Forest School Worker

We are looking for a new Wild Things Forest School Worker to join the team!

A Forest School qualification is desirable but is not essential.

You would be working a regular one day a week (Monday or Friday- to be negotiated) alongside two other Wild Things Forest School workers in a woodland setting.

To plan and deliver Forest School sessions to predominantly primary school aged children.

There will be approximately an additional 3 days per year in the school holidays/weekends.

The role will also include associated meetings, training and supervision.

Wild Things is looking for someone who:

• shares Wild Things Charity’s passion/values/ethos,
• is able to pass on enthusiasm, respect and love for wild spaces,
• has experience of working with children and young people,
• puts the child/young person at the heart of what we are doing,
• has a love of/curiosity about the natural world and a desire to share this with participants,
• has an understanding of the benefits of play and child centred learning in the natural world,
• has an appreciation of the social and economic factors that create the inequalities and discriminations in society, and the link between these factors and the behaviours we may encounter,
• is calm in a crisis, patient, flexible and a sense of humour,
• is punctual, reliable and committed,
• has group management skills,
• has a desire to strive to work and organise together as a mutual aid collective in a non-hierarchical way,
• has the ability to manage multiple factors at once,
• has a willingness and ability to engage with the physical tasks the job involves; pulling trailers of equipment up hills and over rocky paths, setting up site, moving wood, moving (sometimes at speed!) around the wood’s hilly terrain,
• has no behaviours or charges or convictions for an offence that would impact your suitability to work with children or vulnerable adults. You will be required to undertake an enhanced DBS check.
• has previous experience of supporting children, young people or adults who have experienced trauma,
• has basic understanding of trauma and associated behaviours,
• has previous experience of working in a woodland setting/natural setting i.e. as a Forest School worker.

Salary & Benefits

• The salary will be equivalent to £16 an hour.
• Work will be throughout 11 months of the year including statutory holiday pay.
• You will have the opportunity to enrol on Wild Things staff pension scheme.
• This will be a permanent contract with a 6-12 month probationary period.

Company

Wild Things registered as a Charity in 2025, after running as a small grass roots not for profit workers co-operative for 26 years.

We work with groups in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire delivering woodland based programmes to children, young people and adults from under-resourced communities who are facing multiple complex barriers to well being and social and educational inclusion.

We specialise in working with groups who would not otherwise have access to time in the natural world.