Accredited Forest School Training - Dates and Information

Accredited Forest School training run locally, nationally and internationally.
Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and beyond.

Please see below the list of dates for the courses available.

Please read the Terms and Conditions carefully before booking your training with Where The Fruit Is.

We are working with a range of partners, including Oxfordshire County Council and the National Forest,  to meet the pressing needs of schools and early years settings.  

We are listening to colleagues in schools and early years settings, responding to the widened experiential learning gap,  developing training that provides sustainable, holistic, emotion-coaching in nature. 

We believe the Forest School approach, promoting learner-centred opportunities for play, is a powerful way to re-engage those children and young people most disadvantaged due to Covid19, with their peers and learning, whilst caring for the wellbeing and mental health of staff and pupils.   

We run bespoke, accredited Forest School training locally, nationally and internationally.  

Please contact us if you want to know more about whole staff training around nature connection, emotion coaching and wellbeing.  

Accredited Forest School training:

Click on the links above or scroll down to find out more.

Forest School Leader Training (Level 3)

Course Information

  • Qualification awarded: AIM Qualifications Level 3 Certificate for Forest School Leaders
  • Course length: One year
  • Host site: Sylva Foundation and local woods in Oxfordshire
  • Venue:  Sylva Wood Centre – Teaching Barn
    unless stated otherwise
  • Cost: £1,600

Click on the blocks below to see the dates relating to each course.

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The training package includes

  • 16-hour Outdoor First Aid training
  • online course materials for self-directed learning – including year-long access to  Red Squirrel Resources – practical skills and nature connection tutorials
  • trainee membership of the Forest School Association – monthly webinars and knowledge base
  • peer-to-peer and group Paths to Resilience coaching
  • online group webinars to support self-study and produce evidence for portfolios – recorded and shared 
  • average 96 hours of self-study which will include working collaboratively with other trainees on projects between webinars and workshops 
  • training and support with the creation of an online portfolio and a working Forest School handbook 
  • inspirational contributions from experienced Forest School and SEND practitioners, environmental educators and bushcraft experts
  • access to Forest School sessions led by experienced practitioners – for observation/ volunteering
  • supportive workplace delivery assessment 

As a response to the pandemic, we are combining Forest School leader training with our Paths to Resilience coaching offer.

The People and Nature Survey for England: Children’s survey (Natural England Oct 2020) highlighted the inequities of access to nature and the impact of the pandemic on children and young people’s wellbeing. 

At its heart, Forest School motivates and empowers learners of all ages to care for themselves, each other and for the natural world around them. Through the ethos and principles, values-based Forest School offers a development platform for personal and community growth.

This training offers space and time to build the reflective, empathic nature connecting practice we now realise is vital for human flourishing.  

The learning journey will be enriched by experienced Forest School leaders and other trainers joining us throughout the year. We know that setting up and leading inspirational Forest School programmes requires collaboration and commitment. To this end trainees will teach and learn from each other, gaining communication and presentation skills. 

Our year-long course will be co-designed by the trainees and trainers, as we explore why the Forest School pedagogy meets many of the pressing needs of young people and their families. Forest School offers hope in the face of the ongoing challenges of Covid19, the climate emergency and biodiversity loss, improving outcomes for people and the planet.

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This qualification provides the practitioner with the skills and knowledge to risk assess, set up and manage a Forest School site, minimising the ecological impact. It equips them to plan and safely facilitate challenging, person-centred, learner-led, playful Forest School programmes with a range of client groups in line with the Forest School ethos and principles.

Suitable for school and college staff, teachers, teaching assistants, and parent volunteers, youth workers and other education/ care/ health practitioners. 

Organisations wishing to achieve the Learning Outside the Classroom quality badge will find this qualification supports the process.

Level 3 Course requirements and details

Learners must be at least 19 years old to access the qualification and cannot act as Forest School Leaders until they are 21 and have had relevant two-day Outdoor First Aid training.  

This qualification, worth 18 credits over 5 units of work, is evidenced by an online handbook, supportive delivery assessment and online portfolio. 

Total qualification time 180 hours, including an average of 96 hours self-study over 9-12 months. 

Commitment

Managers will demonstrate that Forest School is embedded in the development plan and undertake to support trainees to qualify by completing the agreement form here. We recommend creating an agreement between the trainee and the school/setting.

Trainees undertake to attend all training (except in exceptional circumstances), will engage in Zoom webinars, visit Forest School in action, run an Introduction to Forest School programme, submit an online portfolio and handbook within the agreed time frame.

Freelance trainees will be responsible for finding a group to work with. 

Where the Fruit Is will support trainees to achieve the qualification, providing ongoing mentoring throughout the training process. We undertake to give personalised feedback in a timely fashion and to provide quality venues and resources. We understand that life is complicated and will work with you to find flexible solutions if you miss a workshop or webinar. Please read our Centre Handbook here 

Out of area assessments costs – an additional charge of £75 plus 45p per mile plus VAT is made for any Forest School delivery assessments carried out beyond a 50-mile radius of the training host site. 

Forest School Assistant (Level 2)

Course Information

  • Level 2 Forest School Assistant
  • Qualification awarded: AIM Qualifications Level 2 Award for Forest School Assistants
  • Course length: run concurrently with L3 workshops
  • Trainers: Sarah Lawfull & Sarah Walker
  • Host site: Sylva Wood Centre
  • Cost: See individual courses
  • NB – The learner needs to be at least 19 years old at qualification.
Click to BOOK and latest dates
Course Information
Many schools and nurseries are finding that a trained Forest School Assistant is a valuable addition to their team. This course requires the learner to support a Level 3 qualified Forest School Leader with the planning and delivery of 3 consecutive sessions of a Forest School programme. We usually run this concurrently with our Level 3 training so learners often attend the first three modules with colleagues who are training as Level 3 Leaders.

Please contact us if you would like to explore this option.

Please note: this qualification does not equip nor qualify the learner to lead Forest School sessions in the absence of a qualified L3 Forest School Leader

Level 2 Course requirements and details:

Learner needs to be at least 19 years old at qualification. Two units of work, equal to 7 credits, evidenced by a portfolio requiring an average of 54 guided learning hours with a total qualification time of 70 hours. This means there are about 16 hours personal study for the learner to do at home.

Course Dates

tbc

Introduction To Forest School (Level 1)

Course Information

  • Introduction To Forest School (Level 1)
  • Qualification awarded: AIM Qualifications Level 1 Award in Forest School Ethos and Principles ​
  • Course length: 25 Guided Learning Hours – usually 3 days training plus a couple of webinars / Total Qualification Time 30 hours
  • Trainers: Sarah Lawfull
  • Host site:contact us to run this for your school/ setting
Click to BOOK and latest dates
Course Information

This is great for parents, young people and volunteers who want an introduction to the Forest School ethos. Different course models are available; it usually takes three days of training and completing a simple workbook. This practical course gives a good ’taste’ of Forest School.

Advertised L1 courses are the first three L2/ L3 training days.

Please contact us if you would like us to run this in your setting for a group of adults. It could be presented as a set of twilights.  We also have an option to train alongside one of our trainers.

Level 1 Course requirements and details: The Forest School Association and awarding organisations require the learner to be at least 14.

Top Up Level 3

Course Information

  • Top Up Level 3
  • Qualification awarded: Open College Network West Midlands Level 3
  • Course length: tbc
  • Trainers: Sarah Lawfull
  • Host site: tbc
  • Cost: £780 incl VAT (per learner)
    (includes all refreshments, lunch, course materials, registration and certification)
Click to BOOK and latest dates
Course Information
It is possible to top your level 2 training with this training, within two years of qualifying, by attending the additional modules of the Level 3 training, including gaining the Outdoor First Aid qualification, devising a handbook, planning and leading the first 6 sessions of a Forest School Programme and completing the portfolio of evidence.

Please contact us if you would like us to run this is in your setting.

Course Dates

  • please call or check back for latest dates

Forest Kindergarten: Local Nature Play (Level 3)

Course Information

  • Qualification awarded:
    Forest Kindergarten Level 3: Local Nature Play
    AIM Qualifications
  • Course length: One year
  • Venues:  The Pavilion at Flo’s in the Park and natural spaces nearby​
  • Cost: £475 incl VAT (per learner)

Click on the blocks below to see the dates relating to each course.

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A sense of place

Introduction

Modelled on a Forest School approach, and based on the Scottish Forest Kindergarten model, Forest Kindergarten Level 3 uses child-centred, play-based learning in natural spaces to develop Early Years confidence and self-esteem. 

During this hands-on practical, interactive training course, you will develop confidence and learn to safely set up and facilitate Forest Kindergarten sessions, whilst communicating the ethos and principles effectively with colleagues and parents. Forest Kindergarten promotes care for self, care for others, and care for nature, in adults and children. It is a great way to build sustainability into your setting’s culture.

Early Years practitioners linked to the Nature NOW project will be given a code by their assigned Forest School leader which allows them to book and receive 100% discount on the course fees.

Who is Forest Kindergarten Level 3 for?

Forest Kindergarten Level 3 is for practitioners who understand the importance of playing outdoors for children (and their families) to develop healthy lifestyles, holistic well-being, and the characteristics of effective learning.

This course is designed for:

  • All Early Years Practitioners holding or working towards a Level 3 Early Years qualification or equivalent

  • Forest School Leaders or outdoor practitioners with a good understanding of early years practice

  • Level 2 Early Years practitioners (will need to be supervised by a Level 3 Early Years Practitioner in a leadership role)

  • You must be at least 19 years old 

What you’ll learn

Over three days, you will learn the principles and approach of Forest Kindergarten alongside the theory of how children play, learn and interact with nature.

You will learn to:

  • Prepare yourself as a practitioner to take young children to visit a green space

  • Set up a suitable site

  • Set boundaries with children

  • Use the risk-benefit model

  • Research the benefits of playing and learning outdoors

  • Develop your own tool kit of practical activities, games, songs, and routines for regular visits to a greenspace

Forest School Kindergarten has three themes which are the units of study: People, Place and Pedagogy

This course is supported by 2 guiding principle documents developed by a UK-based working group of Early Years and Outdoor Play specialists, including our colleagues at Circle of Life Discovery.

Building on the legacy of the Oxfordshire Early Years Team, pioneers of Forest School in the county, and nationally,  we acknowledge that this training is possible because of their vision and hard work. Our chosen course book was written by one of them.