Great and Small Forest School

A stream, animal tracks and a whole day outdoors give Great and Small Forest School its character. At Cottams Farm in Clayton Le Moors, private woodland provides the setting for climbing, making, investigating and learning about the changing seasons. This is childcare for families who want outdoor exploration to shape the day, rather than sit around its edges.

Ofsted rated the setting Outstanding on 18 September 2024, finding that its carefully organised curriculum supported excellent progress, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The preschool provision has capacity for 14 children aged 36 to 60 months. Those places are a whole-setting measure, not a description of the size of an activity group.

The main preschool booking pattern is a full day on Tuesday or Wednesday, during term time. Parent and child sessions provide a separate, accompanied option on Fridays.

Learning and Activities

Forest School here means hands-on learning in woodland: children investigate natural materials, use tools for crafts and take part in caring for their surroundings. The EYFS provides the framework for younger children's learning and care, with play supporting communication, physical development and preparation for their next educational stage. Woodland activity is the way those experiences take shape.

The day runs outdoors from 9am to 3pm. Children listen for buzzards and woodpeckers, look for evidence of animals and observe how the woodland changes through the year. Water, weather and natural materials supply real things to investigate. Stream play and snow sledging belong to that seasonal pattern, rather than a timetable of identical activities.

In September 2024, a deer track became a lesson in comparison and direction. Younger children examined its shape alongside their own feet; older children connected the track with what they knew about where the animal was heading. The useful detail is how one discovery allowed children at different stages to contribute, rather than everyone receiving the same task.

Stories, singing and games also supported language in September 2024. Children described the texture of paint mixed with twigs and used vocabulary connected with foraging. Outdoor learning included talking precisely about what they were handling, not simply being outside.

Outdoor and Community Life

Tools, fire lighting and woodland care are part of the branch's hands-on offer. Staff help children think through risks as they make natural crafts and participate in managing the woodland. The day ends with reflection on what children enjoyed, what they learned and what they would like to try next. That gives their own interests a place in future activity.

Physical challenge was clear in September 2024: children practised balancing, running and climbing across the spacious site. At the stream, older children helped younger ones carry water uphill. Cooperation had a practical purpose, with children working together to complete something they had chosen to do.

During that same month, visiting parents contributed to children's learning about culture, faith and working life, alongside activities about local history. These experiences connected the woodland day with the wider world.

At the September 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and highlighted the strength of communication with parents. Daily conversations covered children's development in detail, giving families an account of learning as well as care.

Safety also formed part of children's learning in September 2024. Staff assessed hazards and discussed them with children, who used gloves for tool activities and recognised risks from nettles and unsuitable mushrooms. The emphasis was on understanding how to act around a hazard, alongside adult oversight.

Gentle guidance helped children manage feelings and behaviour during September 2024. Sharing equipment, agreeing activities and helping one another gave them opportunities to practise those skills. The examples connect emotional support with ordinary play, rather than treating it as a separate lesson.

The branch's current day includes campfire food and foraging experiences. For private day bookings, lunch cooked over the campfire and snacks are included, along with sun creams and wipes; children must bring any personal consumables they need. Funded bookings carry a separate lunch-and-snack bundle charge, while personal consumables remain the family's responsibility.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Cottams Farm, Whalley Road, Clayton Le Moors, Accrington, BB5 5SB. Preschool full days run from 9am to 3pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The setting operates for 38 weeks, with closures following local primary school holidays; the charge form also specifies bank holiday closures. Additional hours are not offered under that form, so the preschool day needs to fit the family's working arrangements.

Friday Parent and Child sessions are a different service, with an adult accompanying the child. A monthly Home Ed Group is also scheduled on Thursdays. These should be distinguished from the preschool full-day offer when planning attendance.

Holiday clubs at the Clayton Le Moors woodland serve children aged 4 to 11. They depend on staffing and minimum attendance, exclude Christmas and require advance booking. They are a conditional holiday service, rather than an extension of the term-time preschool calendar.

A branch-specific contact form provides an enquiry route for the Clayton Le Moors Forest School.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with full-day funding delivered during term time rather than stretched across the year. The preschool day has its own funded attendance pattern; it should not be confused with the group's other settings or their hours. Tax-free childcare is accepted, and the branch's fees page also accepts places supported by student childcare grants.

For funded bookings, the fees page charges separately for the Woodland Care Package and campfire lunch-and-snack bundle. The charge form describes the Woodland Care Package as a voluntary contribution towards tree and path maintenance and habitat conservation, with suitable maintenance help or donated resources as alternatives. Its purpose is maintaining the woodland used by children. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the Clayton Le Moors fees page sets out the charge structure.

• Food and woodland contributions. The fees page includes campfire lunch in paid day bookings and charges funded bookings for a lunch-and-snack bundle, while the charge form asks families to supply a packed lunch, includes snacks without an extra charge and calls the Woodland Care Package voluntary. Ask for written agreement on which food and contribution terms apply to your booking.
• An outdoor day. Children spend the day outside, including stream play and activities across changing weather. At a visit, discuss suitable clothing and footwear, and how your child would manage the full outdoor day.
• A specific weekly pattern. Preschool full days fall on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with holiday clubs conditional on staffing and attendance. Families needing care on other weekdays or through school holidays should weigh that pattern against their own calendar.

Great and Small Forest School suits families seeking Tuesday or Wednesday preschool full days built around woodland learning, as well as those wanting Friday sessions alongside their child. Animal tracks, stream play, natural crafts and reflection give the offer a clear identity. Its September 2024 Outstanding judgement adds substantial weight to that appeal.

The practical fit is specific: term-time attendance, a day spent outdoors and food and contribution terms to settle before booking. For a child who enjoys investigating nature, there is plenty here to turn curiosity into purposeful activity.