The founders of an Aylesbury-based forest school want to expand their ‘alternative educational model’ to a third site on farmland in Little Marlow.

Erica Bailey and Kim Mabey met while working at a local primary school in 2014, where they observed first-hand the “positive impact” of nature-based ‘forest school’ sessions on children.

The pair took the plunge and launched The Shepherd’s Hut Outdoor Nursery on land off Nash Lee Lane in Wendover in 2017, capitalising on the opportunity to bring the principles of forest schooling to an even younger cohort – and became one of just a handful of Bucks-based nurseries to be rated Outstanding by Ofsted just a few years later.

Now, after opening a second base in Prestwood in 2023, Erica and Kim have set their sights on land at Wilton Farm on Marlow Road in Little Marlow for yet another dose of ‘alternative’ schooling that they have seen provide “additional, measurable benefits” to more traditional early years teaching.

Plans to erect facilities including a yurt, polytunnel and two compost toilets in a field at the farm were submitted to Buckinghamshire Council on September 17, with the nursery founders arguing that a change of use of the land would be in keeping with its greenbelt designation and inclusion in the Chilterns National Character Area.

They also pointed to the council’s approval of the Prestwood site, which similarly fell within greenbelt parameters but was judged by officers to be of a suitably “modest and acceptable” development size.

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The South Bucks branch of The Shepherd’s Hut Outdoor Nursery would, Erica and Kim argued, widen the choice of educational provision for parents in the area – seizing on the uptick in popularity of the unorthodox model, whose curriculum includes “swinging in a hammock or tree swing, making woodland craft tools and singing in a group”.

A spokesperson for the nursery said: “Erica and Kim have for some time been aware of the growing demand for outdoor nurseries in the local area – a demand exacerbated following Covid and the increasing recognition of the significant educational, social and developmental benefits of forest school learning.”

They also said the new branch “actively relies upon” the retention of the greenbelt land’s “natural and open” features, describing the temporary yurt, polytunnel and toilets as the “very few facilities” required in connection to it.

The plans, which cover a small part of a larger field adjacent to Wilton Farm's outbuildings, also include associated fencing, parking and landscaping proposals.