The Hive is a response to the growing disconnect from nature more children experience. This affects not only their wellbeing but their ability to care for the natural world and how they apply the skills they develop as they grow up to the environmental challenges we face. Based in London, The Hive delivers Accredited Forest School Training that focuses on innovative ways to engage pupils in Forest School, particularly in urban environments where access to outdoor space is constrained.
We provide Level 2 Forest School Assistant and Level 3 Forest School Leader training.
Our training team are not just experienced level 3 forest school practitioners. They’re also school teachers or school practitioners with a deep knowledge of engaging “city children” in forest school. They understand the challenge of delivering a genuine Forest School experience in places where you may be reliant on the local park or common. They’re interested in helping you find clever “ways around” to make the most of the woodlands and green spaces that London offers.
We have two training venues: one at Stave Hill Ecology Park, a dense and rich nature reserve spanning 5 acres, just a few minutes away from Canada Water station in South East London, and another in the stunning woodlands of Hever Castle, in nearby Kent.
Accreditations & Partnerships
We are accredited by AIM Qualifications and Assessment Group to deliver the following:
- Forest School Leader Qualification (Course ID 139288)
- Forest School Assistant Qualification (Course ID 139287)
- Forest School Introduction Qualification (Course ID: 139286)
Our Training Team
SARAH BELSEY - LEAD TRAINER
Sarah has been a Forest School leader since 2008 and trained with Bridgwater College. She is also a qualified Early Years practitioner and 14+ tutor. Since 2006, Sarah has worked at Kent County Council's flagship Country Park delivering Forest School and environmental education sessions to over 3,000 children annually and training teachers and school support staff in Level 1 and 3 Forest School. Sarah has experienced first hand the benefits that Forest School can have on children and young people, and as such is passionate that as many individuals as possible should get to have the Forest School experience. Sarah has a keen interest in Forest School in urban settings and has worked with schools in deprived areas to get their Forest Schools established.
MARLON GIBBINS - LEAD TRAINERMarlon is a qualified teacher and highly experienced Level 3 Forest School Leader. He also holds an EYTS qualification and has an MA in Education.
Marlon trained in Denmark where he was highly influenced by both Steiner Waldorf and the Udeskole movement. These cemented his love for outdoor learning and providing the inspirational approaches that now form the basis of his teaching. He has a wide range of teaching experience in settings both in the UK and abroad and in recent years has been establishing and managing outdoor nurseries. He has a particular interest in how the forest school ethos can be incorporated into more urbanised landscapes through innovative thinking and sustainable models.
AZRA KAYANI - ASSISTANT TRAINER
Azra began running outdoor sessions in 2012 and trained as a Forest School assistant a year later, followed by the Forest School Leader course in 2015. Alongside The Hive, she facilitates Forest School sessions for nursery groups, secondary schools and primary ages in South London woodlands. Azra has also worked in inner city Adventure Playgrounds, a movement at the forefront of child led, risky play, and has experience supporting families in early years learning at Children's Centres where she established Forest School sessions for families. She was part of a team that set up a flagship Natural Thinkers setting and has been active in several community initiatives.
SERINA DOUGLASS - ASSISTANT TRAINER
Serina is a qualified teacher and experienced Level 3 Forest School facilitator. Her practice is informed both by her own education in the Steiner system and her years as a primary teacher, where she saw first-hand the power of Forest School. Much of her experience as a Forest School facilitator has been in natural woodland settings and she has seen how the opportunity to explore, risk, contemplate and challenge, creates a freedom and creativity that cannot easily be replicated in an indoor environment. Alongside The Hive, Serina is really enjoying the opportunities and challenges of managing and coordinating her own Forest School initiative.
Our Training Venue
STAVE HILL ECOLOGICAL PARK
TIMBER POND ROAD
ROTHERHITHE
LONDON, SE16 6AX
Stave Hill Ecological Park is managed by The Conservation Volunteers as a nature reserve, educational facility, research area and place of recreation. The park has been designed and managed to form a mosaic of grassland, woodland, scrub and wetland habitats which support a wide variety of wildlife. This mosaic of habitats have been created from scratch by sowing and planting the poor soil.
The Park is intensively managed to conserve the wide variety of wildlife that colonised the area during the years the docks lay derelict and provide a haven for some of the species that lived here before humans so changed the land.More information about Stave Hill Ecological Park can be found here.
2023 Training Dates
Click on the links below to see training dates for each course
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOU WILL ALSO NEED A VALID OUTDOOR FIRST AID TRAINING CERTIFICATE TO BECOME A LEVEL 3 FS LEADER. THE HIVE DOESN'T PROVIDE OUTDOOR FIRST AID TRAINING BUT WE CAN RECOMMEND PROVIDERS.
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Policies
You can download our Forest School training policies here.
