Riverside School Forest School

Hi, My name is Olivia and I am the Principal of Riverside Special School in Antrim. Riverside Special School has 128 pupils at present who have Severe Learning Disabilities.

We want our pupils to know that they have the highest quality provision that we can give them - and we are always striving to do better for them... because they deserve it!

In 2023 with support of Kier Group SOS project we turned an identified area of wasteland brush, into our forest. This has been providing the opportunity for inclusive outdoor experiences for our pupils. They have been experiencing the outdoors in such a beautiful space that we could only have dreamed of before. We are not stopping there though!

We want our pupils to develop their own risk taking, critical thinking skills in an outdoor environment. Think Mud Kitchens , Mini Beast Hotels , ECO schools, Duke of Edinburgh accreditation - we want to facilitate it all and bring you along for the ride!

Our latest project in 2024 - 25 will be the development of a forest school classroom . Riverside has a number of teachers who are accredited as forest school teachers. Forest Schools is a child-centered inspirational learning process, that offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions.

We have been working alongside Bally Castle Climbing frames to design a beautiful bespoke outdoor classroom that will facilitate amazing learning experiences for our pupils. This will be transformative to our school and be an unbelievable resource to have at our fingertips that will help us reach all of our pupils regardless of mobility or ability.

We need your help!! Over the next few months we have a range of fundraising activities planned that will help us to raise much needed funds for this resource.

Any help that you could give would be greatly appreciated and will directly benefit our pupils.