Learning Approach

Let’s shift from
school-readiness to life-readiness

Raising Happy, Resilient, Ready-for-Life Little People

At Outdoor Owls Forest School Nursery, our mission is simple yet powerful: to help your child grow up healthy, joyful, and thriving—inside and out.

We take a thoughtful, balanced approach to early learning, nurturing not just school readiness but life readiness. Through immersive outdoor experiences, we help children build resilience, confidence, and a rich toolkit of essential skills that will carry them far beyond the classroom.

Nature provides the perfect backdrop for this journey. It’s where laughter echoes through the trees, big feelings are explored safely, and lifelong memories are made in muddy boots and wide-eyed wonder.

By the time our wise little ones leave us, they don’t just know how to solve problems—they know how to spot them, think creatively, and connect with others with empathy and curiosity. They’re not just prepared for the next step—they’re prepared for the future.

Styles of Learning

  • Free Play

    Initiated by the child where teachers observe their play uninterrupted, giving them time and space to be. Children can interact with different curated areas in camp: reading, mud kitchen, digging, obstacle course, arts & crafts, loose parts, tree climbing)

  • Guided Play

    Child-initiated and then teachers facilitate learning by scaffolding play, to extend learning opportunities. This includes a variety of games and our adventure walks in nature.

  • Teacher Led

    Teacher designed and controlled which include circle times, preschool sessions, and forest school activities (camp fires, sawing, whittling etc)

Our Approach: Let Curiosity Lead the Way

At Outdoor Owls, learning begins with wonder and unfolds naturally through play. Set entirely outdoors, our organic, child-led approach is rooted in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, as guided by Ofsted—but we bring it to life in a way that’s uniquely wild, free, and full of joy.

We believe in focusing on what your child can do—not what they can’t. Rather than telling children what to think, we nurture the confidence and critical thinking skills to help them explore how to think. It’s a powerful shift—and one that builds true independence, resilience, and emotional intelligence.

By giving children space to take healthy risks and solve real-world problems through nature-based play, we empower them to grow strong, grounded, and future-ready—not wrapped in cotton wool, but wrapped in self-belief.

Our Methods: Inspired by the Best, Tailored to Your Child

Our practice is inspired by a rich blend of the world’s most respected educational philosophies—Froebel, Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Steiner, and of course, Forest School principles. We don’t subscribe to a single method. Instead, we thoughtfully weave together the best ideas to meet the needs of every child’s unique imagination, rhythm, and curiosity.

We use the outdoors as a powerful open-ended setting filled with illed with natural materials, sensory experiences, and endless possibilities for creative play. Hence we draw a lot from ‘Forest School’ methods which are set up to allow children to lead with their innate curiosity.

Our teacher to child ratio is 1:4 for 2 year olds and a minimum of 1:8 for 3-5 year olds and different child ages are mixed together. This means children get a necessary amount for educator support and are able to watch and learn through others at different learning stages. As your child gets older with us they are able to take lead in supporting younger children around them. This helps to build your child’s social skills, confidence and cognitive flexibility.