Forest School Holiday Club

Our holiday club takes place in the beautiful Dacres Wood Nature Reserve, in Forest Hill (South East London) where we’ll spend all day outdoors, enjoying the wild. We can’t guarantee that your children will return home clean and tidy, but they’ll certainly be exhausted after a fun day exploring and adventuring outdoors.

Here are some of the activities that they can take part in:

den/shelter building
team games
wood work
tool use
nature crafts
fire lighting
campfire cooking
and lots of wild play

Our group is small, with a maximum of 15 children. Sessions are run with a minimum of 2 adults (sometimes we have 3) on site each day, and 2 teenage ‘assistants’ to help supervise the children. The adults all hold enhanced DBS checks, Outdoor First Aid Certificates and have extensive experience of working with children.

FAQ

Is this the right club for my child?

Does your child like rolling around in the mud, crawling on their hands and knees looking for frogs, and running around in the rain? Then yes, it’s definitely the right club for them. If your child doesn’t like getting dirty, and is happier in an indoor environment then it might not be the right place for them.

They don’t have to be extroverts, or need to spend the whole time playing with others, there are plenty of quiet areas where children can just ‘chill out’(the hammock area has become a firm favourite amongst most children and adults) where children can spend time reading, drawing, writing or just sitting and gently processing everything around them.

Do we need to book for a whole week or can my child attend for just one day?

You can book your child in for a single day, several days or the whole week as we have different activities each day, however, we've found that children who attend for a whole week benefit from being able to build a strong bond with the other children attending and the group leaders, with many children finding it's helped them with their confidence. It also means they can build on their skills we introduce throughout the week as they'll get to practice them for longer.

What to bring?

We will be spending all day outdoors so children should come dressed for an adventure, in clothes they don’t mind getting dirty. Long sleeves and trousers area ideal (if it’s not too hot) as there are brambles and nettles onsite.

In addition, they will need to bring:

Lunch, a snack for the morning and one for the afternoon
Water bottle – there’s a tap on site for refilling
Spare clothes (in case they get very dirty). Please make sure they have an extra jumper just in case it gets cooler than we’re expecting. Even if it's summer the UK weather can be unpredictable.
Waterproofs if it looks like it’s going to rain. This includes trousers, coat and wellington boots

Is there a shelter onsite?

We will have a basic canvas shelter up in the woods, and a building we can use if weather conditions make it unsafe to be outdoors (such as in a thunderstorm or in high winds).

Is there a toilet onsite?

Yes. There is a toilet in the building by the main gate. We take the children for regular toilet breaks as a group.

Is the site open to the general public?

No. Dacres Wood Nature Reserve is a locked site. We will have the site to ourselves, except for 2 hours during the week when a local nursery will come and do their forest school session, but we will be using a different part of the site during that time, and there won’t be any crossover.

My child is nearly 5, is it ok for them to attend?

Unfortunately, we're only allowed to take children after their 5th birthday so that we can remain Ofsted compliant, but we look forward to seeing them when they are old enough to attend.