About us
We are a grassroots community organisation based in Beckton, east London. With the support of grant funding and donations we run free and low cost outdoor learning sessions and community events; providing access to nature for local families and children and encouraging care for local green spaces.
Self-Directed
Self-directed education is at the centre of Curious by Nature and the Forest School approach. We do not see Forest School as a formal lesson or a Bushcraft skills session. Although our Forest School sessions incorporate adult-led, age appropriate learning elements to facilitate exploration of nature and relationship building within a community of children and families, we always allow plenty of space for self-directed learning and free play.
Learning is deeper and more meaningful when children are able to discover things for themselves. At Curious by Nature, we believe in respecting the child's innate love of learning. We do this by resisting our urge to "teach" or "suggest" and instead we try to follow the child's natural curiosity. Instead of saying "Why don't you try..." or "Do you want to..." we ask parents and carers to just be the safe base from which your child is free to explore on their own terms.
In all our sessions children are empowered by the opportunity to explore their natural curiosity and playfulness, whilst participating in a learning community where each voice is valued and activities are co-created by participation in democratic processes that involve consent. Children are able to practise balancing their individual needs with the community’s and solve problems together.
Risk Taking Play
Risk taking play is an integral part of our ethos. You’ll find our group climbing trees, rolling down hills and navigating natural obstacles. Through risk taking children are able to gain confidence, develop motor skills, understand their own abilities, better evaluate situations and build resilience. We believe that these benefits outweigh the risks. Adults are invited to take a step back and not intervene unless absolutely necessary.
There is a wealth of research that shows the benefits to children’s development that tree climbing and rough and tumble play can have. We accept that different families have different boundaries around these things, so how we approach this type of play in our sessions will always be an ongoing conversation with our Forest Play and Forest School families.
By not prohibiting this type of play we are aiming, with our community’s support, to help our children to develop empathy, and the skills to support one another and stop the play if things go too far. It is a key part of our self-directed ethos that we trust children to find their own limits.
Commitment
Committing to attend our sessions in the long term is a great way to develop friendships and community belonging.
An important part of the Forest School approach is that the children build deeper relationships with nature, with one another and with themselves, on their own terms. They do this through regular participation with the same group of children, in the same space each week. For this to happen it's important for all families to commit to arriving on time to our sessions and attending for the full term, barring any unavoidable absences.
We generally run our sessions as terms in order to facilitate this process; however, we do occasionally have one-off sessions or shorter blocks of sessions during school holidays for those who are unable to attend during term time.
Find out what to expect from our sessions by reading our ground rules
