Cambridge: Nursery submits plans for new forest school

Willow Walk, Ely, is the proposed location for the new forest school in Cambridgeshire

Plans for a nursery to create a school which teaches children to care for the environment are underway.

Cathedral View Childcare in Ely, Cambridgeshire, put forward its vision for a new forest school to educate youngsters about how to "respect and understand nature".

The nursery said it will ensure "the next generation commit to greener, more eco-friendly choices".

Places would be offered to children up to five years old.

An application for planning permission has been submitted to East Cambridgeshire District Council for the school on the land off Willow Walk where it would be an extension of the existing nursery.

Staff would be trained specifically to run a forest school and the site would use solar power to reduce its environmental impact, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The nursery said children will learn about plants and nature, how to reduce their carbon footprint and how to grow their own vegetables which would then be donated to foodbanks.

The school would teach children to make greener choices and how to grow their own vegetables

In the planning permission documents, Cathedral View Childcare, said: "Forest school inspires a deep and meaningful connection to the world and an understanding of how a learner fits within it.

"The process helps and facilitates more than knowledge gathering, it helps learners develop socially, emotionally, spiritually, physically and intellectually.

"It creates a safe, non-judgmental nurturing environment for learners to try stuff out and take risks."

East Cambridgeshire District Council will consider the plans.