This is the first term of sessions funded through the Nature of Learning Foundation's National Lottery Community Fund grant. Thirteen children across three weekly groups -- Monday, Thursday and Friday Treecreepers -- with 1:1 support and subsidised session fees enabling access for children who would otherwise be unable to attend.
Confidence and sensory tolerance
Across all three groups, children are showing increased willingness to try new things -- climbing higher, exploring further, tolerating experiences that would previously have been overwhelming. One child who struggled significantly with getting dirty returned from the woods this term with mud on his coat and didn't give it a second thought. For a child with sensory difficulties, that kind of shift is hard-won and meaningful.
Social connection
A child who finds friendships particularly difficult had a breakthrough during a cooking session. Something about the shared task of making damper bread over the fire -- the mixing, the warmth, the waiting alongside someone else -- led to a positive social interaction. A quiet conversation, shared laughter, a connection that hadn't been possible before.
Child-led creativity
When children lead their own play with open-ended natural resources, the results are consistently richer than anything planned. This term: an elaborate vet's surgery with a medicine cabinet stocked with conkers and acorns. Hand-drawn treasure maps. A spy game spanning the entire woodland. Hedgehog hibernation homes built from sticks and leaves. Weather prediction stations.
Collaborative negotiation
Group games -- Manhunt, Family Tag, a woodland version of Among Us -- have been a highlight. More significant than the games themselves has been watching children negotiate the rules together. Discussing fairness, listening to each other, compromising. For children who find social situations overwhelming, this kind of collaborative negotiation is genuinely hard-won progress.
The difference consistent access makes
One child's attendance was previously irregular because the family couldn't always afford the fees. With the subsidised place funded by NoLF, they now attend every week. The difference is visible. They are part of the group. They have friends who expect them to be there. They belong.
That is what this funding makes possible. Not just a session, but consistent access -- and with it, the friendships and confidence that only come from showing up, week after week, to a place where you are welcome.