Woodland Day
£45
per child
One full holiday-club day in the woods. Bring a packed lunch, we do the fire and the snacks.
- Ages 8 to 11
- 8:00am to 5:30pm, weekdays in the school holidays
Come home muddy,happy and a littlebit taller.
Holiday clubs and Woodland Days for 8 to 11 year olds, Stay and Play for little ones with a grown-up, and a Monday night Pudding Club for adults. All in our own woodland at Gentleshaw, on the edge of Cannock Chase.
- Level 3 Forest School leader, DBS checked, first aid trained
- Never more than 8 children per adult, a qualified leader always present
- Our own paddock, pond and woodland
Lit a fire with a ferro rodBuilt a shelter that survived the rainWhittled a tent peg with a Mora knifeFound a newt in the pondWatched a hawker dragonfly dry its wingsMade popcorn in a sieve over the embersLearnt to use a bow saw properlyFollowed badger prints across the commonNine hours without a screen and nobody noticedToasted marshmallows without setting fire to anythingClimbed a tree we planted before they were bornLit a fire with a ferro rodBuilt a shelter that survived the rainWhittled a tent peg with a Mora knifeFound a newt in the pondWatched a hawker dragonfly dry its wingsMade popcorn in a sieve over the embersLearnt to use a bow saw properlyFollowed badger prints across the commonNine hours without a screen and nobody noticedToasted marshmallows without setting fire to anythingClimbed a tree we planted before they were born
Forest School is not a lesson outside. It is real time in the woods, led by someone who knows what she is doing.
Children come back to the same patch of woodland, day after day, and it becomes theirs. They learn to light a fire safely, cut with a knife, cook over embers, read the weather and look after each other. Nobody sits in rows.
Our leader holds the Level 3 Forest School qualification and follows the six principles set by the Forest School Association: long-term, in a natural space, learner-led, supported risk, holistic growth and a qualified practitioner. The sessions are planned, but the children decide where they go.
The woods are our own. We planted them twenty years ago on the edge of Gentleshaw Common, next to a paddock and a pond, and they are now tall enough to get lost in. Cannock Chase is over the fence for the occasional expedition.
Never more than 8 children per adult, with a qualified leader always present.
What a day looks like
No two days are quite the same, but a Woodland Day or a day of a Wild Week runs roughly like this.
Stay and Play mornings are shorter and gentler, and grown-ups stay throughout. Pudding Club is just the fire, the food and the dark.
- 8:00
Drop-off at the gate
Coats, boots, packed lunch, a named water bottle. Early birds help lay the fire.
- 9:00
Fire circle and the day's plan
Everyone on the logs. Yesterday's fire-keepers hand over. The group picks two things they want to do today.
- 9:45
Tools and making
Peelers, then knives, then bow saws. Children earn tool licences step by step. Today's job: a spoon, a mallet, or a tent peg.
- 11:00
Off into the woods
Pond dipping, tracking, den building, or the rope swing. On some days, a walk out onto the Chase.
- 12:30
Lunch by the fire
Packed lunches out. Then popcorn in a sieve, or marshmallows, or bread twists, cooked by the children over the embers.
- 2:00
The big project
A shelter that has to keep the leader dry. A charcoal kiln. A raft for the pond. Whatever started on Monday gets finished by Friday.
- 4:00
Round-up and free play
One thing you did, one thing you noticed, one thing for tomorrow. Then the last hour is theirs.
- 5:30
Pick-up
Muddy. Possibly asleep in the car before Burntwood.
Toddlers, eleven year olds and their parents do not want the same day
So there are three ways in. Little ones come with a grown-up in term time, 8 to 11 year olds get the holiday club, and on Monday nights the adults get the fire to themselves.
The holiday club. Full days, real tools, projects that take all week.
- 8:00am to 5:30pm, weekdays in every school holiday
- Fire lighting, knife and saw licences earned one at a time
- Shelters, rafts, charcoal, pond dipping and tracking
- Packed lunch from home, fireside snacks from us
- 8 children per adult, with a qualified leader always present
Lunch is from home. Pudding is from the fire.
Every holiday club day has a packed lunch on the logs and then something cooked over the embers by the children: popcorn in a sieve, marshmallows on sticks, bread twists, sometimes a Dutch oven of something hot. Nobody goes home hungry.
Pudding Club. Monday nights, grown-ups only.
Monday evenings, 6:30pm to 8:30pm, most of the year. Bring something to cook over the fire, or just bring yourself and a mug. We make the pudding. £15 a person, book a Monday at a time.
Book a MondayPrices
Holiday club runs in every school holiday: February, May and October half terms, two weeks at Easter, a week at Christmas and the summer holidays. Stay and Play runs in term time. Pudding Club runs most Mondays. Pay by card when you book.
Wild Week
£225
per child, per week
Five days running, so a project started on Monday is finished by Friday.
- Ages 8 to 11
- Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:30pm, every school holiday
Stay and Play
£10
per session, booked by the term
Little ones and their grown-up, together in the woods. Mud, puddles, songs and a snack by the fire. Sessions are capped at 15 children.
- Ages walking to 5, with a grown-up
- Three mornings a week in term time, two hours
Pudding Club
£15
per person
Bring something to cook over the fire, or just bring yourself. We do the pudding.
- Grown-ups only
- Monday evenings, 6:30pm to 8:30pm, most of the year
Packed lunch from home for the holiday club. We do not take childcare vouchers or Tax-Free Childcare at the moment. Full refund up to 14 days before, free date swap inside that.
Book a place
Choose what you want, pick your dates, tell us who is coming and pay by card. Your place is confirmed the moment the payment goes through, and you get a receipt straight away.
- 1What
- 2When
- 3Who
- 4Pay
What would you like to book?
Who runs it
Every session is run by the same person: a qualified teacher who, somewhere along the way, decided that the best classroom around was the wood at the bottom of the paddock. Level 3 Forest School trained, and here every day the woods are open.
DBS checked, with both outdoor first aid and paediatric first aid. Years in the classroom mean having met most kinds of child, and having a plan for most kinds of weather.
- Level 3 Forest School leader
- Qualified teacher
- Enhanced DBS checked
- Outdoor first aid and paediatric first aid
The pond, this summer. Newts, dragonfly larvae, and once, a grass snake.
Seen in the woods this year
All taken on the site by us. Not stock, not staged.
Knives, fire and open water. Here is how we keep everyone safe.
Parents ask about this first, and they should. Below is the short version. The full policies are on this site and are shared with every booking.
- The leader is checked, qualified and there every day. Enhanced DBS, Level 3 Forest School leader, qualified teacher. Any second adult is DBS checked and referenced before they set foot on site.
- First aid for the woods and for small children. Outdoor first aid and paediatric first aid, both current. A first aid kit, a phone with signal and a vehicle are always within two minutes of the fire circle.
- Risk is part of the point, and it is managed properly. Written risk-benefit assessments for fire, tools, climbing, the pond and the weather. Children see them, and the older ones help write them.
- Small groups, always. Never more than 8 children per adult, a qualified leader always present.
- We run in rain. Wind above 40 mph or lightning cancels the day. Everything else, we dress for. Spare waterproofs and socks are on site.
- Your family's details are kept safe. We collect only what we need: names, ages, medical and additional needs, and your contact details. Sensitive notes are encrypted before they are stored, kept in the UK, and deleted when your child leaves us.
“He came home on the Friday and asked if we could have dinner in the garden so he could show us how to light a fire. He had not voluntarily gone outside since March.”
A paddock, a pond and a wood we planted ourselves
The woodland is at Gentleshaw, between Burntwood and Rugeley, with Gentleshaw Common and Cannock Chase on the doorstep. Twenty minutes from Lichfield, Cannock and Tamworth, half an hour from Sutton Coldfield. Parking at the gate.
- Gentleshaw, near Burntwood, Staffordshire
Parking at the gate. The exact meeting point comes with your booking confirmation. - Send a message through the contact form
The site, roughly. Directions come with your booking confirmation.
Questions parents ask
If yours is not here, ring us. A person answers.
A packed lunch, a named water bottle, old clothes they can ruin, a waterproof coat, wellies or walking boots and a spare pair of socks. We provide waterproof over-trousers, all tools, and the fireside snacks: popcorn, marshmallows and whatever else gets cooked that day. No phones, please.