As a small village school, set in the Dorset countryside, we are committed to maximising our learning within our rural environment. At St. James' CE First School and Nursery, we have an established forest school learning area set in our expansive school grounds.

Throughout every child’s school journey, we continue to fully enjoy our mature on-site woodland to enhance and support your child’s learning.

Led by our fully qualified Forest School Teacher, we are able to enjoy a well-developed Forest School here on our site.

Children are taught various tool skills from an early age which culminate in fire lighting. It is these behaviours and attitudes that are developed through the Forest School ethos and learning process that develop the reflective and independent, confident and creative, happy and emotionally-aware learners that we want our children to be.

Be it maths, science, geography, art and design (to name just a few), we like to take as much of our learning outdoors as possible. With our outdoor classroom, we can ensure we provide opportunities for outdoor learning through all the seasons.

"The best Classroom and the richest classroom is roofed only by the sky!"

^{(Margret McMillan)}