A forest school is not usually a separate school building but a style of outdoor learning in which children (or adults) attend regular, long-term sessions in a woodland or other natural setting. The UK’s Forest School Association describes it as a learner-centred process that supports play, exploration, and supported risk-taking, such as using hand tools or cooking over a campfire, with the aim of building confidence, resilience, and independence.
The approach traces its roots to the Scandinavian open-air tradition of friluftsliv and arrived in the UK in 1993. According to the association, quality Forest School follows six principles: regular sessions over a long period rather than one-off visits, a natural environment, learner-centred methods, holistic development, appropriate supported risk, and leadership by qualified Forest School practitioners.
Source: Forest School Association: What is Forest School?
Image: Environmental lesson in the small forest of Patras 9th primary school, by Nikolaos Kotopoulis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.