Is this the view from your office?
Train with us as a Forest School Leader or
a Forest School Assistant and it will be!
What is Forest School training?
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“Forest School is an inspirational process, that offers ALL learners regular opportunities to achieve, develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees.” Forest School Association (FSA)
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Forest School is a specialised learning approach that sits within and compliments the wider context of outdoor and woodland education.
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Join us for the next Level 2 Forest School Assistant or Level 3 Forest School Practitioner course, run over a period of 9 months and 9 days of face-to-face contact, where you will learn to be a competent and enthusiastic Forest School assistants or leaders whether working with children, young people, adults and families.
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The courses is designed to provide you with the theoretical understanding and the practical skills in order to design, develop and run (or support) your Forest School. Click here to see what a recent trainee said about the course
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As experienced and passionate Forest School Trainers we offer different learning experiences covering everything from woodland management, site maintenance and risk assessments, to the safe use of tools, species identification and how to put the Forest School ethos into your practice.
We have a real passion for connecting people to nature in engaging and inspiring ways as well as experience of sharing our knowledge and expertise. We are enthusiastic about the Forest School ethos and sees it as a positive antidote to modern life. We have a clear vision having witnessed the benefits of Forest School across so many varied areas, hoping that this will lead to a more sustainable future, and a more cared for natural environment. We look forward to sharing our experiences, knowledge and skills with you.
Why choose us? The expertise we will share with you.
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We offer the only open Forest School training in Barnet and Haringey which takes place predominately outdoors. We deliver the training in different urban Forest Schools across the boroughs giving you’re the opportunity to see how different Forest Schools are set up and operate successfully in many settings, reflecting the communities that we work with.
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We may be able to support you with arranging the practical placement part of your training (see below for more details) because we have forged positive relationship with many settings we have worked with and for. We are Forest School practitioners and between us we have delivered Forest School with/within:
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Primary schools Barnet, Haringey, Enfield, Essex & Hertfordshire
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Secondary schools, specialist schools for students with for pupils with social, emotional and mental health difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder and other complex needs & young offenders
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An outdoor nursery for 4 years,
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Regular family sessions running for years,
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Long term programmes, those which have run over 12 weeks and allows the real impact of Forest School to take place.
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A regular family outdoor cooking programme
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Woodlands based holiday clubs
We have a deep understanding and experience of engaging with urban children, young people and families with nature, using innovative ways to do so.
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We have successfully set up our own businesses and also run charity-based work. Learning from both will be shared as part of the course and will be valuable for those wanting to follow specific routes.
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As qualified adult trainers and professionals we have have varied experiences of work. Although we work together on a couple of the above programmes our other work is quite different.
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Janine has been involved in adult learning for 20 years plus in different area working with children and young people, as well as a lifetime of working with children in the voluntary and community sector. She has supported numerous Forest School trainees as part of their own training and in her Forest School practice which has informed her subsequent training delivery. She has a worthy knowledge of child development, diversity, inclusion and engagement, operational set up and programme development. She loves devising sessions that encourage imagination, play and risk taking! She has delivered various Forest School programmes for 8 years.
Maggie comes from a background of the arts and working with vulnerable adults. These are areas she has also explored within Forest School, and hopes to do more of! She brings with her a sound knowledge of flora and fauna, outdoor cooking (and foraging as part of this), practical skills and is a great story teller. She loves working with younger children and families. She has been working at Into the Woods Outdoor Nursery since it started. It was the first outdoor nursery in London and has 'Outstanding' status.
An enthusiastic lover of the great outdoors and all things nature Melissa has been a park warden & a primary school teacher. Melissa’s children take after her. Not content with being indoors, she decided to start a Forest School for her children, so that they could share with others, the benefits of playing outdoors. 8 years later, she runs a very successful Forest School and has passed the thousand mark, for the number of people who have attended her Forest School on a weekly basis. She has recently discovered a new love of outdoor storytelling, & teaching adults the ways of forest school.
We all involve volunteers and other staff in our work so know how to engage different skill sets in our work. During the training these support staff will also be available to learn from on different days.
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We have the professional indemnity and public liability insurance needed to deliver this training as well as both having an outdoor first aid training certificate and adult learning qualification .
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Not all Forest School Leader and Assistant courses are the Same…..
The courses we run
The Level 3 Certificate in Forest School Leaders
The qualification is the only recognised qualification you can do to deliver Forest School sessions according to the Forest School Association (FSA). The qualifications we delivery are certified by the Open College Network and most recently we are working with ITC First, both with a total qualification time of 180 hours. The FSA state that this is amount of time necessary to endorse the qualification. Not all courses are endorsed by the FSA.
This qualification offers learners the chance to carry out practical skills in a woodland environment. Learners will increase their skills to support children and young people to develop emotional literacy and team work skills while working in an outdoor environment. More details of the course can be found here
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The Level 2 Forest School Assistant Award
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This Award provides learners with the skills required to support Forest School Leaders when supporting Forest School programmes. The course is a mixture of theory and practical skills that will be the basis of your practice when you are a Forest School assistant. The 7 credits earned can be transferred onto the Level 3 course if that is the progressions route you choose.
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More details of the course can be found here
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We are accredited to deliver the Level 2 Forest School Assistant and Level 3 Forest School Leader qualification by ITC First
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We are members of the Forest School Association which is the professional body and UK wide voice for Forest School, promoting best practice, cohesion and quality Forest School for all.
