Nature Is Our Greatest Teacher

Primus Forest & Outdoor Preschool At Phoenix Park

Nature Is Our Greatest Teacher

Primus Forest Preschool
At Phoenix Park

Primus Forest Preschool’s mission is to inspire children to spend time in nature

to have fun, explore their imagination, get dirty, learn practical skills and experience hands on learning at its best.

"There's a growing movement of us as early childhood
educators who know how important it is to get out in
nature as often as possible and at Phoenix Park, we
have the environment to give the children that gift."

Mrs. Louise Grant Founding Director at Primus Schoolhouse

"There's a growing movement of us as early childhood educators who know how important it is to get out in nature as often as possible and at Phoenix Park, we have the environment to give the children that gift."

Mrs. Louise Grant
Managing Director at White Lodge International Preschool

Why Choose A Forest Preschool?

Forest School is an outdoor education model in which children experience natural spaces to learn academic, personal, social and technical skills.

The Forest School approach to learning takes children into the great outdoors whatever the weather to explore the natural environment. Forest School activities develop confidence, self-esteem, imagination and physical ability as the children are allowed to test their limits in the natural world.

Why Forest School Learning?

Nature’s very good for us

Results from Europe have shown children who attend Forest School have better psychological resilience and social skills.

It’s a topic that has been heavily researched in both health and wellness areas. Cognition and attention studies have proven that just taking that break and that time out to be with nature tends to improve the wellbeing of not just adults, but children as well.

It’s a topic that has been heavily researched in both health and wellness areas. Cognition and attention studies have proven that just taking that break and that time out to be with nature tends to improve the wellbeing of not just adults, but children as well.
Build confidence and self-esteem

The Forest School creates a safe, non-judgemental, nurturing environment for learners to experiment and take risks. It includes a variety of practical activities in which children are empowered to manage their own risk and build resilience.

Promote creativity and imagination
Open-ended play in the natural environment, from designing and building structures to making mud pies, allows children to learn through play, explore their imagination, encourage decision making and creative solutions.
Discover and appreciate the natural world

Parents are attracted to giving their child the Forest School experience because they want to reconnect with nature — that’s a really innate part of who they want to be or they want their children to be.

Parents are concerned with the time their children spend with technology, especially in Singapore. The Primus Schoolhouse Phoenix Park school environment allows children to take a step back from the virtual world and connect with the natural world around them.

About the Primus Phoenix Park Forest School

Forest School is a child-centred inspirational learning approach, that offers opportunities for holistic growth. Our programme supports play, exploration and supported risk taking. It develops confidence and self-esteem through learner inspired, hands-on experiences in a natural setting.

Our approach to risk means that learners constantly expand on their abilities by solving real-world issues, building self-belief and resilience. We believe that risk is more than just potential for physical harm, but a more holistic concept; there are risks in everything we do, and we grow by overcoming them. Forest School therefore, helps participants to become healthy, resilient, creative and independent learners.

Forest Learning Activities​

At Primus Forest School, we understand that it isn’t just the educational outcomes and research that matter; the engagement and joy of our learners says it all! Our children are connected with nature through our purposeful activities, acquiring fulfilling memories and skills they can use for life.
Build & Play
Mud & Sand Play
Teamwork
Survival Skills

Testimonials

FAQ

The philosophy behind the forest school movement is to encourage and inspire individuals through positive outdoor experiences. Children will develop intrinsic motivation, social, emotional, and cognitive skills, along with strengthened resilience through outdoor learning experiences. As they connect and learn about the natural environment, they will learn how to handle risks, problem solve, and cooperate as a group. Forest Schools also prioritize student-led learning, wherein curriculum is designed to support further learning and exploration in areas the students are naturally drawn to. 

  • Self awareness
  • Self regulation
  • Intrinsic motivation
  • Empathy
  • Social communication skills
  • Independence
  • Resilience
  • Positive attitudes and confidence
The Forest School uses the best of Montessori methods: student choice within limits, large blocks of work time, learning through “discovery,” and freedom of movement in the classroom/playground. Then we go three important steps further by immersing learners in real-world projects, and adhering to the Socratic method of instruction, which emphasizes asking and answering questions to cultivate critical thinking. Our learners don’t just memorize facts; they learn how to learn, learn how to do, learn how to be, and learn how to live together.
We are not trained or staffed to serve children with serious learning disabilities, special needs, or who need specialized attention. If you are interested in The Forest School and believe it is a great fit for your family, please inquire and we will personally assess your unique situation and the fit of your young learner.

Teachers use a student-led, inquiry-based approach when developing lessons.

Teachers facilitate student learning by providing a variety of tools, resources and experiences that guide students to find answers to their own questions. This helps to build confidence, self-reliance, and independent thinking skills.

Learning approaches used by our teachers include:

Inquiry- based: A dynamic and emergent process that builds on students’ natural curiosity about the world in which they live.

Play-based: Recognizes the integral role of play in a child’s development. This approach engages the whole child by encouraging a depth of experience and treating a child’s emotional, physical and social selves as interwoven.

Experiential learning: Learning that is based on students being directly involved in a learning experience rather than being taught pre-determined lesson plans. Students learn through and reflect on their learning experiences.

Place-based: The act of connecting children to a particular place through direct experiential contact.

At The Nature School, students learn language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education, visual arts, music and drama through these learning approaches.

In addition to a passion for nature and learning in the outdoors, a core group of Primus Phoenix Park have been trained in the Forest School approach. The Phoenix Park staff participate in regular staff meetings to further their knowledge and share best Forest School practises
Primus Phoenix Park Forest School is founded on the belief that education is most effective when children are interested, engaged, supported and encouraged. We implement the High Scope approach taking the learning process beyond traditional academic subjects and prepare children for later schooling and future success in life. This active learning approach to early education achieves powerful, positive results. Teachers build on children’s learning based on what they observe in the classroom, providing materials and opportunities that both support and challenge young children.
Forest School actively develops children’s awareness of risk as well as their confidence in managing risk. As the children’s confidence and ability to manage risk grows they are able to explore more independently and put into practice their own judgements, trying the consequences out for themselves.
Everyone involved in Forest School ensures that the children’s health, hygiene and safety is at the centre of all we do. Though your child may end their day at school with mud and paint spatters, practices such as regular health checks, hard washing etc are never compromised.
Our forest school curriculum is tailored for children aged 18 months – 6 years to explore their learning in a safe, nurturing environment.