Nature ConnectionGuernsey

Weekend forest school club for kids.

A Saturday kids club on Guernsey’s wild south coast, led by Ross Torode. Small groups aged 5 to 11 building dens, lighting fires and getting properly muddy.

Saturday morningsNature ExplorersAges 5–8 · 10.30–12.00 Saturday afternoonsWilderness GuardiansAges 9–11 · 14.00–16.00
Book a place Ross Torode, who leads the forest school, on the clifftop at dawn Hi, I’m Ross.
I lead every session.

Come for a walk through a Saturday.

From the first hello at the gate to the last of the fire: everything that happens at Guernsey’s weekend forest school, one stop at a time. Every stop has a page of its own, whenever you want to know more.

Ross Torode on the clifftop above Guernsey’s south coast at dawn

Meet Ross

Role
Nature educator
First aid
Outdoor First Aid
The land
His family’s field

Roots Field has been in my family for generations. I’ve spent years bringing it back to life, and now it’s where a small group of children come, week after week, to make it theirs. I don’t arrive with a lesson plan. I arrive with a sense of what the group has been drawn to, and let the morning grow from there.

More about Ross
Ross sitting with a circle of young children on log stools in the woods

Nature Explorers

Ages
5–8
Saturdays
10.30–12.00
Group
4–8 children
Cost
£15 a session

Wildlife games, den building, fire lighting and crafting with wood, shaped around whatever the children become curious about that morning. If one den takes the whole session, that is the session. Parents and carers are welcome to stay and join in.

Explore the morning group
A child carefully carving letters into a piece of slate on a log

Wilderness Guardians

Ages
9–11
Saturdays
14.00–16.00
Group
8–12 children
Cost
£25 a session

Deeper skills and a wilder brief. Ross and Tara de Jersey of WildGuernsey mentor the group through the John Muir Award at Guardian level: discover, explore, conserve and share a wild place, over thirteen sessions and twenty-six hours on the land.

Meet the afternoon group
Children running along a clifftop path through bracken towards the sea

Roots Field in Torteval

Setting
South coast clifftop
Fire circles
Two
Parking
On site

A clifftop field looking out to sea, with a valley viewpoint, a wartime bunker softened by gorse, and a young hedge of saplings still finding its feet. The children aren’t visiting a venue. They’re coming back to a place that slowly becomes theirs.

Walk the land

A forest planted by the children

Part of
The Children’s Forest
Open day
Free every autumn

Roots Field is Guernsey’s home of the Children’s Forest movement. Over the seasons the children experience, imagine, plant and tend their own woodland, each tree going in with a wish written on birch bark. Local businesses can help fund the free planting days.

See the forest grow
Ross showing young children a bird’s nest beside a box of nesting materials

Regular friends every Saturday

Who
Home-educated children welcome
Group
Same faces every week

Home-educated children already come to both Saturday groups. Small numbers and the same faces each week make it a good fit for children who don’t have a fixed peer group, and the John Muir Award gives you something recognised to point to.

For home-educating families

Come and say hello.

Places are small and go by half term. If a group is full, tell me your child’s availability and they’ll be first in line for the next space. Happy to answer any questions before you decide.

Ask about a place
Twists of bread dough on sticks cooking over the embers of a stone fire circle

Questions parents ask

Looking for things for the kids to do at the weekend in Guernsey? Here’s what most families want to know first.

What is there for kids to do at the weekend in Guernsey?

Nature Connection runs a Saturday forest school club for kids on Guernsey’s south coast. Children build dens, light fires, play wildlife games and learn bushcraft on Roots Field at Torteval, in small groups that meet every week of term.

Which children’s club suits my child’s age?

Nature Explorers is for ages 5–8 on Saturday mornings (10.30–12.00, £15 a session). Wilderness Guardians is for ages 9–11 on Saturday afternoons (14.00–16.00, £25 a session) and works towards the John Muir Award.

Is it a good fit for homeschooling families?

Yes. Home-educated children already come to both groups. The same small group meets every week, which gives children a regular peer group outdoors, and older children can earn the John Muir Award.

Where on Guernsey is it?

On Roots Field, a private clifftop field off the Torteval coast road on the south coast, with parking on site. Directions are sent once a place is confirmed.

Does my child need forest school experience?

No. Sessions are child-led and grow from what the children are curious about. Come dressed for an exposed clifftop: warm, windproof, thornproof layers and boots with grip.