New Early Years Unit opens at Weare pre-school

The Wessex Learning Trust is keen to help children in the Cheddar area engage in their surroundings and get to grips with rural life.

This is no less true than at Rainbow Woods Pre-School, which is part of Weare First School, where pre-school Manager, Lana Whittaker, has been nurturing the children's outdoor experiences by converting a piece of previously overgrown land on the school site into a new Early Years Unit that incorporates a forest school for the children.

The new Early Years Unit adds another acility to the school, whose roster of amenities already include a swimming pool, forest school area, large playing field, and on-site kitchen.

Getting the land ready for the children was, however, no mean feat and saw Lana and her husband working hard over the school holidays to clear the site of weeds and brambles so as to make it accessible for the children.

This was then followed by a lot of hard work trimming trees, building mud kitchens and making the pond safe.

Even the pre-school children got to get involved in the building of their new forest school, helping for instance put wood chippings down around their new playhouse, planting flowers and painting pebbles.

All that hard work has paid huge dividends, as the finished result is a forest school in the heart of the school featuring a story area, veg patch, playhouse, pond, mud kitchen, and so much more for the children to explore and enjoy.

With time, the space will develop further as the plants and landscape grow, and get nurtured by the staff and children.

The children's excitement was palpable as they first got to explore the new facility, with so many new places for them to investigate.

A sure favourite had to be the pond where the children were fascinated to see all the wildlife which had made its home in and around the water.

The site is perfect for the children as it adjoins the pre-school's existing outdoor area, enabling their playing and learning to naturally spill out into the forest school.

Thanks to this, outdoor education will become a regular feature of the pre-schooler's experience at Weare, and hopefully support them to develop an interest in nature and their surroundings.

Executive head teacher, Denise Mawdsley, called the new Early Year's Unit facility: "An incredible addition to our wonderful school, which I hope will help inspire our children to gain a love for the outdoors and enjoy all the benefits of getting outside."

Lana said: "Developing the new space has certainly not been easy, but now that it's here we couldn't imagine being without it.

"The children love being able to get outside every day and explore the wilderness. The benefits of an outdoor education for children's development is huge and something I believe makes Rainbow Woods Pre-School an exceptional place for children to start their educational journey."

This project was very kindly supported by a grant from the Badgworth Schoolroom Foundation, as well as countless generous donations from parents and carers, of soil and wood chippings, help in clearing of trees and weeds, and making of a mud kitchen which the pre-school is incredibly grateful.