"Without education there can be no knowledge, without knowledge there can be no understanding, without understanding there can be no empathy. Without empathy there will be no future for the natural world." John Rhyder, Director of Woodcraft School.
Woodcraft Foundation and its sister company Woodcraft School are committed to providing the very best in Nature based education for all ages.
Our Woodcraft Foundation has been created primarily to service the needs of young people by using the outdoor classroom and outdoor learning to enhance their educational and career prospects. The Foundation reinvests it profits back into the community to enable us to create and expand upon our youth work.
The foundation caters for a range of ages and the requirements identified to fit with existing aspects of the curriculum or in some cases to replace the curriculum with programmes leading to recognised qualifications. This is particularly of benefit for students who do not thrive in the normal academic environment.
We are able to design bespoke programmes for young people based at either schools or on our own woodland site near Midhurst, West Sussex. These can be one off specials or curriculum based programmes. For the 14+ age group we use existing and recognised qualifications from either the NCFE or the John Muir Trust and we have also written, and had approved by the NCFE, a specific award in bushcraft for this age group. Please find a case study of our work in action below.
Our staff are hand picked for their knowledge, teaching ability and commitment to youth development, all are enhanced CRB checked.
Midhurst Rother College - A case study 2008/9
Four years ago we were approached by Midhurst Grammar School (now Midhurst Rother College) to run a series of bushcraft sessions for a group of students around fourteen years of age. The programme was a great success and ran for two years, but it seemed to us a course such as this could benefit from formalisation. The idea to run the Modern Woodland Apprentice and ultimately write the intermediate bushcraft award was born. In the first year we ran the Modern Woodland Apprentice using the NCFE Level 2 creative craft over 12 days. This worked out very well with 98 % of students completing the course. Building upon this success and results, the Foundation were subsequently asked to devise a programme to take students out of the classroom one day per week for the whole academic year. At the time of writing the Midhurst Rother students are half way through a year long programme consisting of the NCFE extended Level 2, the Level 2 Intermediate Bushcraft Award and it is looking highly likely they will also achieve one of the John Muir awards.
So far the students have experienced woodland management and coppicing, wood working tools and techniques and are finishing off individual craft items ranging from rustic furniture, bows and carving projects. They gather the materials from sustainable woodland management and so have a positive effect on the environment. Before moving on to the Bushcraft Award they will also experience hedge laying and charcoal burning. We are also able to tailor the course to students needs and abilities and all start working towards the normal Level 2 or if necessary, a Level 1. They can the progress to the extended Level 2 and the other awards. In this way we can be as sure as we can be that they will achieve. Who knows perhaps some will progress onto some of our Level 3 courses in the future.
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