A move to promote woodland education through the medium of Welsh has gathered momentum with the launch of a new Forest School course supported by Forestry Commission Wales.
The new course is accredited by the Welsh Open College Network, Agored Cymru, and aims to equip four educational professionals with the skills to train Level Three Forest School leaders throughout Wales.
A lecturer at the University of Wales Cardiff (UWIC), two freelance Forest School practitioners and the outdoor learning co-ordinator for a woodland education group in Flintshire will spend two years working towards their Level Four Forest School qualification.
The aim is to boost the delivery of Forest School by producing an elite band of qualified trainers who will be able to run their own Level Three courses throughout Wales, some of which will be through the medium of Welsh.
FC Wales is funding the course and commissioned Anney Thornton Wood of Cambium Sustainable Training to work with Agored Cymru in the design of the qualification.
FC Wales Woodlands for Learning(WfL) team member Karen Clarke said, “The ability to speak Welsh was a high priority in the selection of the students, with the overall aim being to improve delivery of Forest School through the medium of Welsh.
“The intention is that we will have at least one student who is a fluent Welsh speaker who may be able to work with us to offer full Welsh-medium training to potential Forest School leaders.”
Forest School is an inspirational process where children and young people can be taught a variety of woodland-based skills, many of which are curriculum linked, allowing them to build self-esteem, confidence in a natural environment and a variety of other positive outcomes.
The Level Four Agored Cymru course is the second phase of a project to increase the number of qualified trainers who can help to integrate woodland learning into children’s formal education.
The WfL team received funds from the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) in 2008 to train four students to become independent trainers, and the success of that programme led to the development of the new course with a greater emphasis to produce trainers who can deliver through the medium of Welsh.
Anney Thornton Wood said, “These two FC Wales and Welsh Government-funded projects have helped forge a professional pathway to becoming a Forest School trainer which is unique in Wales, and they have enabled Welsh language delivery of Forest School training which was not previously available.
“FC Wales’s involvement since the first training courses for Forest School were run in Wales has helped to place this unique approach to learning firmly in the educational agenda in the country.”
When the level four students become fully qualified in April 2013, they will be able to expand their business credentials and improve the capacity for Forest School training throughout Wales.
UWIC lecturer Martin Cook said, “Working as I do within initial teacher training, the level four qualification will allow me to offer Forest School courses to our students here at UWIC and also to our many partnership schools.
“Our two-acre woodland at the Cyncoed campus provides the ideal learning environment for Forest School and, being a fluent Welsh speaker, I hope to provide Welsh medium Forest School training to the growing bilingual sector in south-east Wales.”
Angela Rekers Power, who is an independent trainer linked to Forest School Swansea Neath Port Talbot, said, “I was interested in doing the Level Four training in order to formalise my experiences as a Forest School practitioner for the past six years and to be able to work with adult learners just starting their own practice.
“The Level Four is a unique opportunity to learn from other Forest School Leaders and Trainers across Wales and to undertake all aspects of training delivery.
“Achieving this level of competence and responsibility in order to contribute more effectively to the organisations with whom I currently work is a big challenge and my goal for the next year and a half.”
Pippa Gallagher from Plas Derw Trust, a social enterprise group in Flintshire which promotes outdoor learning and sustainable living in north-east Wales, said, “I’m keen to get the trust running Level Three and am enjoying consolidating my skills and knowledge into something I can pass on to others.”
Kirsten Manley, an independent trainer based in the Dyfi Valley, said, “There’s a growing interest in schools on how to engage children in the outdoors.
“This course is a perfect opportunity for me to learn how to inspire others to use the Forest School methodology to improve their outdoor practice, while inspiring others to begin using this style of teaching across all age ranges in a more challenging environment.”
During the course, the students will progress from initial training to delivering two Level Three courses, in North Wales at Plas Derw this month (September 2011) and at the Botanic Gardens in South Wales in October 2011.
They will then observe and assess their Level Three students and complete their portfolios to gain the Level Four qualification.
