A fully outdoor play-based learning environment for children aged 2-7 years at National Trust Gibside.
Our activities will follow the lead and interests of the children, whilst effortlessly covering and going beyond the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum requirements.
The vast, ever-changing outdoor environment enables the children to participate in a wide range of exciting nature based experiences, learning directly from the seasonal changes and the natural world we will be immersed in.
The opportunities for imagination to flow, to learn, to collaborate and solve problems together and alone are endless.
Stomping Grounds Forest Kindergarten is registered with Gateshead City Council to
offer Early Years Funded places to eligible 2 year olds and all 3 and 4 year olds. You
can use the 15 universal entitlement or the 30 hours Extended Entitlement with us.
You can spend your childcare vouchers with us. You are able to share your Early
Years Funding between two settings if your other Early Years provider is happy to.
Homeschooling and Flexi Schooling children up to the age of seven are welcome to join too for a daily rate of £30 per day.
Priority will be given to children who are able to take up a minimum requirement of two days per week. We will consider all family circumstances and exceptions may be made to this if we feel this is both beneficial to the family and viable for Stomping Grounds.
As per government and Gateshead City Council guidelines Stomping Grounds Outdoor Kindergarten charges for additional services that are beyond the standard day-care nursery or preschool provision. This is the Outdoor Resource Fund payment which enables us to provide high quality outdoor education for our children. The Outdoor Resource Fund enables us to maintain high adult to child ratios, provide qualified Forest School practitioners with additional Therapeutic Forest training, alongside specialist equipment. If a parent uses EYF they will be invoiced for a payment of £10 per day which covers the Daily Outdoor Resource Fund.
We expect that 50% of our families will pay this daily fee and the other 50% of families will be subsidised by Stomping Grounds trading profits. 50% of our spaces will be reserved for families who would not usually attend a Forest Kindergarten, in line with our Positive Action programme.
For any further questions about the Daily Outdoor Resource Fund, or to ask about eligibility, please contact rachel@stomping-grounds.org
Our dedicated Kindergarten team are all Early Years Forest School Practitioners with a wealth of knowledge and experiences. From visiting Denmark to learn from established Forest Schools, leading Forest School provision for children with a variety of educational needs and delivering Forest School to Early Years in mainstream schools, they are working together to create high quality, responsive and nurturing setting within which your child can thrive.
