Westfield House | Forest School and Outdoor Learning
Homely, Thoughtfully Designed Rooms
At Westfield House, each child’s journey is supported through carefully designed spaces that grow with them. From their very first days with us, children are welcomed into a calm and nurturing environment where they feel safe, secure, and valued.
As children grow, they move through a series of welcoming rooms that reflect their changing interests and growing independence. Each space encourages creativity, confidence, and curiosity, with carefully planned resources and enriching activities tailored to support key milestones. Easy access to our garden spaces means children can enjoy a seamless flow between indoor comfort and outdoor adventure — whatever the weather.
Hedgehogs
Squirrels and Owls
Badgers
Welcome to the baby room.
Our spacious room typically cares for 9 children, and has an adjoining space which doubles up as a sensory room and sleep room allowing us to adapt the space to meet babies’ current routines and interests and offer them a peaceful and relaxing place to rest and recharge their batteries. We use sleep coracles for our younger babies and fold out sleep mats for our older babies. They will have dedicated clean bedding, and a fluffy grow-bag to snuggle up and sleep in. Our sensory room combines a range of tranquil stimuli to help individuals develop and engage their senses.
Our room is a wonderful balance of open space, cosy soft areas and low furniture to provide accessibility to all babies, allowing them to navigate around the space safely with ease no matter what age or stage they’re at. We follow the interests of our babies and support them in reaching their important first milestones through some focused play activities and varied provision, with an additional focus on singing, stories and sensory messy play.
The outdoor space has two different surfaces for them to crawl, walk and explore on. A large sheltered summerhouse and apple tree within this space also provides shelter and shade for the children. Snacks and mealtimes can be enjoyed outdoors wherever possible using a small bench or floor level strapped chairs.
Welcome to the toddler room.
As your child progresses on from the baby room, they will then begin their next journey in either our Squirrels room (upper floor) or Owl’s room (lower floor) depending on their age and the co-hort of children moving through.
Both rooms are designed to meet their ever changing needs and interest and hold all the Early Years Foundation Stage areas of learning within its continuous provision. Our provision is changed regularly and is planned out against current interests and our nursery curriculum, alongside adult led activities. The spacious rooms also provide options for larger scale art projects which are usually process rather than product driven.
For children who still require a sleep, they will have their blanket and be able to sleep on a fold out sleep mat in a quiet place after lunch. If they need some quiet time in the day there is a quiet area for them to sit and read a book or have a cuddle.
There is a large garden area for this age group which allows for a lot of physical development. We have a story corner and outdoor library area. Children often eat meals and snacks outside and care routines are facilitated by our outdoor bathroom. Children also have access to their own low sink and bathrooms indoors alongside a nappy change unit to help support different levels of independence and potty training.
Welcome to the preschool room.
Our pre-school typically grows in numbers of children by the summer term, often starting out with smaller numbers which allows for high quality tailored teaching of this age group.
Pre-school is spread across two rooms that have adjoining doors which allows either for free-flow play or small group working.
All of the areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage are catered for and taught by experienced and well qualified staff. Children explore a rich range of resources and are encouraged to develop their independence, knowledge and experiences in preparation for school with the addition of yoga, science tot and forest school sessions on certain days.
Our children can directly access the garden through double doors connected to the room, which allows for plenty of outdoor learning and often free-flow opportunities. Our outdoor learning using natural resources is enhanced by the skills of our team some of whom have their forest school qualifications.
Getting the right rest is important to your child’s care and wellbeing. At Westfield House this care is available for every age group including our pre-school children. Every child is treated as an individual, and as such there is no age cut off age to having the opportunity to sleep when they need.
Proudly Rated by Ofsted
What Ofsted Says About Us
"Children are guided by skilled and caring practitioners who know them well and ensure each transition is smooth and positive. As they progress, they enjoy more opportunities for group learning, larger creative projects, and access to our inspiring outdoor spaces for play, learning, and discovery."
"Throughout their journey at Westfield House, children are encouraged to be curious, capable, and confident — laying strong foundations for future learning and a lifelong love of discovery."
learning opportunities
Outdoor Learning Every Day
Fresh air, movement, and nature are part of our daily rhythm. All children, whatever their age, enjoy daily outdoor time in our gardens and play areas — climbing, exploring, creating, observing, and playing imaginatively. It’s not just break time; outdoor play is at the heart of our learning and wellbeing philosophy.
For our youngest children, this also includes the opportunity to sleep outdoors in the fresh air when conditions allow. Many parents and practitioners find that outdoor naps help children settle more easily, sleep more soundly, and wake feeling refreshed and happy.
Outdoor play isn’t a small part of the day — it’s a core part of life at Westfield House, woven into learning, wellbeing, and fun from morning to evening.
Children are encouraged to construct dens, obstacle courses and imaginary role-play sets using recycled materials. The mud kitchen sparks imaginary play of making fairy potions, meals for friends out of mixing concoctions of mud, flowers, water and leaves.
There are opportunities for gross motor development using river stones, tree stumps, climbing and slides. Both gardens offer outdoor reading libraries, with areas to sit and read and mark make.
- Notice changes in the environment as the seasons change
- Use natural materials and resources to spark their imagination
- Learn about the world around them
- Take appropriate risks from mud slides, tree climbing, tool use and fire safety
- Promote independence
- Assist in peer relationships and team work
- Build confidence
- Den building, bug hunting and rope pulls
- Mud slides, imaginative play and potion making
- Tree rubbing, natural art, clay faces, collecting and crafting
- Tree swings, whittling sticks and using tools
- Fire safety and campfire food
hands-on learning experiences
Forest School for Preschoolers
For our preschool children, learning goes far beyond the garden. Twice a week, all year round, they take part in Forest School sessions led by qualified practitioners. These immersive, hands-on experiences don’t just teach practical skills — they nurture the whole child.
Spending time in nature supports children’s mental health and emotional wellbeing, giving them space to breathe, relax, and feel calm. Outdoor adventures help to reduce stress, build resilience, and encourage independence, while also developing teamwork, problem-solving skills, and creativity.
Most importantly, Forest School gives children the freedom to connect with the natural world — creating happy memories, boosting self-esteem, and fostering a lifelong love and respect for nature.
‘Forest School is an inspirational process, that offers ALL learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees. Forest School is a specialised learning approach that sits within and complements the wider context of outdoor and woodland education.’
– Forestschoolassociation.org
WESTFIELD HOUSE
Enabling Environments
WESTFIELD HOUSE
start your journey
address
4 Fern Hill Rd
Shipley, BD18 4SX