Forest School

Reviews

01 Mrs C Austin

Parkside Parent

Parkside is a very special school with a best in class leadership team, a creative and high energy teaching staff and a unique ethos that nurtures every child. As a family we enjoy a wonderful sense of community at the school and have made many life-long friends. Parkside School is distinctive in that every teacher knows every child's name and caters for their unique needs and personalities.

02 Mr & Mrs F

Parkside Parents

Parkside is a wonderful, forward thinking, family orientated and traditional prep school. Nurturing with a focus on excellence in education and sporting achievement, we couldn’t have selected a better school to fit our family values.

The passion and kindness of the teaching staff and leadership team shines through in every aspect of school life and can be seen daily through the warmth, enthusiasm and joy they bring to the boys. Being part of Parkside’s community, which is built on fellowship and camaraderie, has enabled our three boys to thrive in a secure environment that they love.

03 Mrs Dixon

Parkside Parent

We have recently moved to Parkside and have had nothing but a positive experience. The number one priority of the school is the boys and this is apparent in all areas, academic progress and development, sporting achievements and the boys’ happiness and wellbeing. We have watched our sons flourish in all aspects of school life at Parkside and that is credit to the fabulous teaching staff but also the overriding culture of the school.

04 Mr & Mrs G

Parkside Parents

We chose Parkside for our son because we felt the school truly cared for the boys. Our initial feelings couldn't have been more right, Parkside has proved to be the perfect choice for our son who has loved every minute of his time there and has made many lifelong friends.

05 Mr & Mrs C

Parkside Parents

Parkside has provided an amazing environment for our sons to learn, mature and enjoy school life. The care and commitment by the teachers have seen the boys develop and perform to their best. There is a lovely relaxed, friendly and inclusive atmosphere which has certainly brought the best out of our sons.

06 Dr JM Cox

Headmaster, Royal Grammar School, Guildford

I am always delighted to accept young men from Parkside as members of the RGS. I have been very impressed with the academic standards which are being achieved at the School but, more importantly, boys from Parkside are delightful additions to our community. They are invariably engaging, polite and academically curious, skills which have been established and nurtured at Parkside and which will hold them in very good stead for the future.

07 James Priory

Headmaster, Tonbridge School

We were delighted to be able to make three Unconditional Offers to Parkside boys this year. Like the prep school at Parkside, Tonbridge specialises in the education of boys. We are academically selective and Parkside boys are well prepared for the academic rigour here. Similarly, boys from Parkside easily transition to the depth and breadth of co-curricular pursuits at Tonbridge, including music, sport and the creative arts. The intellectual curiosity and enjoyment of these activities is nurtured at Parkside and flourishes at Tonbridge as the boys reach their teens. 35 miles along the M25, we are not that far away either! We very much look forward to developing our relationship with Parkside in the years to come.

08 Mr James Dahl

Master of Wellington College

Wellington College has been lucky to have had a steady stream of excellent Parkside boys join us over the recent years and we would be more than delighted to see many more! There is an a real passion for learning evident in the boys that we have met but this passion appears to extend beyond the classroom too and hence aligns very closely for what we look for in Wellingtonians. We also note tremendous values in the Parkside boys we have met and this explains the wonderful atmosphere evident in the school whenever we visit.

09 Mr James Davies

Headmaster, Halliford School

(Halliford and Parkside) schools share a set of core values that sees us completely committed to seeing each student as an individual and doing everything possible to enable them to flourish and make the most of the many opportunities we are able to offer them. The confidence and maturity they develop in Year 7 and 8 at Parkside greatly contributes to our warm-hearted community at Halliford. Parkside students thoroughly embrace our values of creativity, respect, warm-heartedness, resilience, intellectual curiosity and being exceptional team players. It is no wonder that a number of Parkside boys have been awarded scholarships to join Halliford School. They achieve tremendous academic success at both GCSE and A Level thanks to the tremendous academic grounding they receive at Parkside, and they always fully immerse themselves in our wide variety of co-curricular activities and trips. The boys transition extremely quickly into life at Halliford, and we believe they benefit from our comparable size and ethos. Parkside boys contribute enormously to our school community, and it is our pleasure to celebrate their successes as members of the Halliford family.

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Forest School is a very exciting addition to the curriculum at Parkside.

Taught from Nursery through to Year 8, every child explores the great outdoors, completing a programme of study that allows a smooth, encouraging and engaging progression towards a balanced set of transferable skills.

The theory behind Forest School is, among other things, to teach children transferable working skills and attitudes that they can take into other areas of their school lives. In Pre Prep, boys learn how to think independently, how to work collaboratively and how to harness our immediate resources; all in our purpose-built Forest School area within our ancient woodland. Through pupil-led learning, enquiry-based questioning and discovery, boys gain an appreciation of and marvel at the wonders of nature. They are out in the woodland all year round, recognising changes in the landscape and appreciating the woods as a place to explore and play. The boys love to get muddy, to try new things, to challenge themselves and move beyond their comfort zone. The outstanding grounds at Parkside allow the younger children to really explore and adventure in a safe, nurtured and exciting way.

The principles behind Forest School in the Prep School are exactly the same and build on the fundamental skills that are developed in the younger years. Sessions are taught and assessed under the headings of ‘Identifying’, ‘Demonstrating’ and ‘Participating’. An example would include the opportunities to be able to ‘identify’ the vertical structure of the woodland, ‘demonstrate’ an ability to prepare for, light and maintain a fire in most conditions, and ‘participate’ in problem-solving tasks that require a small group to assume individual roles and stick to them. A lot of the boys’ learning is hidden and comes naturally as they become more confident in their experiences and decision-making in the woods.

Parkside School is looking towards the future, teaching children to embrace, appreciate and protect the environment they live in. A young person who grows up enjoying the natural world will no doubt grow up to love and respect it.