Merchiston Castle School holds family bulb planting event to sow interest in Forest School

Merchiston Castle School is hosting a family bulb planting session and interactive nature trail on 29th April to help parents, and their little ones, discover its nature-based Forest school which will open in Autumn 2024.

During the morning event, families will also have the chance to plant their own summer bulbs and explore the stunning 100-acre woodland campus where The Forest Nursery and Forest Junior School will grow and flourish. Merchiston’s admissions team and key Forest staff will be on hand to provide information and answer any questions about the new educational offering.

Merchiston announced last year plans to open a co-educational Forest Nursery and Junior School in September 2024, in a move to meet the growing demands for alternative outdoor education in Scotland.

Nestled in Merchiston’s expansive leafy grounds, The Forest at Merchiston promises an idyllic start to a child’s education where child-led learning fosters exploration, discovery, and play. All this while guided by expert facilitators and underpinned by the very best educational methodology.

The Forest Nursery will accept boys and girls into pre-school (aged 3-5), while The Forest Junior School will be open to P1-P3.

Jonathan Anderson, Head Teacher of Merchiston, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for interested families to learn more about the ethos of The Forest Nursery and Junior School and experience some of the magic of a nature-based school experience.”

“Our Forest pioneers will benefit from an alternative, nature-inspired approach to early years education that affords children the chance to explore, take risks, challenge themselves and play in the safe hands of our expert Forest team. We highly encourage families interested in a Forest education to attend our event.”

The bulb planting session will run from 10:00am on Saturday 29th April is the first of several events Merchiston has planned to welcome families to experience and learn more about the upcoming Forest Nursery and Junior School.

Spaces to The Forest are highly sought after, with limited spaces available. Interested families should register for the event here: https://www.merchiston.co.uk/admissions/the-forest/the-forest-family-bulb-planting-event