Welcome to Willow's Forest School.
We are a privately owned Forest School, based in various areas in Surrey and we have been running Forest School classes since 2013. We offer a variety of classes for children aged 1-14 years come rain or shine!
All of our classes are run by experienced and qualified Forest School Leaders and Assistants plus the children get to go on adventures with our loveable mascot, Willow the fox!
We are located in Lyne near Ottershaw, Chertsey and Sutton Green which is between Woking and Guildford and we have mobile Forest School teams who visit schools and nurseries on a weekly basis in Surrey.
Forest School is a child-centred inspirational learning process, that offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions. It is a long-term program that supports play, exploration and supported risk taking. It develops confidence and self-esteem through learner inspired, hands-on experiences in a natural setting. We do not offer ad-hoc term time classes, as we support the Forest School ethos and it's amazing to see how our little forest folk progress week after week.
Here are our offerings, please click on the bold print below and it will take you to our booking page!
Term Time Classes for 1-4 years
Our term time classes run Monday to Friday, every week. Our 2 hour classes are the most popular and most families book once a week but some attend twice a week. Classes are for children aged 1-4 years. We are taking bookings now for the Autumn term. Click on the hi-lighted title to book.
You can start as a Willow Cub (1 hour session - accompanied), which is a great introduction into Willow's or you can go straight into being a Willow Fox (2 hour session - accompanied). If you would like to try us out, please book a taster class. Once your child has been with us for a term and is 3-4 years old, they can upgrade to a Willow Explorer (2 hours unaccompanied.) Please speak to your Leader for more details. Discounted sibling tickets. Under 1's attend for free.
We run After School Clubs at our private woodland in Lyne, for children who attend Lyne and Longcross Primary School. The Spring has sold out, so we have added spaces for the Summer Term 2025.
Term Time Classes for school groups and nurseries
We are very happy to come to you or you can come to us! We have had a recent flurry of bookings, but it's always worth getting in touch.
We run a mixture of camps over the holidays. Our "drop and go" camps for 4-11 are very popular. You can book one camp or as many as you like, but please note we do not run every day over the holidays, as our sites need to rest like us!! We also run family mini workshops over the holidays. Please check your emails before leaving home, just incase we have high winds or storms which will prevent us from running.
Please contact us via email, as our phone reception in the woodlands is hit and miss, so please email us
info@willowsforestschool.co.uk
Thank you for visiting our website and we look forward to hearing from you!
Kindest regards
Amanda and Team
Our 10Th birthday celebrations in 2023
We are Ofsted registered. We accept Childcare Vouchers and Tax Free Vouchers. We offer payment plans and gift vouchers. Visit our payment tab.
A POLITE MESSAGE TO PARENTS AND GUARDIANS
If we have high winds forecast across the UK, we will email you if we have to postpone our classes.
Please check your emails and spam before leaving. We also add updates to our social media pages.
Regardless of the weather, our mud kitchen is always open and is very, very popular! We ask that you follow the compulsory list, so your child can explore and be warm and dry rather than worrying about their clothing getting wet and muddy.
We are in the woods, so even on a hot day, we are in the shade, so please ensure your child has layers, that can be removed if need be.
If it has been raining previously, our seating areas will be damp, so even on a dry day, to avoid damp bottoms, please refer to the Compulsory kit list.
If you are bringing food to our classes, please ensure you do not bring in any nuts, as we have many customer's with allergies.
Thank you
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What our customer's are saying about us - see reviews for more lovely words!
"The best Forest School we have been to! We have recently relocated to Surrey and we have been searching for a Forest School that caters for all my children - toddler twins and a pre-schooler. Yikes! Attending Willow's is the high light of our week, we are pleased we found you. The staff are amazing, they clearly love and care about what they do, the children always have different things to participate in, it's child led, educational, oodles of fun and we all love the toasted marshmallow at the campfire. We have made so many new friends and we cannot recommend Willow's enough." May 2022
"I have two sons, who are five and three. I first went to Willow's in 2018 with my eldest and we both fell in love with it. I really like the concept of learning through play outside and my son loves playing with water! We continued to attend until my eldest went to school last September and I've been going with my youngest son since he was 18 months old and who also adores it. It was great when they had a whole school year of doing it together. Over the years I have been to classes at different locations and they are all lovely and each one thoughtfully laid out. The staff are knowledgeable and passionate about what they do and they are what makes Willow's Forest School different. I have loved watching my children grow in confidence each week and see the joy they get from being outdoors.”
March 2023
"Willows Forest School has been a wonderful time of play and learning - I first started going with all 3 of my children (4yrs, 2yrs and newborn), and it was one of the few places I knew they would all be happy and safe! The staff are excellent at engaging the children and parents alike and it has a lovely family feel. Would highly recommend."
"Simply fantastic! My 4 (almost 5) year old did the 2 day holiday camp at the Woking site and absolutely loved it. It's a clever setting, hidden away in the woods but completely safe for the little ones. Can't rate it highly enough, will be going again!" 3rd April 2015