The number of applications for financial help from a fund which promotes the use of Welsh woodlands to teach children is running at record levels.
The Forest Education Initiative (FEI), made up of local groups comprising teachers, woodland owners, environmental charities, education authorities and Forestry Commission Wales, has already received 16 requests for funding this year – with more likely to follow next month.
The level of interest already far exceeds the nine successful applications in 2009, with projects on developing innovative Forest School programmes and creating woodland classrooms featuring prominently.
The rise in the popularity of woodland education in Wales was underlined this month when FC Wales’s Woodlands for Learning team hosted the annual FEI National Networking Day at the International Pavilion in Llangollen, Denbighshire.
The event attracted 86 people from groups across Wales, along with representatives from south Scotland, Sussex, Buckinghamshire and Leicestershire.
Delegates swapped ideas on woodland-based learning and attended workshops on topics as diverse as Home Education and Forest School, Woodland Skills and Theatre in the Woodland.
The closing speech was made by Sir Terence Mallinson, the president of FEI, who praised delegates for their hard work in making woodlands more accessible for children and young people.
Each year, the Woodlands for Learning team gives thousands of children from schools all over Wales the chance to experience woodlands as a stimulating outdoor learning environment.
FC Wales pays £35,000 every year into the FEI Partnership fund in Wales, to which Welsh cluster groups can apply to enable them to run local projects which meet the aims of FEI.
This year, there were a record 12 applications to the first round in February and another four in June. The next funding round closes on October 1.
“This looks like being a very busy year for FEI in Wales, which reflects the growing interest among teachers and educational practitioners in using woodlands as a learning tool,” said FEI Wales Co-ordinator Kim Burnham.
“We were very pleased to host the FEI National Networking Day in Wales, which was a huge success with people from all over the UK coming together to discuss new ideas and swap good practice.”
