Forest School is run by qualified Practitioners who continuously maintain and develop their professional Practice.
The Criteria:
• Forest School is led by qualified Forest School practitioners, who are required to hold a minimum of an accredited Level 3 Forest School qualification. Find more information on Forest School qualifications here.
• There is a high ratio of practitioner/adults to learners.
• Practitioners and adults regularly helping at Forest School are subject to relevant checks into their suitability to have prolonged contact with children, young people and vulnerable people.
• Practitioners need to hold an up-to-date first aid qualification, which includes paediatric (if appropriate) and outdoor elements.
• Forest School is backed by relevant working documents, which contain all the policies and procedures required for running Forest School and which establish the roles and responsibilities of staff and volunteers.
• The Forest School leader is a reflective practitioner and sees themselves, therefore, as a learner too.
In Practice:
Forest School sessions are planned and delivered by a Level 3 qualified Forest School Leader who has a qualification gained face-to-face.
Forest School Leaders hold a 16-hour First Aid qualification that includes scenario-based, face-to-face learning with an outdoor element, and that is relevant to the ages they have a duty of care for.
Forest School Leaders are reflective practitioners who engage in Continuing Professional Development, by undertaking at least 1 day of face-to-face Forest School-relevant CPD each year.
In Forest School sessions there are high ratios of adults to participants. Appropriate ratios are decided upon through a risk assessment approach, taking into account the nature of the participant’s needs and abilities, the site you will be working on and the activities you wish to enable, and for you to then have an additional ‘plus one’.
Forest School Leaders create and maintain a Forest School Handbook that communicates: