This is a deliberately small independent primary in Dartmouth Park, Camden, designed around long stretches outdoors and a strong focus on wellbeing. Wildwood Nature School opened in September 2023 with 16 children aged 4 to 7, and it aims to grow slowly from that foundation rather than scale quickly.
The model is unusually explicit about access. The school states that at least 20% of places are free and a further 30% have significantly reduced fees, with affordability checks for families seeking financial support.
Parents considering Wildwood should understand one key context point early. The most recent standard inspection was graded Inadequate (inspection date 09 July 2024), with subsequent monitoring inspections in 2025 describing progress in meeting the independent school standards that were checked.
Wildwood’s identity is founder-led and values-led. Tara Royle is listed as Founder and Head of School, and the public-facing material reads like a manifesto for a different kind of primary education, with wellbeing, play, and time in nature treated as core rather than enrichment.
Day-to-day routines are structured, but they are not built around staying at desks. The school publishes a sample day with an opening circle that includes mindfulness, singing, check-ins, and storytelling, followed by phonics or English in small groups, a free play block, and cross-curricular project work before heading out to local green spaces for Forest School activities and free play. Home time is listed as 3.50pm on a standard day.
The outdoor strand is specific, not generic. The school describes a weekly all-day Tuesday spent at the Old Orchard Garden, an enclosed site used for fires, pond dipping, and Forest School activities, plus other regular time outdoors at Hampstead Heath, land around St Anne’s Church where the school is developing a vegetable and flower growing project, and a “secret garden” in Dartmouth Park.
Because Wildwood opened in 2023 and remains very small, there are not yet published Key Stage 2 outcomes that allow a like-for-like comparison with England averages, and the FindMySchool performance blocks supplied for this profile contain no ranked primary performance metrics.
That does not mean learning is unstructured. The published timetable shows dedicated phonics or English teaching in small groups and a separate small-group maths block, with project work also framed as planned cross-curricular learning rather than ad hoc activities.
Wildwood’s “how we work” emphasis is easiest to understand through its rhythms. Example: the morning includes explicit small-group literacy, then a substantial free-play interval, then a project block. Evidence: the sample day sets out phonics or English at 9.30am, free play at 10.15am, and cross-curricular topic and project work at 10.45am. Implication: children who learn best with variety and movement may respond well, while families expecting long periods of written work and conventional lesson pacing should look closely at fit.
Outdoor learning is not positioned as a break from the curriculum. It is part of the core week, including full days at an outdoor site and regular afternoons in green spaces, with reading and maths still appearing in the Old Orchard day structure.
In its latest progress monitoring inspection (15 October 2025), Ofsted recorded that the school met all of the independent school standards that were checked, and described improvements linked to more focused planning and teaching and the use of an assessment system to inform teaching more systematically.
Wildwood is still in an early growth phase, which matters for transitions. As of April 2025, the monitoring inspection report noted pupils in Reception and Years 1 to 3 at that point, and the school’s admissions page indicates an age range from September 2026 of Reception to Year 5. In practical terms, this is not yet a setting with long-established Year 6 leaver patterns published for parents to judge destination routes.
For families planning ahead, the most useful step is to ask directly about intended transition support, local secondary planning, and whether the school expects families to pursue particular routes at 11.
Admissions are direct to the school rather than via local authority coordination. The published admissions policy sets out a staged process: application by the published deadline, an admissions assessment against criteria, a meeting with trustees to discuss community ethos, a child taster morning, and (where relevant) a third-party affordability check for free or reduced-fee places.
For September 2026 entry, admissions are now closed, and also gives an application deadline of 11 January 2026. For September 2027 entry, the school directs families to join a mailing list and notes an Open Morning in the autumn, which aligns with the admissions policy’s statement that the school usually arranges an open day in November.
Places are limited by design. The school capacity is listed as 40, and Ofsted’s provider page shows very small current numbers. That scale can be a strength for relationship-based education, but it also means availability can be tight.
Wildwood’s published fees for 2026 to 27 are £19,000 plus 20% VAT, shown as £22,800.
The access model is unusually prominent for an independent school. The school states that at least 20% of places are completely free and a further 30% are significantly reduced, with supported places linked to affordability checks through a third party.
Inclusions and one-off costs are also spelled out. The fees page states that fees include transport costs, and that a £150 registration fee covers a set of waterproofs and a waterproof backpack.
Wellbeing is not an add-on in Wildwood’s framing, it is part of the core curriculum language the school uses publicly. The sample timetable builds in structured reflection at the start and end of the day, including check-ins and a closing circle to reflect on the day.
The school also publishes research-led pages describing its wellbeing curriculum and emotional development work, including explicit teaching about emotions through storytelling, reflection, role play, and imaginative play. For some families, that clarity and intentionality will be a real draw.
Because outdoor time is built into the main week, extracurricular life is not only after 3.30pm. Example: the Old Orchard Garden day includes fires and outdoor exploration as part of the normal school day. Evidence: the school describes full Tuesdays at that site, plus regular visits to multiple local outdoor spaces across the week. Implication: children who relish physicality, den-building, exploring, and nature-based projects may thrive; children who dislike being outdoors in most weather may find the routine challenging.
After school, the school also runs named clubs that are helpful for judging tone and priorities. Current listings include Yoga for children and a Drama club delivered by Boo Theatre, with published session times after 4pm.
*Bursaries may be available for eligible families.
Basis: per year
The school publishes a detailed sample day. A standard day lists arrival at 8.50am and home time at 3.50pm, with an outdoor afternoon and a return for a closing circle. On the weekly Old Orchard day, pick-up is listed as 3.15pm from the site or 4pm back at school after travelling with teachers on the bus.
Term dates for 2025 to 2026 are published, including an Autumn term starting Monday 8 September and a Summer term ending Thursday 16 July, plus listed staff training days.
Inspection context. The most recent standard inspection was graded Inadequate (09 July 2024). Later monitoring inspections in 2025 describe progress in meeting the standards that were checked. Families should read the inspection timeline carefully and ask what has changed operationally since then.
A very small setting. Capacity is listed as 40, and published pupil numbers are far below that. Small can mean strong relationships and calm routines, but it also means limited availability and fewer peer-group “matches” for some children.
Outdoor-first reality. The timetable places a large share of time outdoors across the week, including full outdoor days. This will suit some children brilliantly, and not others.
Transition patterns are still emerging. With the school still growing through the primary years, there is not yet a long track record of published Year 6 destinations to lean on.
Wildwood Nature School is a clear, high-conviction alternative to conventional primary education, with a published day structure that blends small-group literacy and maths with long periods outdoors and explicit wellbeing routines. It will suit families who actively want a nature-based, relationship-led model and who are comfortable with its small scale.
The challenge is not only admission, it is alignment. Best suited to children who learn through movement, play, and outdoor exploration, and to parents who want a school day designed around those principles, while paying close attention to the inspection timeline and the school’s ongoing development.
Wildwood has a distinctive model built around Forest School principles, wellbeing routines, and extensive outdoor learning. The most recent standard inspection was graded Inadequate (inspection date 09 July 2024), and later monitoring in October 2025 reported that the school met the independent school standards that were checked during that inspection.
The school publishes fees for 2026 to 27 as £19,000 plus 20% VAT, shown as £22,800. It also states that at least 20% of places are free and a further 30% are significantly reduced, with financial support linked to an affordability assessment.
Admissions are direct. The published process includes an application by the deadline, assessment against criteria, a meeting with trustees to discuss the school’s community ethos, and a child taster morning. Applications for free or reduced-fee places also involve an affordability check via a third party.
The school publishes a sample day starting with arrival at 8.50am and including an opening circle, small-group phonics or English, small-group maths, and an outdoor afternoon with Forest School activities and free play, finishing at 3.50pm. One day each week is structured as a full outdoor day, with pick-up options listed at 3.15pm from the site or 4pm back at school after travelling by bus with staff.
Alongside the built-in outdoor programme, the school lists after-school options including Yoga for children and Drama with Boo Theatre, scheduled after 4pm on specific weekdays.
Get in touch with the school directly
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