Practical guides for leaders
Forest school guides.
Free guides for running forest school sessions: training, safety, ratios, first aid, planning and observations.
Starting out
What forest school is, how to train as a leader, and what to bring.
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The six principles
What forest school is, and what each of the six principles asks of you in the woods. -
Forest school qualifications
Levels 1, 2 and 3 explained: who each is for, what leader training involves, and choosing a trainer. -
Forest school equipment
A printable kit list for leaders, tool care, and what children should wear in each season.
Keeping it safe
Risk-benefit assessments, ratios, fire, tools and first aid.
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Writing a risk-benefit assessment
What a risk-benefit assessment covers, and how to write one for fire, tools and climbing. -
Forest school ratios
The numbers behind safe adult-to-child cover, and how to keep them right as a session changes. -
Fire and tool safety
Running fire and tool activities with children: set-up, supervision and boundaries. -
Forest school first aid
The courses leaders hold, what goes in the kit, the common injuries and the emergency plan.
Planning and recording
Planning sessions and terms, and recording what the children do.
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Planning a session and a term
From a single session to a full term, a simple way to plan that leaves room for child-led play. -
EYFS observations outdoors
Writing observations in the woods and linking them to the EYFS. -
Ofsted and the FSA
Who looks at what, what they expect to see, and how the two frameworks fit together.
Free resources.
- Risk assessment templates Risk-benefit examples for the site, fire, tools, den building, water and foraging, ready to copy.
- Forest school activities Ideas for fire, cooking, craft, games, rope and mud, each with steps and a kit list.
- Training and CPD Forest school courses and the trainers who run them.
Put the guides into practice.
The Forest School App keeps registers, ratios, risk-benefit assessments and observations on your phone in the woods. Free for every practitioner; set your forest school up free for 30 days, no card needed.