Forest School Programme: Planning and Preparation — SEG Awards Occupational Qualification Horticulture & Land Management Revision
This element focuses on the essential planning and preparation required to lead a sustainable Forest School programme, ensuring alignment with the Forest S
Topic Synopsis
This element focuses on the essential planning and preparation required to lead a sustainable Forest School programme, ensuring alignment with the Forest School ethos and principles. It includes developing a deep understanding of the historical and pedagogical foundations, conducting thorough ecological impact assessments, creating comprehensive underpinning documents such as risk-benefit analyses and session plans, and designing a learner-centred programme that fosters holistic development in a natural environment.
Key Concepts & Core Principles
- Forest School Principles: The six core principles defined by the FSA, including regular sessions in a woodland setting, learner-led play, and holistic development.
- Risk-Benefit Assessment: A dynamic process that balances potential risks with the benefits of outdoor activities, replacing traditional risk aversion with informed decision-making.
- Woodland Ecology: Understanding tree species, habitats, and seasonal changes to plan appropriate activities and ensure environmental sustainability.
- Tool Use and Fire Management: Safe handling of tools like knives and saws, plus fire-lighting techniques (e.g., using fire steels) and campfire safety protocols.
Exam Tips & Revision Strategies
- Ensure your portfolio includes photographic and written evidence of how you involved learners in planning and reflecting on sessions, demonstrating a truly learner-led approach.
- When presenting ecological impact management, include concrete data such as species inventories, soil impact logs, and before/after photos, not just theoretical plans.
- Cross-reference your programme plans with the six Forest School principles explicitly, annotating where each principle is embedded in your activities and routines.
- Practice writing risk-benefit analyses that balance potential hazards with developmental benefits, showing how managed risk supports learning and resilience.
Common Misconceptions & Mistakes to Avoid
- Confusing Forest School with general outdoor learning or one-off nature activities, rather than a long-term, learner-centred process with regular sessions.
- Overlooking the ecological impact by not conducting a proper baseline survey or failing to implement sustainable practices like rotational use and minimizing disturbance.
- Designing overly prescriptive session plans that leave no room for child-led exploration and emergent learning, contradicting the Forest School principle of learner-centred processes.
- Neglecting to document the underpinning rationale for chosen activities or not linking them to specific developmental benefits and curriculum links.
Examiner Marking Points
- Award credit for demonstrating a clear understanding of the historical development of Forest School and its core principles, referencing key theorists and the six guiding principles.
- Award credit for providing a detailed ecological impact assessment that includes baseline data, monitoring strategies, and mitigation measures to ensure long-term site sustainability.
- Award credit for creating comprehensive underpinning documents, such as a Forest School handbook, policies, risk-benefit analyses, and emergency procedures, that are site-specific and learner-appropriate.
- Award credit for planning a programme that explicitly links to the Forest School ethos, showing evidence of regular, learner-led sessions, use of natural resources, and opportunities for supported risk-taking.