Forum Topic

New Forest School

A friend is a governor of a local church primary school that will become a 'Forest School' this September. It is on the edge of Putney Heath, next to Holy Trinity Roehampton Church, and needs a new name to mark this significant change. The school will be open to all children and needs the opinion of as bigger a variety of people as possible to help them reach the right decision. Below is a survey monkey link and they would be very grateful if you could please spare a few moments to complete it (there are only six very basic questions) and kindly pass the link to as many local people as possible.http://tiny.cc/RCSNameAny help that you can give them with this important aspect of the project would be so much appreciated.

Ted White ● 872d8 Comments

Ted - the school sounds like a good idea. Have they discussed access to the Heath with WPCC?Nick

Nicholas Evans ● 872d

Good afternoon Ted,Do you happen to know what its "significant change" is?The name "Forest School" has a very close association with the Forest Nurseries as well as the Forest School in north London.  All independent schools.I did complete the survey and disagreed with the change as there was no clear indication as to why the school needs to change its name.  I also suggested Roehampton CofE Heath School.  Why?  Because, technically, the ethos of the school will not change therefore, why drop the CoE from its name?  And there is no forest nearby!Nick, a very good suggestion and wonder if they have consulted the WPCCs....

Ivonne Holliday ● 872d

Ted — do you mean ‘Roehampton Church School’? Both my children, both now middle aged and with primary age children of their own, went there. It was a very good school at that time and specifically encouraged music. It had two orchestras! My kids were very happy there.
At the beginning they were allowed to play on the patch of Putney Heath just past the school buildings at the top. There is a rather wonderful dip in the grass which was great for running up and down. But a little while later they were not allowed on to the Heath at all (which is part of the WPCC) because of safety worries. Interestingly the tarmac playground which is alongside the school and runs along the main road at the bottom is built on WPCC land and only used with permission. Nick

Nicholas Evans ● 871d

Hello Nick,Yes, it is Roehampton CoE Primary School.  It will continue to be a church school.  The formal name will perhaps (as they are still in the consultation stage) be Roehampton Church of England Forest School - shortened to Roehampton Church Forest School for daily wear.  The area of copse between the school and the war memorial is being slightly tidied up and loosely hedged - this is the area the Commons have said we can use initially as an outdoor class room.By the way, the dip on the Heath you refer to is normally called the "pan" - a rather appropriate name I think.

Ivonne Holliday ● 871d

Hi Nick, It is my understanding with regard to the Heath land where the school is that the school were given permission last year by WPCC to use a piece of land quite near the school for Forest School activity, subject to various conditions, of course. It is very helpful as it would be impossible to introduce this learning approach to the curriculum without it. As you may know Forest School benefits all learners but can be particularly beneficial to children who find a traditional classroom environment challenging, as a result of SEN, behavioural or language difficulties and RCS has high percentages of pupils in these groups. School budgets don’t provide sufficient assistance to these disadvantaged children and Forest School is a more cost-effective way to help them. Forest Schools are mostly in the independent sector because of the cost but the governors are trying to raise the funds for this – it will be a rare opportunity to offer disadvantaged children the significant benefits of Forest School within the state funded educational sector.

Ted White ● 871d

Hi Nick,Ivonne very kindly replied giving you the confirmation. However, I have, in answer to your first question (above), tried to give you a much fuller explanation with regard to the project.kind regards,Ted

Ted White ● 870d

Just a quick update - I have been advised that the survey closes sometime tomorrow so if you would like to take part, please do so today, or tomorrow morning.Thank you,Ted

Ted White ● 869d

Ted/Ivonne, Good luck with the scheme which I wholeheartedly support. I’m pleased the Conservators are being flexible. Nick

Nicholas Evans ● 869d