About us
At the forest edge in İncek since 2019. Three groups, 42 children, outdoors every season.
Why Yaban?
One meaning of the word "yaban" is "untouched, left to itself". Childhood has that side too: growing at its own pace, with its own questions.
When we founded the school our aim was not to take children to the forest but to bring the forest back into children's everyday lives. Today a child at Yaban spends two hundred days a year outdoors. They don't get ill when it snows, because they dress right; when they fall they know how to get up, because they have done it before.
I look forward to welcoming you to a visit day on a Saturday morning.
Özge IlgazFounder and head of school
Our values
Outdoors teaches
Weather, soil and season are the programme's most important teachers.
The child decides
The teacher asks questions and offers materials; most of the time the child decides what to do.
An open door
Families are invited to the forest every season; daily news and photos are shared in a closed group.
Staying small
We chose to know 42 children well rather than to grow.
A house, a garden, a forest
Our timber building faces south at the forest edge. Inside are three classrooms, a dining room and a drying room where every child's rain suit dries by noon. Outside are a greenhouse, vegetable beds, a mud kitchen and a tarp shelter.
Our groundsDocuments and licences
The licence and other documents hang at the school entrance; originals are shown to any parent who asks.
- Institution licenceMinistry of National Education, Ankara Provincial Directorate
Institution code: 000000 - Business licenceGölbaşı Municipality
- Fire safety reportAnkara Fire Department, renewed yearly
- Food business registrationProvincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry
- Risk-benefit assessmentSchool grounds and paths, renewed every September
Photos and children's data
We share photos showing children's faces only with the parent's written consent. On our website you will mostly see hands, boots and moments photographed from behind. Our pre-enrolment forms do not ask for health information, national ID numbers or photos.