Boots & Brambles Forest School

18/07/2026

Just WOW! 🌿💚 What a way to end a year of our SEMH Intervention programme! 🥹✨
This is the true beauty of Forest School. 🌳🍃

It isn't just about building fires, using tools or identifying plants (although our children have become brilliant at all of those! 🔥🪵🔨🌱). It's about giving children the freedom to lead, discover who they are, build confidence, find their voice and realise they're capable of so much more than they ever imagined. 💚

Over the past year, our children have spent one day a week in the woods with us, whatever the weather - from weeks of torrential rain 🌧️ to blazing sunshine ☀️ (definitely our most weather-challenging year yet!).
They've learned practical skills like safe tool use 🪓, fire lighting 🔥, flora and fauna identification 🌿 and knot tying 🪢.
But more importantly, they've grown in ways that can't be taught in a classroom..
💪 Resilience 🌟 Confidence
🤝 Communication ❤️ Self-esteem
🎯 Determination 🌱 Perseverance
✨ The courage to step outside their comfort zones.

For their final session, we handed over the reins and asked them one simple question...
"What would you like to do?"
Their answer? Build a village! 🏡😂

The original plans looked more like a city (complete with a post office, restaurant, school and even a bomb disposal area! 🤣), so together we evaluated what was actually possible before they split into teams, planned resources, assigned roles and got to work.

And wow...what they created was incredible! 🤩

🏰 A security checkpoint with bag searches, body scanners and even a jail!
🐴 Stables complete with horses, an arena and jumps.
🏥 A hospital with a waiting room, equipment and a very busy doctor!
☕ A café serving real foraged snacks and hot drinks for visiting adults.
🎓 A school where visitors made graduation hats, painted rocks and added memories to our Forest School board.
🪵 A tool workshop where everyone crafted their own woodland souvenir.

Every single area reflected the personalities, interests and strengths of the children who created it. ❤️

The day wasn't about us directing activities.
It wasn't about worksheets.
It wasn't about ticking boxes.
It was children leading their own learning. 🌳
Children collaborating. 🤝
Children solving problems. 💡
Children supporting one another. 💚
Children feeling proud of themselves. 🌟

That is Forest School at its absolute best.
Watching them play together in the village they had imagined and created, alongside adults who became just as immersed, was incredibly special. To then be able to share it all with parents and carers made it the perfect ending to an unforgettable year.

We couldn't be prouder of every single one of them. 💚🌿

Here's to muddy boots, smoky clothes, big imaginations and children who now know just how capable they really are. 🌳✨🍃

17/07/2026

🌿✨ This week we celebrated our Forest School Graduation. ✨🌿
For the children who have spent one day a week with us, it wasn't about grades, scores or targets. It was about them. ❤️
Each child received a personalised certificate highlighting three things we'd noticed about them over the year. Not things they'd been tested on, but the qualities that make them who they are. 🌱 Their kindness. 💚 Their resilience. 🌟 Their curiosity. 🦋 Their creativity. 🎨 Their courage. 💪

As we read each certificate aloud in front of parents and carers, the smiles said it all. 😁 Proud faces, happy tears and children who felt truly seen. 🥹

As a former teacher, I always found end-of-year reports difficult. Trying to fit every child onto the same scale. Reducing wonderfully unique individuals to whether they were "working towards", "expected" or "greater depth". 📊 Comparing children against a national benchmark rather than celebrating who they are because the powers that be require you to do so.

At Forest School, every report I write is different because every child is different. 🌳 Every certificate is personal. We look at the whole child. We notice the small moments that reveal character, confidence and growth. 🌿 We celebrate progress that can't always be measured on a spreadsheet. 📋

The contrast felt especially poignant today.
After months of SATs preparation, revision and test after test, my own 11-year-old came home clutching a piece of paper that reduced an entire year—perhaps even her whole primary school journey—to just three words: "working towards", "expected" or "greater depth". 💔 A piece of paper that automatically had her comparing herself to others.

Those words may serve a purpose in the education system, but they don't define a child.

They don't capture the child who comforts a friend without being asked. 🤝 The one who perseveres until they master a new skill. 🌱 The one who asks thoughtful questions. ❓ Shows empathy. ❤️ Takes risks. 🌿 Solves problems. 🧩 Or makes others laugh. 😊

Children are so much more than data. 📈❌
Today reminded me why Forest School matters so deeply. 🌲 Because every child deserves to be recognised not just for what they can achieve on a test, but for who they are becoming. ✨

💚 Let's celebrate the whole child. 🌳🍃

15/07/2026

💚 Behind every family business is... well... an even bigger family! 💚

They say it takes a village to raise a child...
We're pretty sure it takes an entire army to raise three children, keep up with their ever-growing social calendars, run a business AND spend a whole weekend running activities at a Steam Fayre! 😂🙈

So this is a little appreciation post for the people who quietly make weekends like this possible...

💚 A huge thank you to our friends for being chief taxi service and social secretary for our biggest Wildling! We honestly couldn't have kept all the plates spinning without you.

💚 To Nana and Grandad... thank you for helping run the stall, entertaining the littlest Wildlings, stepping in whenever we needed you and generally being absolute legends. ❤️
To Auntie Jackie - thanks so much for the surprise visit!

💚 And to our own Wildlings... thank you. ❤️
Being the children of self-employed parents isn't always easy. It means early starts, long days, waiting around while Mum and Dad work and sharing your weekends with lots of other families.

Yet you've smiled, helped out, entertained yourselves, been patient, and made us so incredibly proud. Watching you all chatting to customers, joining in, and looking after each other reminds us why we do this. 🌿

People often see the finished stall, the activities, and the busy event... but behind it all is a whole team of family and friends giving up their own time to help make it happen.
To every single one of you... thank you. We really couldn't do this without you. ❤️🌿

13/07/2026

🚂🔥 Rempstone Steam Fayre 2026... WOW! What a weekend! 🔥🚂 Rempstone Steam & Country Show

Where do we even begin?! 🤩
This weekend has had absolutely EVERYTHING...

🎨 Children's activities
🚁 Helicopter flights
🚛 Monster truck rides
⚽ An England win!
👽 ET making an appearance
🎩 Amazing magicians
🤹 Circus skills
🎶 Fantastic live music
🚂 And, of course, magnificent steam engines!

It's been non-stop from start to finish, and we've loved every minute of it! ❤️

But our favourite moment? It has to be when the crowds start to thin, the day begins to wind down, everyone's feet are aching 😅 and we finally get to sit together as a family with a well-earned cold drink in hand. 🥤🌅 Watching the sun set while the steam engines glow against the evening sky... it's one of those moments that reminds you why weekends like this are so special. ❤️🚂✨

A massive thank you to everyone at Rempstone Steam Fayre for having us back again. We always have the best time and feel so lucky to be part of such an incredible event. And a massive thank you to our awesome family and friends for all their help!

And to every single family who came to see us, got stuck into our activities, stopped for a chat or came back to say hello... thank you. Your smiles, laughter and support mean the world to our little family business. 💚

Now... who else needs a lie-in? 😂🙋‍♀️
See you next year, Rempstone! 🚂💚✨

08/07/2026

06/07/2026

✨ One of the biggest reasons I left teaching was seeing creativity squeezed out by time pressures and the need to tick boxes.

I'll never forget DT lessons where I'd show a WAGOLL of a Tudor house... only to end up with 30 near-identical Tudor houses. 🏠

Or when children designed their own Egyptian shadufs, but we all had to make the same child's design because there wasn't enough time. ⏱️

One child's question has stayed with me for 12 years:
💭 "Why did we do our own designs if we were all going to make X's?"

Then there were the frantic lessons where we'd run out of time, and my TA and I would have children queuing while we did all the glue gunning. 🔫 The very part that children would have loved most... the part full of problem-solving, risk-taking, resilience and pride... taken away because we'd run out of time.

Fast forward to today... 🌿💚
At Forest School, we read Not a Stick 📖 and simply invited 60 children to create something using a stick and a selection of resources.

The results? 🤩

🪄 Wands
⚔️ Swords
🎣 Fishing rods
🧶 God's Eye weavings
💡 Light sabres
🍭 Lollipops
🌳 Stick people
🪷 A Toy Story lily pad
🧠 A mind-reading sword..and so much more!

Not one creation was the same. No templates. No "right answer". Just imagination, creativity and children being children. ❤️

Sometimes all a child needs is a stick... and the freedom to decide what it can become. 🌿✨

01/07/2026

🌿✨ Goodbye, June... Hello, July! ✨🌿

June is always a bittersweet month for us here at Boots & Brambles Forest School 💚

💚 It's a month filled with love, reflection and remembrance. We celebrate two very special birthdays 🎂🎉 while also holding space in our hearts for one precious little life that will never be forgotten. 💛🦋

This year, June has felt especially full. Behind the scenes there's been so much happening, both in and outside the woods, alongside heatwaves ☀️, ever-changing weather 🌦️, and the publication of the long-awaited Okenden Review. It's certainly been a month that has asked a lot of us. 💚

Through it all, our beautiful woodland has done what it always does... 🌳🍃
It has offered calm when things felt busy, shade when the temperatures soared, shelter from the rain, wind and hail 🌧️💨, and a safe, nurturing space where children and adults alike could simply be.

This month we've had the privilege of welcoming so many wonderful people into our woods:
🌿 Alternative Provision sessions
🏫 Primary & Secondary SEMH groups
🦫 Beaver groups
🎈 Birthday parties
💚 Into the Woods with Zephyr's Nottingham
🎒 Whole-class transition days..and so many more amazing woodland adventures!

The weather has certainly kept us on our toes... we've enjoyed sunshine ☀️, heavy rain 🌧️, clouds ☁️, wind 🌬️, hail ❄️ and yes... even a heatwave! 🔥😅

Most of all, we're incredibly grateful for the amazing community that continues to grow around our Forest School. Thank you to every child, family, school, organisation and volunteer who has joined us in the woods this June. 💚

Your laughter, curiosity and kindness are what make this place so special.

Here's to new adventures, muddy boots, campfire chats and magical woodland moments... 🌲🔥🍂

Hello, July... we're ready for you! 🌼💚

30/06/2026

🌳 Yesterday we had a lovely Transition Day with next year's Y1 & Y2 from
our local school - Tollerton Primary School, inspired by one of our favourite stories! 💛💙❤️🩶💚🩷

🪵 We had LOTS of fun...

- Creating our own unique Woodland Colour Monsters 💛💙❤️🩶💚🩷

- Taking part in a Blindfold Rope Trail 🙈🪵

- Hunting for bugs 🐛🐌🐞🦋

- Playing freely in the woods! 🌳🫧

- Cooling off with ice pops! 🍡

A HUGE thank you to all the children and staff! We hope you enjoyed your time in the woods at Boots & Brambles Forest School

🌳 We hope to see you in the woods again soon and look forward to meeting next year's Y3 & Y4 next Monday! 🌳