← Back to homeAlma Forest School
San Roque, Spain · est. 2019 · Private
Illustration · San Roque
Alma Forest School is a private forest school in San Enrique de Guadiaro, in the municipality of San Roque in the south of Cádiz province. Its story begins in Dubai, where in 2015 the co-founder gathered a group of mothers for home-school classes for 1-year-olds; after moving to Spain she found nothing comparable for 3 to 6-year-olds and founded the Escuela Bosque in April 2019. In 2020, at the request of the parents of her pupils, the school opened a primary stage so that the children could carry on learning in the same environment; today it also has a middle school programme. The school publishes its curricula in separate documents for its three stages - Escuela Bosque, primary school and middle school - each with its own plan. Before founding the school the co-founder qualified as a Level 3 Forest School Practitioner, and before that she worked for 18 years in financial services in Dubai in market regulation and compliance. The school is small by design and calls itself truly international: its pupils come from 28 nationalities, and 80 per cent of the families moved here to join the school. Teaching is in English, Spanish is taught by dedicated teachers, and no English is required for admission. The school lives on a finca near Sotogrande with views of Gibraltar and Morocco: fields, trees, animals, with nature parks and beaches nearby. Classes are small: in the Escuela Bosque 1 adult to 8 children, in the primary school no more than 15 pupils in a class.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $11 862–15 534 a year
10 500–13 750 EUR
Languages of instruction
English
Class size
up to 15 in the primary school
Summer camp
Yes, open to all
About the fees The school publishes its fees for the 2026-2027 school year in a separate document. The Escuela Bosque for children from 3 to 6 costs 750 euros a month. The school, per year: Grades 1-2: 10500 euros, Grades 3-5: 11750 euros, Grades 6-8: 13750 euros. Payment can be monthly by the 5th, termly with a 2 per cent discount, or for the year in advance by 15 August with a 5 per cent discount. Each further child in the family gets a discount of 500 euros a year.
Admissions The school states plainly that it requires no English for admission and supports children for whom it is an additional language; its pupils come from 28 nationalities, and 80 per cent of the families moved to join the school. Admission runs in 4 steps: getting to know the school - a video call or a tour explaining its approach and ethos; then an application form for a free place or the waiting list, with supporting reports and assessments on the pupil; then, where logistically possible, trial days at the school; and finally an offer of a place. On application the family pays a non-refundable fee of 500 euros.
Stages and year groups Grades Escuela Bosque from age 3 - Grade 8, to age 14. Three stages: the Escuela Bosque for children from 3 to 6, opened in April 2019, with 1 adult to 8 children and a day from 9:00 to 14:30; the primary school from 6 to 11, Grades 1-5, created in 2020, with no more than 15 pupils in a class, Monday to Thursday from 8:50 to 15:30 and on Friday until 15:00; and the middle school from 11 to 14, Grades 6-8. The school publishes the curriculum for each stage as a separate document.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
NEASC · accreditationschool is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
NEASCNew England Association of Schools and Colleges
An American accreditation working since 1885. For international schools it uses an approach where the visitors look first at live lessons rather than at folders of paperwork: the team works in the school for about a week. It is the only one here whose public directory honestly separates accredited schools from candidates.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Playground
Campus: The school stands on a Spanish finca near Sotogrande with views of Gibraltar and Morocco: fields to play on, trees to climb, animals the children look after, with nature parks and beaches nearby. Catering is optional and charged separately, otherwise a packed lunch from home. The school gives no description of its buildings or classrooms.
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp and takes children from outside as well
Summer programme away from campus: optional Thursday sleepover
The 2027 summer camp is 3 weeks from 28 June to 16 July, one week each; registration opens on 15 February 2027. It is a day camp with an optional sleepover on Thursdays; maker projects, games, swimming at least 3 times a week, bushcraft, water games, stargazing and hiking. It is run by the school's teachers trained in paediatric and outdoor first aid, with lifeguards present. The school does not give ages or prices.
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: degrees in education, Forest School Levels 3-4
The team, in the school's words, is small, with more than 150 years of teaching experience between them. Named are the co-founder and director Sharyn, a Level 3 Forest School Practitioner, and the principal Philipp, a psychology graduate with an MEd from Cambridge who has worked at the UN International School in New York and at Summerhill School; the teachers, the school says, hold university degrees in education, Forest School qualifications at Levels 3 and 4 and have taught in several countries. In the Escuela Bosque there is 1 adult to 8 children, and in the primary school no more than 15 pupils in a class.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)60 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data60 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country