School children learning to be more adventurous spent a day in the great outdoors, turning their school field into a woodland.

Sutton-at-Hone Church of England Primary School, Church Road, is creating a Forest School which means laying bark chippings, planting trees and putting up some fences – and the pupils are helping out too.

This month, youngsters from all 14 classes planted a sapling in a variety to match their “class tree”.

After that, 16 more saplings and 30 hedges were planted, donated by the Woodland Trust. Hawley Garden Centre has also given the school a large discount to purchase items for the project.

Turf was dug up the week before the planting by Landscape Services and the school will be fundraising next term to pay for materials.

Teacher Caroline Zwolskyj is a qualified Forest School leader.

She said: “Forest Schools are hands-on learning experiences in a woodland area. Children will build shelters, make animal homes, use natural resources and tools to make pictures, frames, necklaces, learn to tie knots and use tools including saws, build fires and cook over them.

“Evidence shows that Forest Schools foster resilient, confident, independent and creative learners by promoting appropriate risk taking and following the key principles of play.”

All areas of the curriculum can be incorporated into the Forest School sessions, from writing in mud to counting leaves and natural sciences.

After all the digging, the pupils also got stuck into some baking, for Children in Need.