MEET THE TEAM
Our Evergreen Team
“Let the children be free; encourage them;
let them run outside when it is raining;
let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water;
and when the grass of the meadow with dew;
let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet;
let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath its shade;
let them shout and laugh when the sun wakes them up in the morning.”
– Maria Montessori
“It’s time to return to childhood, to simplicity, to running and climbing and laughing in the sunshine, to experiencing happiness instead of being train for a lifetime of happiness. It’s time to let children be children again.” – LR KNOST
Founder, Early Years Lead Teacher, Forest School Leader, SENCO
mONIKA BROWN
Monika is the heart and founder of Evergreen Forest School—the first fully Outdoor Forest School School in the Ribble Valley. With over 19 years of experience working with children in both Poland and England, she brings a rich blend of expertise, passion, and vision to early childhood education.
She is a Level 6 Early Years Practitioner, a Level 3 Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) in Early Years, and holds a Level 3 qualification in Understanding Autism, supported by many years of practical experience. Monika is also a Level 3 qualified Forest School Leader, having trained with the inspirational Danny English—an experience that deepened her commitment to child-led, nature-based learning.
Monika’s love for the outdoors is the foundation of Evergreen. She is passionate about growing herbs and vegetables, caring for trees, and nurturing wildlife. A dedicated beekeeper, she tends to over 40 hives and shares her knowledge of bees and pollination with children. Her love for animals and her advocacy for a healthy, natural lifestyle are reflected in the daily rhythms of the school.
In recent years, Monika has been continuing her professional and personal development through dedicated study in apitherapy, mycology, and herbalism under the guidance of renowned Dr. Henryk Różański at a Polish university. This advanced training enriches her holistic approach to education, health, and nature connection within the nursery setting.
She is also a proud mother to two amazing sons, whose early passion for storytelling and reading grew into a love for writing books and exploring the world of literature. With a deep curiosity and impressive knowledge in geography, history, biology, and physics, both are now continuing their academic journeys at university. Their inspiration and creativity have always played an important role in shaping Monika’s approach to nurturing a love of learning in the children she teaches.
Over the past 14 years, Monika has been serving children and families across Lancashire with warmth, creativity, and determination. She is also just one stripe away from earning her black belt at Valley Martial Arts in Clitheroe, bringing a unique blend of strength, discipline, and mindfulness into her leadership.
Monika is a big dreamer with a clear mission: to create a magical, safe, and beautiful space where children and their families can reconnect with nature. At Evergreen, this dream is brought to life through storytelling around campfires, fairy trails, alpacas and peacocks, forest games, nourishing food, and the endless wonder of childhood imagination.
Together with her passionate team, Monika has created Evergreen Forest School in the heart of the Forest of Bowland—an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is a place where children thrive, learn with joy, and feel truly free.
Amy
Early Years Practitioner, Forest School Leader
Amy is a qualified level 3 childcare professional and level 3 forest school leader. She has nearly 20 years of practice working with children alongside her qualifications. She has gained many courses relevant to her work with children and her passion to get them out and teach them in the outdoors classroom.
Amy spent her half terms enjoying working with children in an outdoor pursuit camp for summer (PGL). In this, she gained a passion for the outdoors, teaching children team building and bringing them a level of confidence in new challenges they had never done before in different activities.
She achieved a level of deputy manager at a great local nursery but her heart missed working closely with children and being able to stay with them outside in every weather all year round. Luckily her daughter, Eden, started attending Evergreen Forest School and Amy had a feeling this will be her dream place for work! She is our fantastic Forest School Leader, loved by all the children and the adults. Amy loves singing and playing outdoor games with children, she has a great talent to keep everyone warm and happy even in the rain. She always smiles to children, listens to them, has an incredible patience and never raises her voice. She is a very reliable person and pays attention to the children needs and their voices. She is an amazing addition to our Evergreen Forest School Family!
Amy has two young children, Eden who used to attend Evergreen Forest School (who is now at school and still loves to talk about the forest school and even asks us why she can’t keep going) and a wonderful little boy called Ellis. Amy enjoys exploring national trust parks, walking her dog Buddy and spending time with her family and friends.
Alice
Early Years Language Officer & Online Safety Lead
Alice joined our Evergreen Forest School team in February 2025 as a qualified Level 3 Childcare Practitioner. From the very beginning, she became a much-loved presence among the children—often described as our smiling, pink-haired fairy! Her boundless energy, gentle nature, and playful spirit quickly made her a favourite in the forest.
Whether she’s building elaborate train tracks, constructing Lego masterpieces, leading forest games at lightning speed, or helping children perfect their gymnastics and sandcastle skills, Alice brings joy, creativity, and care to everything she does. But above all, Alice truly sees the children—she listens, understands, and responds with warmth and respect.
Alice is a wonderful addition to our small but very busy team. She approaches her role with enthusiasm, curiosity, and a constant willingness to learn and grow. Although her professional background includes a variety of people-focused roles, it’s in early years education that Alice has truly found her calling—speaking the natural language of children.
Alice is also a proud mum to two fantastic children who love joining in our forest adventures whenever they can. Her husband, Michael, is a busy truck driver who still finds time to lend a hand—whether it’s bringing us a giant umbrella for our magic table or helping behind the scenes.
We are so lucky to have Alice as part of our team. She not only brings her passion and playfulness to every day but also takes on the important responsibilities of Early Years Language Officer and Online Safety Lead, supporting both the communication development of our children and the digital safety of our setting.
Meet Our Amazing Chef – Mummy Fox (Ewa)
Head Chef
Ewa is a truly fantastic addition to our team. Warm, kind, and always smiling, she brings heart and soul to everything she does. As our beloved chef, she works incredibly hard behind the scenes — and is always the first to step in and help wherever she’s needed, whether that’s in the kitchen or out in the forest.
The children adore Ewa and trust her completely. She has a natural way with them, and it’s clear how deeply she cares. Her gentle, funny personality brings warmth and joy to our setting every day. We lovingly call her Mummy Fox, and her famous “green fox soup” has become part of our Forest School legend.
Ewa’s personal story is one of strength and quiet bravery. After the sudden loss of her husband a few years ago, she has built her life in the UK with her two wonderful children. She’s not only a fantastic cook, but also a devoted mother — home-educating one of her children, changing her own car oil and tyres when needed, and always giving her best to everyone around her.
She is, without doubt, one of the best cooks we’ve ever met (second only to Mummy Bear!) and a much-loved member of our Evergreen family.
Michael
Gardener, Groundskeeper, Beekeeper
Michael is a rock to Evergreen Forest School. He looks after our 22 acres of land; the trees, our garden, the flowers and the animals. He can talk to the trees and the pigs (his favourite animals). He is the one who makes risk assessments and warms up our barn in the winter, who closes and opens the gates. He is able to even help parents in any unusual situations (changing tires, fixing car engines and using our van to pick up children at the bottom of Eaves Hall Lane when it snows and the lane is traversable to no one but him!)
He is a man with a great passion for the outdoors, with a massive talent for woodworking (every structure and every single fencepost is laid down by his hands here). He is a wise man with a child’s sense of humour, a massive heart and an unbelievable patience. All of our vehicles, our tractors, forklift truck and quadbikes are his, and he makes sure to take care of all our bees! All this put together have made him a superhero for the children attending our Forest School.
He is an amazing role model and male character and this is the reason why he is beloved by everyone at the Forest School. We are lucky to have Michael as part of our Evergreen Forest School Family.