Forest Schools Education - Sheffield

David H.

What a fantastic "community" of people! I didn't want to say business because above all they believe in the power of what they are teaching and the way Forest Schools can impact education across Britain (and the world). Their training was second to none... I expected days on how to make dens and daisy chains, but instead they presented a thoroughly researched pedagogy coupled with practical skills and a desire to help children grow and mature. I recommend this organisation highly!

Tami S.

Wow, what an experience. Can't quite put into words how I feel, but the feelings I have from this experience will be with me for a lifetime. I'm sure it's changed me. The knowledge gained and experiences shared with a great group of people with amazingly passionate and very knowledgeable trainers has been great. Thanks for an amazing start to my Forest School journey.

Kathryn C.

I was incredibly disappointed with the process of my training with FSE this year and have encouraged other colleagues to look for smaller local providers instead after having completed with them. The organisation prides itself on being the largest trainer in Forest Schools and certainly their marketing and branding is quite polished. About half way through the process I really regretted choosing such a big organisation who were unable to offer the level of follow up advice initially suggested in our training week.

I found the two weeks of training absolutely excellent - perhaps the best I have ever received, but the provision in between was possibly the worst - in stark contrast. The idea that they are now offering online training is really concerning. I think much of the success of the training weeks was down to the like minded individuals I was training alongside in person and the shared determination to have a great experience.

Communication was very unclear on expectations of work standards following training; questions were channeled through a Facebook group which at times got highly politicised and offered conflicting advice. Trainers were often very defensive and at times the environment was quite hostile on the group. Marking and advice by internal markers was quite inconsistent across my cohort, and work was 'held ransom' in their internal marking system before being passed on for external moderation which meant that it was very unclear when we would actually qualify. Several parts of my work which I had worked days on (after advice from the organisation) were not even noticed at first by my internal marker which led me to suspect that work was simply skim read/glanced before being signed off. Within the facebook group the level of detail demanded by some markers was far higher.

In summary I would highly recommend training in Forest Schools Leadership which is the best career decision I have made, but not with this provider sadly. The Forest Schools Association offers a list of many providers (not all granted). I would advise anyone looking for a provider to get personal recommendations from someone who has gone through the process recently themselves.

Emma S.

I finished and completed my course February 2021 the course work wasn't easy to follow I'm very knowledgeable person when it comes to conservation and wild living but you never knew or where advise where to pitch your course work as I was online only I never got the chance to experience the outdoor week they offer the other students thankfully because I'm already quite experienced I could manage to work through the masses of videos(which then have to be loaded up onto utube) you had to film to prove that you could use certain tools
This I feel is a very dangerous and irresponsible way of learning I've used Billhook for years for coppicing and you need to train and be shown practical experience these tools are extremely dangerous if in a novices hands. Along with other tools how can you train other people and children if you haven't had the train experience yourself, so I'm not sure how they have managed to get over that problem. It would be more worth your while to go and train with MANTRA to get some of your tools thankfully I've got mine through the wildlife trust.
Also in my opinion the support they offer is only through Facebook which is not the one to one support tutor and student I would of expected
Sometimes I've waited over 5 days for a reply to a problem.
Which is unsatisfactory.
They have not pitched this course correctly as you should definitely have significant experience already before you apply to train as a level three, on Facebook there's Alot of unexperienced students who are struggling through with their base line assessment s on children but haven't actually got any children to do their assessments on and so use their own children instead.
If you have any SEN
Like dyslexia then you're also left to struggle on for weeks without any help.
I've also been waiting months and months for my certificates and I've received no email (which it states in their highly polished website) confirmed that I've finished said course work and then on to the external examination
If you'd really love to be a forest school leader then go with wildlife trust my course was paid for by my work so I could choose
I have put a review on before but amazingly enough it has been deleted but please just I would not recommend to go with this company they are more for making Alot of money rather than taking pride in training top quality forest school. Leaders

Helen D.

I completely agree with the review posted by Kathryn. This was also my experience. I too wished I'd gone with a smaller provider, with better follow-up/support re. coursework. And I also found their Facebook page less than helpful and a platform for some frankly quite pretentious views (expressed by one particular trainer). I definitely wouldn't recommend this company either.

Anete Z.

An amazing experience. Lots of information. Super excited for the journey ahead. Thank you!