One Day School
What is a One Day School?
Students attend one day a week, every week to complement their other schooling. This provides balance and breadth to the curriculum so that learning is rich and deeply engaging. Watch your child grow as a strong, healthy individual as they actively interact with nature, develop resilience, creativity and confidence, learning through experiences that engage all their senses.
One Day Schools have existed since the 1990s and were initially for Gifted & Talented children. The Forest School is the pioneering team in New Zealand who established nature based One Day Schools for all children who thrive in this kind of setting.
For your child to visit our One Day School, you will first need to submit an Enquiry Form or email us at: onedayschool@theforest.school.nz. You will then be invited to a Try Day to see if our school is the right place for your child.
Once you are offered a place, you will need to seek approval from your school Principal to be released one day per week to attend our programme. The 1989 Education Act allows for this with consent from your school Board of Trustees. This requirement does not apply to children who have a Homeschooling Exemption.
Free Play
Free play is the cornerstone of positive social development and foundational in our learning approach. Free play at The Forest School is unstructured, led by the child and is an opportunity where children can make their own choices, be directed by their own interests, create their own realities and use their imagination in their own way. It is spontaneous, develops from natural curiosity and allows children to explore and experience the world around them.
Te Whare Tapa Whā
The Maori concept of health and wellbeing that is woven through our curriculum. Te whare tapa whā provides a holistic approach to learning and development. It is based on the view that learning is not only about the intellect, but also our physical and social learning, as well as our spiritual and mental wellbeing.
Relationship Based Learning
Teaching and learning are grounded in strong relationships. When children feel connected to their teachers, they are more engaged, confident, and ready to learn. At The Forest School, we believe every child has unique strengths and potential, and our role is to help them discover what they love, what they’re good at, and how they can contribute.
Our mixed age structure reflects real life, where relationships naturally form across ages. We value the tuakana–teina dynamic, where older or more experienced students support younger ones, and where these roles can shift depending on the context. We also embrace ako, recognising that teaching and learning are reciprocal- teachers learn from students just as students learn from teachers.
Place Based Education
Our One Day School offers a place based education approach that takes a school’s geographic location as a context for learning. Place based education is designed to develop in students, a love for their environment and a greater sense of belonging, connection and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) to the community and biodiversity that exists there.
The Emergent Curriculum
An emergent curriculum is a way of planning that focuses on being responsive to children’s interests and needs to create meaningful learning experiences. It is based on the idea that children learn best when curriculum experiences represent their curiosities and strengths:
Children must have some control over the direction of their learning;
Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, and observing;
Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that they must be allowed to explore;
Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.
Education for Sustainability
Education for sustainability is about learning to think and act in ways that will safeguard the future wellbeing of people and our planet. Children connect with the environment all day, every day. This may be in pest plant removal, water testing, native planting, regenerative gardening, marine investigations and beach clean ups to name a few. Students work regularly with Forest and Bird, Restore Hibiscus & Bays and Enviroschools to learn about the kaupapa of Education for Sustainability.
"Mō tātou te taiao ko te atawhai, mō tātou te taiao ko te oranga" "It is for us to care for and look after the environment to ensure its wellbeing, in doing so we ensure our own wellbeing and that of our future generations."
Five Ways To Wellbeing
Our mental health is just as important as our physical health and The Forest School is committed to supporting children to have a healthy mind. This includes how we think, feel and act. As adults, we know how important it is to integrate wellbeing into our daily lives, and this is just as important for children too. We want children to be healthy and well in all areas of their life, so The Forest School follows the principles of The Mental Health Foundation: Five Ways To Wellbeing: Connect, Be Active, Keep Learning, Give, and Take Notice.