Polish visitors and children from Year Three gather in Durand’s forest school
Polish teachers visiting Monmouthshire have studied pupils in their very own forest school with an aim of implementing outdoor learning on their return home.
The Poles were guests of Durand Primary School in Caldicot which has a forest school within its grounds. An area of approximately an acre remains in its natural state with ponds, grassland and mature trees and acts as an outdoor classroom where the school’s pupils can learn and play in a woodland environment.
The visit was organised by the Federation for Education Initiatives in conjunction with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) which supports and provides information about the best way to run Forest School.
NRW staff have worked with the Polish group, giving advice on the educational approach to outdoor play and learning, introducing delivery and training techniques and providing information about establishments in Wales that have embraced Forest School learning.
County Councillor Liz Hacket Pain, Monmouthshire’s cabinet member for Schools and Learning said: “We were very pleased to welcome the Polish visitors and share best practice with them about forest schools. We hope that they will return with happy memories of their trip and that they found their visit to Durand Primary provided them with sound ideas they can introduce to their schools.”
Sarah Jones of the NRW Learning team who supported the Poles during their stay said: “Our visitors thought it was an inspiring opportunity to observe the children benefiting from such a rich learning environment.”
