Kindergarten
Clearwell, GL16 8LD
Branches Out Forest School Kindergarten offers regular daytime childcare for children aged 3+
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Based on a Rewilding Farm with 17 acres to explore, we have use of our fire pit shelter, outdoor classroom, pig-sty den, art studio trailer, cosy bell tent, huge mud kitchen and 3 wildlife ponds. We work in low ratio small groups with a maximum of 6-7 under 5's per day. We sometimes run our kindergarten groups alongside our home-ed groups, so 6-7 pre-schoolers and 6-7 home-edders all together in one lovely bubbly little community.
Our main core hours are 9:30-3:30 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, but we offer an hour of wraparound care both before and after our core hours.
We're open year round aside from 4 weeks holiday, closed for 1 week at Christmas. School pick up's & drop off's at Clearwell Primary to suit your needs. Ad-hoc cover and babysitting are also available in the school holidays.
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Our daily activities will include tool use, wildlife watching, animal care, bug hunting, tree climbing, puddle splashing, den making, mud painting, music creating, book reading, tasty baking and much much more, based around our outdoor curriculum that follows the seasons. I promise there will be no stone left unturned on our path - we love to spend as much time as possible outside exploring our world. Please head to our instagram page @branchesoutforestschool for daily insights into our activities and space.
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We accept all forms of government funding, tax free childcare and voucher schemes to help keep costs down. ​​
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For more info, please see FAQs below, email branchesoutuk@gmail.com, or click the button below to get in touch via childcare.co.uk. Thank you!
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FAQ's
A taste of our day at Kindergarten in Clearwell, GL16 8LD
Do you provide food?
We provide snacks for children. Snacks often include campfire cooked snacks or home grown fruit & veggies, oat cakes, rice cakes, breadsticks and homemade fruit & nut bars. We ask parents to provide packed lunches so we can make sure everyone stocks up on food they love.
Can you describe your routine?
We have casual story time and music time each day before lunch, plus optional mindfulness activities each morning. We also have set times for morning and afternoon snack, and lunch. Apart from this, we follow children's play and keep the flow of the sessions up to their interests.
What's your curriculum like?
We loosely plan activities around the nature calendar of seasonal events (eg World Bee Day), but we follow children's leads with exploring topics. All of our activities link to the EYFS curriculum and we aim to learn through play and exploration.
What activities do you offer?
Each week we offer a number of seasonal activities plus bug hunting, foraging, campfire cooking, tree climbing, stream dipping, arts and crafts, reading, music, tool use, slacklining, mud kitchen, small world play, imaginative play and much more.
What's the cost?
Our core hours 9:30-3:30 cost £45 per day, and we ask for a minimum of two days enrolment per week. Our wrap around care costs £10p/h for 08:30-9:30 and 3:30-4:30. We are Ofsted registered and signed up to tax free childcare, childcare voucher schemes and the Early Years Universal Entitlement Funding. Support with paying for childcare is explained on the website https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
What is your space like?
We have 17 acres of land to explore with horses, chickens, sheep, dogs and plenty of wildlife. Theres a gentle stream running through our site. We have a compost loo and outdoor classroom with wood-burning stove, plus an undercover fire pit. We aim to be outside in all weathers, but if high winds pose too much of a risk, we also have an indoor chalet we can retreat to.