Training

Since we opened in 2002, Great Wood Farm has developed into a centre of excellence and maximises its location of being based on a working farm with adjacent woodland.  We set up our Forest School in 2009, one of the first in Lincolnshire and in 2013 received an award from Lincolnshire County Council for Leading the Way.  We have taken inspiration from a range of trainers and different approaches to create a curriculum which is right for our children and our setting.  In 2018 we achieved the Forest School Recognised Provider Award, which was the first setting in Lincolnshire to achieve this. 

We have a planning in the moment approach to ensure children are at the heart of everything we do.  We believe this combined with inspirational environments and learning through nature and Forest School makes our Great Wood Farm provision unique and inspiring to other professionals.  We often get asked if teachers could come and look around our setting and as a result of this demand we have developed the training side of the Early Years Centre.  We enjoy sharing our facilities and approaches to early education and have been overwhelmed and honoured with the feedback we have received.  Kate Robinson, our nursery manager, delivers the training and from September 2020 Kate with be teaching Forest School level 2 Award to PGCE students at Nottingham Trent university.

Quote from a previous teacher after attending a course:

'All schools need to have the opportunity to visit Great Wood Farm and be inspired by its ethos and staff, 'wow', thank you.'

We offer training opportunities through the following ways:

A professional tour around our nursery, gardens and Forest School base camps, where we can explain our approach to the EYFS curriculum, combining planning in the moment with Forest School.  This is based on a two hour guided tour of our inside and outside environments, any questions will be answered and there will be opportunity for reflection considering what can be taken back to their setting for inspiration.

We can deliver courses for sixth form, college and university students, giving an insight into Forest School, and can include lunch cooked over a fire and tour of the nursery.

We can also offer bespoke training courses for schools or early years settings which can either be based at Great Wood Farm or in a school/setting as long as there is a suitable environment to deliver it.  These can be during a weekday, a twilight session or on a Saturday.  They work well for getting a whole team on the same wave length to initiate a change in your setting.  A range of bespoke courses could include short Forest School workshops (for example, shelter building, building fires, inspirational campfire cooking) to full day planning in the moment and tour of the nursery training courses.  

We aim to offer inspiration and support and hope to inspire you to take something back to your setting.  We aim for you to leave a training session feeling excited and motivated to develop your practice to suit the needs of  your setting, children and ethos.  No two settings are ever the same, it is important to take away what is right for you and have fun, we aim for all of our courses to be fun and interactive!