Woodland Learning

Children's Woodland Courses

Children's Woodland Courses for 8-13 year olds

Children's Woodland Courses for 14-18 year olds

Family Children's Woodland Fun Days

Children's Woodland Courses take place at Stanton Park, Stanton Fitzwarren near Swindon and Cuckoo Pen Plantation, Coleshill during some school holidays. They are a chance for children, young adults and families to enjoy a day out in the wood. Every course has a different theme but they all involve den building and making a fire and cooking on it.

All adults helping to run activities are CRB checked.
There are always at least two adults present.
The adult: child/young person ratio is never greater than 1:6.
Emergency contact details are kept by the leader on the day.
Every Course is fully risk assessed.
Ruth Parsons, who leads the days, is a fully qualified and experienced Forest School Leader.
She also has a basic food hygiene certificate and an Assessing Dangerous Trees certificate.
There is always a first aid kit and qualified first aider available.
Woodland Learning has £5million public liability insurance and £2million employers liability.
Den building and fire lighting are only allowed with the permission of the woodland owners, for Cuckoo Pen Plantation, The National Trust, for Stanton Park, Swindon Ranger Service.
There are limited toilet facilities by the car-park at Stanton but none in the wood and none at all at Cuckoo Pen plantation. People will have to go behind a tree. Children must tell an adult when they are going and when they are back. There is always toilet roll and a small spade available to those who need it!
There are no hand-washing facilities in the woods. Wet wipes are available to clean hands before eating.

Children's Woodland Courses for 8-13 year olds

Young people all meet at the wood and introduce themselves to each other. Some come with friends or brothers and sisters and some come on their own. There is usually a good mix of boys and girls. They are given health and safety guidelines for the day then we all set off for base camp. This is a short walk through the wood. Once at base camp the children are told how to make dens and shown materials to use and boundaries in which to stay. They make their dens in small groups. After some time the children can take part in another activity linked to the theme of the day. In the past we have had Buried Treasure and Map Making; Making Music (whistles, etc.); Willow Weaving; Making Trails, Sensory Games and Minibeast safari. If the children are totally absorbed in den building we don’t have the additional activities.

Just before lunch the children collect all the wood for the fire and are taught about fire safety. We light the fire (using a fire striker which they can all have a turn on). We sit around the fire and eat our packed lunches. After lunch we all cut and carve cooking sticks and then cook marshmallows, popcorn, toast and hot chocolate. If there is any time left we continue with our theme activities or just playing and climbing trees. Finally we take the dens down and leave the wood how we found it.

Things to bring:

Waterproofs
Wear old clothes, expect to get muddy
Suitable strong shoes or boots. (Wellies if it has been wet or in winter, old trainers on dry days in summer).
A packed lunch and a drink
Sun screen and a hat on hot days, warm clothes on a cold day.

Weather:

The only weather Children's Woodland Courses will not take place in is high winds. I will notify you as soon as possible if the course is cancelled due to this and a different date will be arranged.

Cost and Booking:

Please see dates of next courses on Events Diary Page(link)
All courses run from 10am - 3 pm
Courses cost £20 per child per day. This is payable in advance and is non-returnable.
A booking form must be completed and returned before the course. Please print off and return to Ruth Parsons, Woodland Learning, 3 Vine's Row, West End Gardens, Fairford, Glos, GL7 4JB with payment. If there is not time to do this before the course please ring for advice on 01285 711499 or 07999 598793.
A place on the course for your child can only be secured with a completed booking form and payment in full.

Children's Woodland Courses for 14-18 year olds

These courses are much more advanced than those for younger children. They are centred around den or shelter building and making a fire and cooking on it. Participants will be shown how to use tools and will have a go at advanced fire lighting. They will also have the opportunity to learn some woodland management skills such as coppicing (small tree felling), gate making, hurdle weaving, or to be really creative with arts, sculpture and storytelling.

Things to bring:

Waterproofs
Strong footwear, boots or old trainers.
Sun cream if necessary.
Packed lunch or food to cook on a fire such as potatoes and sausages.
Wear old, warm clothes
You may bring your own pen-knife if you wish

Weather:

The only weather Children's Woodland Courses will not take place in is high winds. I will notify you as soon as possible if the course is cancelled due to this and a different date will be arranged.

Cost and Booking

Please see dates of next courses on Events Diary Page(link)
Courses cost £20 per participant per day. This is payable in advance and is non-returnable.
A booking form must be completed and returned before the course. Please print off and return to Ruth Parsons, Woodland Learning, 3 Vine's Row, West End Gardens, Fairford, Glos, GL7 4JB with payment. If there is not time to do this before the course please ring for advice on 01285 711499 or 07999 598793.
A place on the course can only be secured with a completed booking form and payment in full.

Family Children's Woodland Fun Days

On the fun days the whole family can work together to enjoy woodland activities such as games, stories, den building, woodland crafts, woodland management and of course, cooking on a fire. All activities will be hands-on. The activities will be designed to suit the seasons and the ages of the children coming along. Woodland Learning Forest Skills 5

The days are run by Ruth Parsons from Woodland Learning and Chris Park from Acorn Education.

Each family must have at least 1 adult for 4 children and the children must all be from the same family. The events are not suitable for children under 5. No dogs. Parents are responsible for the safety of their own children although guidance will be given by the tutors.

Things to bring:

Waterproofs
Strong footwear, boots or old trainers.
Sun cream if necessary.
Packed lunch and drinks.
Wear old, warm clothes

Weather:

The only weather Children's Woodland Courses will not take place in is high winds. I will notify you as soon as possible if the course is cancelled due to this and a different date will be arranged.

Cost and Booking

Please see dates of next courses on Events Diary Page(link)
Courses cost £10 per family member per day. This is payable in advance. £20 is non-returnable. The remainder is returnable if a cancellation is made at least 7 days before the event.
A booking form must be completed and returned before the course. Please print off and return to Ruth Parsons, Woodland Learning, 3 Vine's Row, West End Gardens, Fairford, Glos, GL7 4JB with payment. If there is not time to do this before the course please ring for advice on 01285 711499 or 07999 598793.

A place on the course can only be secured with a completed booking form and payment in full.