THE mastermind behind a forest school in Holt says he has ‘struck gold’ after finding the perfect woodland site in Wingfield.

For months now, qualified forest school leader Rob Curtis has been on the hunt for a piece of woodland to rent so he can expand his sessions he already has with Holt Primary School, to the weekends.

After having not much luck in procuring a suitable location, a friend of his who does art classes at Stowford Manor Farm in Wingfield told him about a disused quarry on the site, where nature has claimed the land once again.

And on Saturday, the 45-year-old hosted his first session for primary school aged children and 11-14-year-olds, which proved to be a huge hit.

“It was so much fun and the children absolutely loved the site, this could be the start of something special,” he said.

“They made dens, explored the great outdoors and enjoyed some hot chocolate and biscuits around a fire.

“It is a perfect wood with Ash Beech and Hazel growing and it is just ideal for running a forest school. There is a fire put with a parachute canopy over it and this is where we can share stories and ideas about what they want from this. I really have struck gold.”

The reason why Mr Curtis, of the Street, Holt, wanted to do weekend classes is because when children moved onto secondary school, some wanted to carry on with the forest school, but were too old to do so.

“Year 6 pupils that left school wanted to come back and that is why I looked into this and it has paid off in a big way,” said Mr Curtis, who gets help sometimes from parents.

“Now we can do sessions for primary school children and the 11-14-year-olds which is great and they will all be back next week again.

“They develop skills using different tools to make things from marble runs to whittling wards to use in their play.”

Mr Roberts is hoping he can do sessions for adults too.

“We all spend to much time indoors rushing from one activity to another, it’s good for all of us to just take time out away from the dreaded screen and just be,” said Mr Curtis.

“If adults show some interest too we can make it happen.”

For more information about the forest school email theforesttrailcompany@gmail.com