Spring/Summer 2013
News and Upcoming Events
Forest School Events
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Derbyshire Forest School Day
Date : Wednesday June 19th
Venue: The Eco Centre (Wirksworth)
Forest School leaders/assistants and those aspiring to run Forest School programmes are invited to attend Derbyshire County Council’s Forest School Day.
This event has been designed in order to offer all those involved in Forest School across the county an opportunity to swap stories/ideas/information, build networks and pick up new ideas which can be utilised back at school/your setting to enrich your Forest School provision. 
The day will begin at 9.30am and finish at 3pm and will include a presentation, practical workshops and demonstrations. This event is FREE to attend for those working with young people in Derbyshire. Places are limited and must be booked in advance
DCC Forest School Day 2013 – Flyer
- Forest School Taster Session
If you would be interested in attending a Forest School taster session in your area please get in touch.
If you would like to attend the above events please email forestschools@derbyshire.gov.uk
- Wild Wood Activities – Forest School Skillshare: Overnight in our beautiful woods in the Peak District!
Time: 10am Friday 21st June to 2pm (ish) Saturday 22nd June
Cost: £95 per person
Come and join the Wild Woodlander team for Forest School skills share! This is for Level 2 and Level 3 Forest School practitioners who would like to practice their skills and gain new activity ideas and meet fellow Forest School practitioners in a lovely wild woodland setting. There will be workshops and also time for discussion and sharing or simply ‘being’ in the woods. Bring your tent or hammock to spend the night in (or tipi!) and unwind at the end of the day around the campfire.
Contact Lauren on 07735 389 804 or email lauren@wildwoodactivities.co.uk
Latest News
Launch of Forest School Association website
‘The Forest School Association is the professional body and UK wide voice for Forest School, promoting best practice, cohesion and ’quality Forest School for all‘.
We are a self governing, democratic and inclusive membership organisation that works towards supporting and ensuring high standards in Forest School training and practice across the UK, and promoting the benefits of quality Forest School’
For more information and membership details visit www.forestschoolassociation.org
‘No Sell Off’ for public forests
The Independent Panel on Forestry was set up following the public outcry against the proposed selling off of public forests. The government recently published a response to this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21275432
Both the Forest Education Network and the Forest School Association were mentioned in the original report with details of Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Forest School project included as a case study under the heading of Health and Education. The government response supports the panel’s recommendation that Every child “has an element of woodland-based learning”; See here for the full policy statement http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/files/pb13871-forestry-policy-statement.pdf
Lea Primary (Matlock) Judged Outstanding in Recent Ofsted Inspection
The ofsted inspector was invited to observe a Forest School session at Lea Primary and included the following comments in the final report:
Pupils’ attitudes to learning and their conduct in lessons and around the school are excellent. They are hugely respectful of others and of others’ feelings. They talk animatedly about how the personal skills developed through the ‘forest school’ work equip them for now and for later life. For example, they discussed how important it is to ‘get along’ with others, to do ‘jobs we might not necessarily like, but are important for harmonious living’, and to be confident in themselves without being ‘boastful’, because that would not help in later life. They talked about people being ‘dominant’ in some schools, but here ‘we learn to take turns, make a rota, be fair’.
Outstanding provision is made for all pupils to learn indoors and out and to become increasingly aware of their place in society and the wider world. It starts with an excellent range of outdoor activities in Reception Year, which included making apple pies and ice-cream outside, and continues through to, for example, Year 2 searching for answers to calculations in the woods and the campfire activity observed in Year 6. The school’s very successful engagement with parents, carers, other schools, and external agencies contribute greatly to all of that.
Lea Primary School. Ofsted Insepction dates: 10th-11th July 2012: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/112536
Upcoming Forest School Training Courses running in Derbyshire
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Level 3 Forest School Practitioner Award (OCN Accredited),Tideswell, June 2013, Archimedes Training
Archimedes Training are offering their Level 3 OCN Forest School Practitioners Award from Tideswell in Derbyshire on 24th-28th June 2013.
For further detail about their training course please see the Archimedes Forest Schools Leaflet 2012 or Archimedes Level 3 Booklet 2012. For dates and booking please follow this link: Archimedes Forest School Level 3 Training
First Aid Training
- Emergency First Response Certificate
The course is a two day course aimed at staff who are involved with DofE expeditions or Outdoor Activities and is valid for 3 years.
Date: Wednesday 8th & Thursday 9th May 2013
Venue: Lea Green Development Centre, Lea, Matlock, Derbyshire
Please click on the forms below for more information
