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Muddy Faces

Level 3 Forest School Training (Wilby, Suffolk)

Forest School is a unique philosophy and approach to outdoor play and learning. It involves using the environment and natural resources as a setting and stimulus for learning. Forest School Leaders use teaching and learning strategies that are child-centred and aim to promote confidence, independence, empathy, social skills, self-esteem and intrinsic motivation.Our Level 3 Forest School Leader training is rooted in the ethos and principles of Forest School. Along your journey to becoming a qualified Forest School Leader our course tutors will coach and support you to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to set up and run programmes of Forest School in your school, setting or independently.

This course is for teachers, teaching assistants, youth leaders, play workers, early years practitioners, social workers, therapists and others who work or would like to work with groups in a nature-based outdoor learning context. Learners must be at least 19 years old to study this qualification. You will usually have prior experience working with your planned client group although we recognise transferrable skills.The Level 3 Forest School Leader qualification is equivalent to an A-Level standard and provides students with the skills and knowledge to risk assess, set up and manage a Forest School site. It enables students to plan and safely facilitate challenging, learner-led, Forest School programmes with a range of client groups in line with the Forest School ethos and principles.

The training covers 5 units of study worth 18 credits at Level 3, requiring the planning and delivery of a 6-week ‘Introduction to Forest School’ programme and the completion of a portfolio of evidence which includes a group and site-specific handbook. Our course is verified by Liminalis Ltd. and accredited by ITC First. It takes approximately one year to complete.

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Why train with us?

* Our tutors are skilled, highly qualified and have extensive experience of offering high quality training, endorsed by the FSA, for Forest School Leaders. They are warm, supportive and knowledgeable about the learning process; resulting in a course that is fun, meaningful and promotes active learning.

* We recognise that the investment of time and money in Level 3 training is significant and therefore take time to ensure that prospective students are in the right position to successfully complete the course. This includes a pre-entry conversation to check that you have the qualifications, experience and time to achieve success.

* We offer a small training group experience with a high ratio of tutors to students to allow trainees to benefit from individual attention and support. We adapt our training provision and are flexible to meet the individual needs of the trainees and any changes that might arise in personal circumstances during the course.

* Our training is a fully immersive experience held entirely outdoors (weather permitting) in beautiful woodlands. The woodland sites (one based in Wilby in Suffolk and the other in Ashdon in Essex) are genuine Forest School sites, allowing trainees to gain an understanding of the considerations that need to be made in a practical way.

* Trainees benefit from running their own Forest School taster session together with local children as part of the training days; something which provides a real insight and hands-on experience allowing them to reflect on their learning before beginning their own ‘Introduction to Forest School’ programme.

* Our training programme is designed to provide as much tutor support as possible; leading to very high completion rates. The course (and coursework) is split into manageable blocks and we facilitate portfolio tutorials and workshops during the course where trainees can get together and work on written assignments with ongoing support from the course tutors. This is something we believe is unique to our course and significantly reduces the amount of time that trainees need to spend on independent study.

* Our course has been developed and improved over more than ten years of training Forest School Leaders and as a result we believe that our current offer is unique, delivering the highest quality of training and the best levels of support for trainees.

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