About Us
Our Principles and Ethos
Our
Rhythm
Our days and years are woven with the seasons. Through the rhythm of the seasons and our daily and weekly routines, children develop a feeling of safety, trust and orientation through their crucial first years. In a safe environment children can flourish and build their self-confidence. The seasons and the activities around them give children structure, orientation, anticipation and excitement for what is coming. One example is our season table, decorated seasonally with findings from the outdoors, things children bring from home, crafted objects and natural materials.
Eclectic Approach
At Forest Village Kindergarten, our Morden forest school has developed a curriculum that takes the best aspects of different educational approaches to create a unique, personalised experience for our little ones. With this eclectic approach, we believe we have created the ideal learning environment to stimulate and support every child in our care.
We combine the rhythmic, seasonal aspect of Waldorf education with the practical life skills and self-directed learning of Montessori. We are firm believers in respectful parenting and follow the non-punitive, no-rewards principles of Aware Parenting. And of course, our forest school approach connects children with nature by spending as much time outdoors as possible.
Forest School
outdoor education
Getting in touch with Nature
We start the day with our morning nature walk in the Merton Recreation Ground and explore and observe the changes in seasons. Morden Recreation Ground is the largest areas of green within the St. Helier Estate in LB Merton. It was built between 1929-36 on 334 hectares of former farmland. It is largely grass with some shrub planting, and has perimeter and scattered trees, including a line of oak along the central path. We have a spacious private fenced up garden which used to be the bowling green where we spend most of our time. Activities in the outdoor can range from creating mud pies, treasure hunts, water play, mini beast exploration, experimenting with science, dressing up and creative role play to reading stories, mark making and mathematics in the forest. We are always on the move, balancing, running, climbing, coordinating and are always learning more about our world.