About Forest Schools

How Forest Schools has developed in Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull.

Forest Schools began in Warwickshire supported by the County Council (see Warwickshire pages) in partnership with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.  In 2006, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust was successful in bidding for a Heritage Lottery Grant in partnership with Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council for a £327,000, three year project. The project, which began in 2007, recruited three Forest Schools coordinators for the three areas. These coordinators have worked to promote Forest Schools in the three areas and encourage educational professionals to train to become Forest Schools leaders. Over the three years of the project 90 new Forest School leaders have been trained.

Beyond the Lottery funding, Forest Schools in the local area continues to grow. In 2012, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust decided to hand over it's Forest Schools training programme to two local companies Wild Learning; www.wild-learning.com and Get Out Of The Classroom; www.getoutoftheclassroom.com who together, continue working across Warwickshire, Coventry, Solihull and in the Midlands to deliver quality Forest Schools training and support for Forest School Leaders.