Forest School was first coined and done in Singapore officially on the 5 November 2016, through the first Forest School weekly session by Forest School Singapore.
From there on in, it began to grow slowly across the first 3 years. Rising to a humble 6 establishments across the country, namely,
1. Forest School Singapore
2. Forest School @ Lower Pierce (now Nature Den)
3. Roots and Boots
4. Nature Explorer School
5. Wildlings Forest School
6. Outdoor School Singapore
In those early years, all the Forest School only did weekly sessions except Roots and Boots, who melded the National Early childhood curriculum into their practice, to deliver a 5 full day of outdoor urban forest school with more structure than usual. The rest of the Forest Schools continued on with Weekly sessions plus half-day camps during the school holidays.
At that time, the parents and families who came onboard the movement and had their kids join in the sessions, were mostly from the homeschooling communities and some alternative thinking communities.
(⬇️ A Forest School Singapore newsletter from December 2019, that shone light to other Forest Schools and research work in Singapore at that time. We even did a cover on a Beach School in Malaysia)
Then Covid-19 hit. The worldwide shutdown and indoorisation of the people, reveal everyone to the need to be outside. At that time, because Forest School in Singapore is fully outdoors and usually nomadic, many of the usual indoor programs restrictions were not as applicable to the FS settings. Hence FS-es were able to continue on their session quite quickly as compared with other educational and outdoor programs. On top of that, FS-es attract parents who are more open and believe that children are healthier in the outdoors, under the weather.
The survivability and value of Forest School and the approach shot through the roof in 2020- 2022.
By the time all the various lockdown measures were fully lifted, there were close to 40+ Forest School or FS-like initiatives in various forms and sizes. Some of them were programs in mainstream international schools like Dulwich College and Tanglin Trust Schools. Some were in-curriculum elements in preschools, like Odyssey Forest Preschools and Nurtured Nest. There were many other stand-alone FS-es who did the weekly+holidaycamp combo, like Forest Adventure Club and Forest Play.
By the time 2023 came around, there were 60+ FS and FS-inspired initiatives across the country.
Forest School training and accreditation that Singapore practitioners gain at that time, was largely attained through overseas training that were provided mainly by two UK-based training companies (FSE and FSLI), who stretched their tendrils across Southeast Asia and Australia.
FSLI entered Singapore in 2022, through a collaboration between Kowabunga (Forest Play) and Dulwich College. They were the first to bring the FSL3 program to Singapore. But the program was vastly different in terms of quality from the pre-covid days. During the covid times, the FS training companies from UK begin moving their training fully online, with very little collective experiential components, leading to a more watered down quality of FS training, but still retaining the British branding that worked quite well with the post-colonised Nation of Singapore, who has a over-valuation on white-centric brand.
Circling back to the FS situation in the country, the huge grassroot style growth of FS in Singapore, naturally led to the dispersion of demand across the market. A few Forest Schools started to dwindle, especially the ones who were small and didn’t have the marketing firepower. There were those who stretched themselves too much as well, and collapsed under the financial pressure of their greed.
In the scene of practice, the wide range of Forest School approach in Singapore, though allowing for growth, led to a lack of clarity on the core principles and values of the Forest School Approach. There is Forest School Singapore and Hundred Paths, who take the approach in its pureness. But there are also Nature-centric Outdoor Learning experiences who branded Forest School into their curriculum with very little element of understanding and exercise of autonomy for the children.
As the pioneering leader of the Forest School in Singapore, Forest School Singapore, made the announcement to close the first Forest School of Singapore in 2024. We did that to make a powerful statement and commitment to the whole education sector in Singapore and the region.
The move inspired the other Forest Schools in Singapore and in the region to raise their game in the scene, taking on more leadership roles in the drive to advocate for the movement.
On 8 Nov 2025, Forest School Singapore returned to the scene quietly. But this time, the focus was directed at the systems and adults who live/work with children. We started the first locally made Forest School Singapore Practitioner Diploma. Other forest school training varieties were also offered. The goal was to help the movement grow via raising the rigour of practice and approach, while also putting resources to outreach, research and documentation work, so that all the other FS-es can focus on the children.
Currently the leading Forest Schools / FS-like initiatives in Singapore working with children and families are as below
Written by : Darren Quek
Library 