Forest School

If you go down to the woods today...

Forest School is an unique holistic educational process that aims to raise self-awareness and self-esteem in an outdoor, non classroom environment as well as enhancing learning . Forest School involves children/young people participating in small achievable tasks, connecting them with the environment and encouraging free exploration.

We deliver Forest School sessions as well as offering training for people to become Forest School Leaders themselves.

What's it all about

Our qualified Forest School staff offer an ongoing, rewarding and safe learning experience, connecting children and nature through a programme of achievable tasks and free exploration. Sessions are attended over a minimum of half a term, and group sizes are kept to a maximum of 15 participants. This ensures each young person gets the support they need to achieve personalised outcomes. Staff work with children on an individual, small group or whole group level. This ensures a nurturing environment where participants can learn at their own pace; as a result their skills and confidence accumulate over time.

A typical session

During sessions participants could be building shelters, practicing safe fire lighting, using tools to create a wooden name badge, outdoor cooking, or tuning into the sites and sounds around them. Activities can also be curriculum linked to most subjects.

Participants benefit in many ways from Forest School including:

improved behavior
increased communication skills
a positive relationship to learning
increased self-esteem and better motor skills.

Find out more

For further information on our Forest School sessions or to book us in please contact getwild@staffs-wildlife.org.uk or call on 01889 880100

You can also download our Forest School leaflet below

Forest School leaflet

Click to download

Wildplay - outdoor adventures for 8-16 years — /2020vision

Forest School Training

Level 3 Forest School

Train to become a OCN accredited Level 3 Forest School leader so you can provide this amazing experience in your own setting. This course is also recommended for teachers who want to run Forest School sessions in their school.

By completing the course, you will gain the skills, practical knowledge and confidence it takes to deliver Forest School and you will be supported and mentored throughout the training process and portfolio.

The course combines both theoretical and practical aspects including: the principles of Forest School, best practice, practical tool use, programme planning, risk management, learning theory, child development, woodland management and much more. The course also includes a two day Forest School first aid course.

We run Level 3 courses in Spring and Autumn and also run taster days for those interested in finding out more about the course. Our Autumn 2024 course is now fully booked but we are taking bookings for Spring 2025 now.

You can find out more about our upcoming Level 3 course here

Forest School Development/CPD Days

These days are suitably targeted to people with previous Forest School experience. However, all abilities are welcome. Meet fellow Forest School enthusiasts - a chance to network, practice Forest School activities, learn new ideas and share your own with the group. We run these sessions throughout the year, each one having a different theme.