An independent school is proposed to open in a church hall this year.

Plans have been submitted for the Wildwood Nature School to open in Dartmouth Park at St Mary Brookfield Church Hall.

The site, located on the east side of York Rise in the Dartmouth Park conservation area, comprises of a two storey hall.

According to the school, children will spend most of their time outdoors in nature, rather than indoors, at either Mortimer Terrace Nature Reserve, Queens Wood or Hampstead Heath.

In the applications submitted to Camden Council, there will initially be 20 pupils between the ages of four and 11 as well as four staff members.

By the fifth year, the school anticipates it will grow to up to 40 pupils and six staff.

It is proposed the school will be open 9am-4pm from Monday to Friday during Camden term times.

There is also set to be a range of after-school clubs until 5pm which will be open to the wider community.

Tara Royle, founder and head of the school, said the school’s main focus is on the wellbeing of children and staff, a curriculum based on the latest research into mindfulness, neuroscience and trauma, and a “radically different approach” to behaviour that is not focused on rewards and punishments.

Instead behaviour is said to be enforced through “compassionate relationships, nonviolent communication and restorative justice”.

The non-profit school intends to offer 20 per cent of its places for free, growing to 30 per cent once it reaches its 40-student capacity by the fifth year.

In a letter to the council, the church stated how the hall was used to generate “much needed income” by previously using the site for York Rise Nursery.

The letter stated: “The hall has been underused and heavily subsidised by St Mary Brookfield Church (owners of the property) and we are now delighted with our new tenants who wish to bring value to our community by taking on the hall and lease which will not only help them in their work, but will be of significant support and benefit to our work too.”

Parents wishing to find out more are encouraged to visit the school’s indoor base at St Mary Brookfield Hall on April 19 from 4pm to 6pm.

For more information visit: https://www.wildwoodnatureschool.org.uk/