loved visiting the forest as it full of fascinating wildlife.

“Well then, you better go to bed!” she exclaimed. Alice and Oskar ran up the stairs laughing.

“It was so much fun playing with the fox!” she told Oskar excitedly.

The next morning, Alice and Oskar had breakfast and went back to the forest. The fox that Alice had talked about last night was their little secret and nobody knew about it. A little while later, when the friends had gone into the forest, they found the fox waiting for them. It was orange and it had black stripes. They had named the fox, ‘Stripes’.

“Hello, Stripes!” Oskar called joyfully.

The fox yawned but looked pleased to see them. The three went deep into the forest, where they saw a chaffinch’s nest in a tall, oak tree. Before they saw what was in the nest, several other animals scurried past them in a hurry. There were rabbits, squirrels and hares. In the nest, was a beautiful, glistening egg. Suddenly, as the wind blew, a large golden eagle swooped pasted and stole the egg without leaving a feather.

“Oh no! We have to get the egg back, come on!” Alice cried.

The trio ran after the eagle in pursuit. After a while, the golden eagle landed on a pile of sturdy rocks and placed the egg in its nest. Stripes growled at the eagle but it remained. Stripes tried again but louder this time. Fortunately, the eagle was shocked for a moment so Alice used this opportunity to grab the egg.

Alice, Oskar and Stripes returned the egg to where it belonged. Alice and Oskar said their goodbyes and returned home exhausted.

“That was a crazy adventure and I loved it!” Oskar told Alice.

“Hopefully, we’ll have another adventure soon!” Alice beamed. The two knocked on the door and waited for Oskar’s mum to open the door and fill their heads with lots of questions.