Forest Schools Leadership Training

Why is training with the Wildlife Trust different to any other training provider?

Included in the price of your training is support for you to complete your portfolio. Because the Wildlife Trusts have many offices country-wide you are never far away from some expert help.  So as well as offering you phone and e-mail support, we can offer face to face visits, site visits and for many, help with site development by sharing our contacts and reserves with you.

You also gain the benefits of a wealth of experience in conservation, managing land/sites for the benefit of wildlife and people.

Years of experience and an excellent reputation for environmental education. And for what many people find the most beneficial, practical experience and knowledge in setting up and successfully running projects with children, and a diverse range of community groups. In addition to the skills and knowledge to deliver Forest School training.

Which course should I do?

We currently offer Forest Schools leadership (level 3) and Forest Schools Assistant (level 2)

What does training involve?

Level 3 Forest Schools Leadership

The training is delivered by staff from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust. The Level 3 course is accredited by the Open College Network. The qualification is nationally recognised. The training comprises seven days of training with tutor contact time. These days are a mixture of practical and classroom based study. Students then have nine months to complete a portfolio of work which is expected to take approximately 120 hours of self directed study.

The Forest School Level 3 Leader qualification comprises three units of study. (18 credits)

Unit 1: Learning and Development at Forest School covers many elements of how different people learn, building self esteem and emotional intelligence, researching other theories of learning and how they relate to Forest School.

Unit 2: Establishment and Delivery revolves around managing health and safety, risk assessments, session planning and evaluating. As part of this unit, students are required to run a minimum of six Forest School sessions.

Unit 3: Practical Skills and Woodland Management. This unit looks at creating a site management plan, identifying flora and fauna and looking at environmental impact. This unit also covers all aspects of your practical skills - teaching others to use tools safely, creating items from wood, building a shelter from natural materials, safely siting, lighting, cooking on and extinguishing a camp fire.

PLEASE NOTE: The level 3 leadership qualification is the only qualification you can have which allows you to lead a Forest School and also to call your programme a Forest School.

Cost: Please see the Training Packages page for details of prices.  Various packages are available.   Discounts and options available if booking a whole course of 15 people.

We at the Wildlife Trust believe that getting the right support contributes to a successful Forest School programme. So while we offer competitive standard prices for our Forest School Level 3 courses we have also offer package deals which will give you the very best help in achieving your award.

Please email us if you would like to reserve a place on one of our courses.

Course entry requirements:

To qualify you will need an up to date first aid qualification which is a minimum of 16 hours - ideally with an outdoor and/or paediatric element. Please see our First Aid training section for further information. You do not need this qualification to begin training, but you will need it before you begin your sessions.

You will need to identify a suitable site to use for your sessions. Ideally this should be somewhere which can be dedicated to use for Forest School, have a variety of habitats and be accessible for your client group. Some people like to fence off' their Forest School sites - this can be done in a variety of ways. For further inspiration please visit our sites and case studies page.

• You should hold an existing CRB check
• You will need suitable insurance cover
• You will need to work with a group to complete your qualification, we would expect that you have this arranged before you come to do your training.

Level 3 courses are equivalent to A-level difficulty. You may wish to consider this before you access the training.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Level 2 Forest Schools Assistant

The training is delivered by staff from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust. The Level 2 course is accredited by the Open College Network. The qualification is nationally recognised.

The training comprises three days of training with tutor contact time. These days are mostly practical, but will contain some classroom element. Students then have 3 months to complete a workbook.

The Assistant qualification consists of two units of study (4 credits).

Unit 1: Skills for the Forest School Assistant covers topics such as risk assessment, flora and fauna identification, managing ecological impact and practical skills such as knot tying, shelter building using tools and fire.

Unit 2: Supporting Learning and Development at Forest School covers how to support learning and development, understanding the importance of play/self directed learning, helping to build self confidence and assisting with a successful Forest School programme. This unit requires you to assist with a minimum of three Forest School sessions

PLEASE NOTE: This qualification does not qualify you to lead a Forest School. You should already be working with an existing Forest School leader to qualify for this course.

Course entry requirements:

You should be working with an existing Forest School leader. If you wish to run your own Forest School sessions, you should look at the level 3 qualification.

You should hold an existing CRB check

Level 2 courses are equivalent to GCSE difficulty. You may wish to consider this before you access the training.

Cost: £300 + VAT. All days of training, workbook marking and on-course assessments.

Continuous Professional Development

One day courses, half day courses or twilight courses for Teachers, educational professionals, Forest School leaders, rangers, parents, anyone with an interest in the outdoors.

Please see the list of courses in our Short Courses section

Please contact us to book a place on this course.