Nature school ‘thrilled’ as Ofsted gives go-ahead

When inspectors from the education watchdog visited Wildwood Nature School in Dartmouth Park in January they found independent school standards such as welfare, health and safety of pupils and suitability of staff still needed to be met.

Ofsted revisited the site in St Mary Brookfield Hall, York Rise, on June 13 and in a report published on July 18 said criteria had now been met and Wildwood was likely to meet all standards when it opens in September.

The school is run by co-heads Tara Royle and Clare Bunston, who taught at Coldfall Primary School in Muswell Hill and is a Forest School teacher.

“We’ve been waiting for the official report and we are thrilled to have passed, we’re very happy,” said Ms Royle.

The Wildwood Nature School logo next to St Mary Brookfield Church Hall, where it plans to open in September 2023 (Image: Wildwood Nature School / Street View)

“It was a huge amount of work but it was worth it in the end and we’re really glad that Ofsted could see that we are a safe pair of hands and they really supported our vision of what we want to do, so that’s amazing.”

The main focus of the school is on wellbeing and the children will spend a lot of time outdoors at Mortimer Terrace Nature Reserve in Gospel Oak, Queens Wood or Hampstead following Forest School principles.

Forest School is a child-centred learning process, providing learner inspired, hands-on experiences in woodlands or natural environments.

RELATED: New independent school plans to open in church hall

Ofsted praised “strong and detailed” curriculum plans and Ms Royle said there are “broad topics” taught each half term with “a lot of scope for children to find their own interests”.

The school will open with 20 children aged four to seven with six teaching staff and will “slowly” expand to 40 pupils up to the age of 11. Ms Royle’s three-year-old son Otis will start next year. 

Pupils will be split into age groups to learn phonic literacy and maths but otherwise mixed age groups will learn together and outside in the afternoon.

“We are a tiny school with a really high staff ratio and it’s all about making sure each child is seen and can learn they way they want to learn and have more control over what they are learning,” said Ms Royle. 

“Our main priority is that children have a really good sense of wellbeing, sense of themselves and really good self-esteem and we think that comes from partly being outdoors and also having more freedom to choose their own learning, following their interests and also explicitly learning about their bodies, their minds and what leads to wellbeing.”

Fees are £18,000 with six free placements and four reduced price admissions. All free and reduced places for September 2023 are already allocated.

For more information visit www.wildwoodnatureschool.org.uk