Beyond the classroom - THE FOREST IS OUR SCHOOL!

These teachers foster a love of learning in the great outdoors

When you think back to school, there's a good chance most of it was spent inside four walls, behind a desk. But in a pocket of bush on the Hibiscus Coast in Auckland is The Forest School - a long-held dream in action of husband-and-wife duo Gavin and Tennille Murdoch.

Instead of workbooks and tests, kids play freely in the bush, engineer drainage systems, build treehouses and shelters, use power tools, and take an active role in caring for the local bush and beach. They surf and snorkel, cook over the fire and create nature-inspired art.

"Children are more than just academic learners," insists mother-of-three Tennille, 43, who founded the school seven years ago. "Every day, we give them the chance to learn intellectually, physically, socially, emotionally and so much more.

"Often so much weight is put solely on the intellectual side of children's learning, but at the end of the day, all I want as a parent, and what most parents want, is to have happy kids who believe in their abilities and have the confidence to try new things Learning to read is still essential, but we forget it's not everything."