At Bee in the Woods we embrace the Scandinavian Forest Kindergarten approach and offer extended early years for families who are deferring entry to school or who have elected to educate their children at home.
We do this through our beautiful woodland environment and caring relationships with our practitioners. In addition to providing Early Years education for children aged 2-5, we also offer Forest School sessions to complement the home-education approach up to age 7.
Our focus is on personalised, experiential learning and we are able to respond to individual interests in a way that differs from mainstream education. By listening to and involving children, we aim to create a nurturing, safe and caring community which fosters a strong sense of belonging, self worth and connection to the natural world.
Portslade: Children aged 5 - 7 years old are welcomed to our beautiful Portslade woodland site for a day of curiosity, creativity and connection through Forest School.
Guided by the children's interests, our experienced teachers/forest school practitioners support children with forest skills, tool-use, creative projects, social skills, wellbeing and imaginative play. Children are free to choose from a range of planned activities, or free to engage in self-directed activities. A packed lunch is brought from home, but a snack is provided by us. This is a drop-off session and parents do not attend. However, we recognise that some children need time to settle in and we welcome parents to stay as long as their child needs in order to feel confident with the group.
We have spaces from September 2023
Cost:
* £55 full day (9.30am - 3.30pm)
* Breakfast Club also available from 8.30am
Stanmer: The new kindergarten will Initially be for children within the Early Years Foundation Stage (3 to 5) from Tuesday to Thursday. Once we have settled into our new site at Stanmer Park, we will be making plans to open a home-ed group there for ages 7-12. Details of this will be shared in Autumn 2023 - join our dedicated Home-ed Mailing List to keep in the loop.
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Portslade: Reception-aged children (4-5-year-old) who are deferring entry to school are welcome to join our Kindergarten on Tuesday - Friday.
Guided by the EYFS, we strive to provide the very best start for each unique child through our beautiful woodland environment and caring relationships with our practitioners. Each child will be allocated a qualified and experienced key person to support and guide them through their learning journey. Compulsory school age starts from the term after children turn 5. Children are then welcome to join our Forest Bee Home-Ed group on Mondays, Tuesdays or Fridays after their fifth birthday, regardless of whether they intend to start school in September or are choosing to home-educate.
Cost:
* Children are entitled to Early Years Funding (EYFE) up to the term after they turn 5.
* You can use EYFE with Bee in the Woods for up to 15 hours a week.
* There is a £19 additional charge per day on top of the funding (see our Registration & Fees page)
* The term after your child turns 5, our full day fee is £55.
Stanmer: Children within the Early Years Foundation Stage (3 to 5) are welcome to join our Stanmer kindergarten. It will Initially be open from Tuesday to Thursday, starting from September 2023.
Portslade: In addition to providing Early Years education for children who are not yet at compulsory school age, we also offer a limited number of part-time places for children whose parents have a flexi-schooling agreement with their school.
We provide Forest School and skill-building to complement their learning journey and transition into Key Stage 1:
* We have a small number of flexi-school places for reception and Year 1 who have attended Bee in the Woods while still in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
* Flexi-Ed Children will be allocated a qualified teacher key person, who will work in partnership with the school to work towards each child's Early Years Profile and transition into Key Stage 1.
* We will work in partnership with the school to provide play & learning provocations that support and enhance in-school learning.
* We will work in partnership with the school and families to ensure the arrangement is beneficial to the child.
Cost:
Funding cannot be split between schools and Early Years settings. In a flexi-school arrangement, funding automatically goes to the school so we would need to charge our full-day rate of £51
"Being out in nature is important to our family and we wanted R to explore nature and all the potential it has to offer. He has loved it and all of the physical play which he so needed being a very active child!"
"You have created a fun and nurturing environment in a lovely setting. I think you have a fantastic team and am always impressed with how much care, energy and enthusiasm you all have for what you do."
"Thank you - feel very lucky to have found you and gotten to have been a part of the community. M will have some awesome memories of his time in the woods."
"Bee in the Woods offers a kind and nurturing setting with interesting activities, a feeling of belonging and a nice warm friendly environment with healthy snacks. I can’t fault you, everything is amazing!!"
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