About the event

A five day course certified by AIM Qualifications and Assessment Group, aimed at individuals who wish to top up their Level 2 Forest School Assistant qualifcation and lead a Forest School programme as a Level 3 Forest School Leader.

Our Level 2 and Level 3 Forest School courses are facilitated by our Forest School Association (FSA) Registered Forest School Trainers who have passed the stage 1 process set out by the FSA and demonstrated that they meet a variety of standards associated with providing high quality training experiences.

Location: Foxburrow Nature Reserve, IP12 1NA

Course dates:

12th-14th June 2025 (with optional overnight stay in the woods on Friday night)
8th-9th July 2025

Time: 9:30am - 5:30pm each day (with the exception of day 4 where the end time will be 8pm)

Due to the requirements of the Level 3 course, this course is not suitable for all candidates.

Entry criteria:

• Participants should be over 21.

• There is an assumption that you are either currently assisting at Forest School, or have very recent experience of doing so.

• You are required to provide a copy of your Forest School Level 2 Assistant certificate on the first day of the course.

• You will be be able to use your Level 2 work to complete your Level 3 qualification and will have to submit this alongside the relevant learning outcomes on Moodle (the platform we use to submit all work).

• All participants must demonstrate that they are in a position to deliver a six session Forest School pilot programme during their training.
• All participants must hold a First Aid certificate before delivering Forest School. A 16-hour First Aid with an outdoor element is recommended.

Cost: £785 (option to pay in instalments available, but the course must be paid for in full before the start date)

If you have undertaken AIM accredited Level 2 Forest School training with Suffolk Wildlife Trust within 18 months of the start of the level 3 course you can top up at a reduced price (where applicable).  Please see details below.

If you are a school or other organisation wishing to book your place via invoice please contact us.

Course layout:

-Five days of face to face training to cover Forest School programme delivery, learning and development, planning and preparation, practical skills and the woodland environment. This is an outdoor course. 

-A coursework portfolio should be completed within 12 months of the start of the course, this will involve a lot of additional study*.  This portfolio is split into 5 units (details of which can be found below), hand in dates for these units will be given out on the course and will be spread over a 12 month period from the start of the course. 

-As part of the course you will be required to plan and deliver a six week Forest School programme during which one of your tutors will perform a support visit (an in-person support visit will be provided for participants based in Suffolk. Out of county learners will be required to provide video evidence of their pilot study). 

-We also offer mentoring days to our students. Dates for these will be set on the course.

-Please note that you will not be qualified to run Forest school sessions until receipt of your certificate and you should allow at least 12 months from the start date of the course for this.

-Practicing Forest School leaders require 16 hour first aid (this corresponds to Forest School Association guidance for Forest School Leaders). We offer this training for an additional £200.

Upcoming Forest School and Paediatric First Aid courses:
-May 2025
-October 2025

*Guided learning hours for the qualification: 155. Total qualification time: 180 hours.

Course content:

The Level 3 top up course is designed to develop leadership, facilitation, practical and teaching skills to enable participants to understand the principles and ethos of Forest School and to plan and deliver Forest School programmes.   We will build on your Level 2 practical skills and experience, going more in depth and demonstrating lots of practical uses. 

The course consists of five units, click links below to download the assessment criteria and learning outcomes for each unit. Hand in dates are set at regular intervals throughout the 12 month following the teaching days (as detailed below).

Practical Skills  (hand in date: 21 July 25)
Planning and Preparation (hand in date: 1 Sept 25)
Woodland Environment (hand in date: 2 Jan 26)
Delivery (hand in date: 23 Feb 26)
Learning and Development (hand in date: 23 Feb 26)

We use a platform called Moodle to submit and mark all coursework, you will be given details of this at the start of the course.

Please ensure you have read and agree to the terms and conditions and Learner Agreement before booking. Our Diversity and Inclusion policy, Students complaints and appeals procedures are also available as links within the Terms & Conditions.

For more conservation jobs and courses please see www.environmentjob.co.uk