Putney

Welcome to our Putney nursery. Families pick up & drop off at St Margaret’s and we hop on our nursery minibus to spend the day at our nature site. Your child will have an owlsome daily adventure outdoors, covering an ambitious and exciting curriculum!

Full days: 8am - 5:45pm
51 weeks a year
Drop off: 8 - 8:20am / Pick up: 5:15 - 5:45pm

Drop off/ Pick up Site

St Margaret’s Church,
Putney Park Lane, Putney, SW15 5HU

Our drop off & pick up site is based at St Margaret’s Church on Putney Park Lane, located in between Putney Station and Barnes Station.

We gather here in the morning to board our minibus to the great outdoors. There is a garden space used for drop off and pick up.

 

Outdoor Site

Walton Firs Activity Centre
Convent Lane, Cobham, KT11 1HB

Our outdoor classroom is situated in a magical 36 acres of green space and woodland.

Here we have our own natural space to explore and learn in along with an amazing tipi space. We have breakfast, lunch and snacks here.

 

Learning Approach

  • Child led

    Your child takes the limelight and our teachers faciliate. This way it’s intrinsically motivating and provides the best method to test and learn, whilst they are fully engaged.

  • Play based

    Play is natural and allows your child to have full autonomy, to be in control and test their ideas whilst being in flow in what they are doing.

  • Risky play

    We encourage risky play under safe supervision which promotes grit. These enhanced activities encourage learning by having a go and building long-term resilience.

  • Real world

    Children learn best through their senses: seeing, touching, hearing, and smelling. There is no better substitute for learning than by experiencing and doing.

Learn more

An Outdoor Owls Day

Tawny Owls Camp (20 months - 2 years)

  • Children arrive at the Church ready to board our minibus, ‘Classroom on Wheels’. On the bus we sing songs, read books, talk with our bus buddy and look out the window!

    Children have breakfast (cereal, milk & fruits) in the forest, ready and fueled for exciting adventures ahead. We then gather around our campfire for circle time to talk about the day ahead, and how we’re feeling, and for a song.

    After settling in with our friends children begin to explore the camp with different provocations set up each day to stimulate their curiosity and enable rich play. This can be learning time in the mud kitchen, obstacle course, arts & crafts, books, and digging. This is child-led, free-play and where children can test the environment to learn.

  • At 11:45am it’s time to gather around and eat our lovely freshly prepared meal at our al fresco dining. Our chef bakes delicious homemade cookies.

    At 12:30pm, children head into our cosy tipi for a comfortable nap where our educators help put them down to the tune of natural soundscapes.

    After, children are offered a snack of fresh fruit and vegetables.

  • Now it’s time for an adventure walk to explore and role-play. We go to visit our favourite trees, dens we’ve made, open spaces, dips, and also see robins and bluebells spring. This is learning on the go, through first-hand experiences and it’s meaningful.

    We then sit down for our tea at 3:30pm. After we say goodbye to the forest and board our classroom on wheels and we return to the Church.

Sooty Owls Camp (3 - 5 years)

  • Children arrive at the Church between 8 - 8:20 ready to board our minibus, ‘Classroom on Wheels’. On the bus we sing songs, read books, talk with our bus buddy and look out the window!

    Children arrive for breakfast (cereal, milk & fruits) in the forest, ready and fueled for exciting adventures ahead. We then gather around our campfire for circle time to talk about the day ahead, and how we’re feeling, and for a song. After settling in with our friends children begin to explore the camp with different provocations set up each day to stimulate their curiosity and enable rich play. This can be learning time in the mud kitchen, obstacle course, arts & crafts, books, and digging.

    After some time in camp, children are invited for an adventure walk to other favourite trees to swing and climb, places we are growing flowers and to see other friendly creepy crawlies, as well as soaking up the sights and smells of the seasons. This is learning on the go, through first-hand experiences and it’s meaningful.

  • At 12pm it’s time to gather around and eat our lovely freshly prepared meal at our al fresco dining. Our chef bakes delicious homemade cookies.

    For any children who fancy a short rest they can lie down in our tipi.

  • For children approaching school we run small group preschool sessions in our mimicked classroom environment to develop their skills in listening, raising their hands, answering questions, and building confidence to speak in front of others. Our teachers will guide them through topics on phonics, mark-making, science experiments, and practical mathematics.

    In other parts of the afternoon our teachers are running games and projects, including also forest school activities e.g. sawing, drilling, whittling.

    We then sit down for our tea at 3:30pm. After we say goodbye to the forest and board our classroom on wheels and we return to the Church.

Curriculum

Our holistic curriculum covers six key roots. We focus on developing: grit, smart thinking & social skills.

Wildlife
Animals
Environment

Nature

World

Planet
Cultural
Celebrations

Expression

Arts
Music
Sports

Empathy
Values
Kindness

Body

Exercise
Coordination
Senses

Mind

Creativity
Knowledge
Resilience

Soul

Nutritious Food

We understand the importance of giving children well balanced, nutritious, and healthy meals. Our meals are cooked and prepared by TwoTeaspoons, who specialise in cooking children’s meals for each season.

We provide breakfast (cereal & fresh fruits), lunch, and tea daily. We also offer an afternoon snack too.

What Our Parents Say

“I could not recommend Outdoor Owls more! They completely blew us away with their amazing ethos, commitment and love for the children. Your child will thrive and grow and become a loving, resilient human being from their care and attention.”

— Gina

“We love Outdoor Owls and feel so lucky our little boy (and hopefully his sister one day) gets to play, learn, and just “be” in the forest in a safe, loving, and caring environment. Our son’s favourite time is the singing time on the minibus and to sit together with their friends, talk about the day, the weather, and sing songs together - it’s not something to be scared of.”

— Hollie

Forest School Rules

  • “Stop, Orange Rope Return”

    Our basecamp is marked with orange ropes so the children know where the boundary is of our forest. They learn to not go beyond them.

  • “Yes to the Vest!”

    All our children wear hi-vis vests so they are visible and all times. We give every child their own vest and our Educators wear them too!

  • “No Picking and Licking”

    This is to remind the children that objects on the floor may be covered in dirt and germs which might make them poorly.

  • “Sharing and Caring”

    To help look after nature, our resources and most important each other, we use sharing and caring hands to interact in our play.

  • “Stop, Drop and Cross!”

    Should a doggy come into our forest, children learn to drop what they are holding and cross their arms which helps keep their interest elsewhere.

 FAQs

  • As the Danish saying goes, “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes”. We’ve teamed up with Didriksons and all our Outdoor Owls are equipped with proper clothing for the outdoors, come rain or shine. When there are high winds and it is stormy we will stay indoors.

  • We understand that for most children when they leave us they will be entering a different environment after amazing times in the forest. In the 9 months before school your child we partake in preschool sessions in our separate classroom style environment with outdoor blackboard and wood log stools. Children are exposed to this mimmiked classroom environment, in small group sessions learn to focus on topics for periods of time, use their listening ears and raise their hands. Children build great confidence to speak in front of a group. Before they head to school you will receive a report of where they are at with their early years learning goals.

  • The children love our minibus, classroom on wheels. Our teachers site amongst our children and the journey takes around 35mins, where we do 10mins each of singing, reading and looking out at the world around us. All driver’s are DBS checked and professionally trained.

  • We have a large inside tipi space for children to sleep where we have cosy camp beds. Children nap after lunch time. For toilets we have a designated nappy changing unit in our tipi, along with another potty/ gazebo toilet area (including handwashing station) for privacy. We provide all nappies. Our chef brings our delicious meals which our team prep and children eat in camp at our al fresco eating area.

  • For every new child starting as part of your enrolment fee you will receive a set of Didriksons, outerwear waterproofs with fleeced lining. These keep our children warm and dry all year round. Your little one will also receive their own hi-vis vest too.

    Once you’re signed up we will share with you a kit list of how best to dress your child with others layers for the different seasons.

  • Yes, we have weekday showaround slots available for you to come at visit us at our forest in Cobham. Complete our enquiry form here and we’ll share how you can do this.