Donadea Forest School After School Spring term 2025

Greetings!

I am very excited to be running a pilot Forest School After School programme in Donadea Forest Park in Donadea, Co. Kildare!!

I am Lucy Bell of Growing Wild, and I am a long-time certified forest school leader, with over 12 years of experience running Forest School Programmes for children, adolescents, and adults. I was involved in developing the new QQI Level 6 Certificate in Forest School Leadership. I am also an organic horticulturist, and I run food growing, seedsaving and biodiversity sessions in a variety of settings. Check out my work here: www.growingwild.ie

The Forest School After School Programme Pillot in Donadea Forest Park wil run for a 6 week programme initially.

Dates of programme:

Wednesday 5th March, 12th March, 19th March, 26th March, 2nd April and 9th April, this will bring us up to the Easter school break.

Time: 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Age: From age: 5- to 11-year-olds

Location: The Ice House woodland, Donadea Forest Park, Donadea, Co. Kildare.

Cost: €120 for the 6 sessions over 6 weeks.

A bit about Forest School:

We will be offering time in nature, free play, woodland crafts, den building, rope work, nature crafts, mud area, make and create with tools, we also play games to increase our nature connection, these sessions are underpinned by our method which is child led- and choice based, to allow for the holistic development of the child and to facilitate getting kids back to nature, in all weathers.

Forest School is based around allowing children spend quality, recurring time in nature, which allows for the holistic learning and development of the child. Forest School is child-led and designed to develop the children’s relationship to themselves, each other, learning and nature in a safe way. Each child will engage with this in their own way and our aim is to support that as forest school leaders. This is not a bushcraft or activity led programme, it is directed by the needs of the children and directed by what they want to do.

A bit about the facilitators:

Lucy Bell of Growing Wild has over 15 years’ experience working with children in the outdoors. Lucy is a highly experienced Forest School leader and is a trainer with the Adult Forest School Leadership Training Programme and has run Forest School throughout Ireland for over 12 years and was a Heritage in Schools Specialist for over 10 years. Lucy is also an organic horticulturalist and works in a variety of community settings.

Georgina Kemmy has been working in Forest School for the last 5 years and is an experienced facilitator with children and young people in outdoor settings. She runs her own Forest School, Wild Kids Forest School in Kildare town.

Growing Wild works with several highly skilled and experienced Forest School Leaders to run their programmes. They are all garda vetted and have their own Public Liability Insurance cover.

We also have volunteers who work with us on a regular basis, our volunteers are also garda vetted and come under Growing Wild's P.L. Insurance cover as volunteers.

If you want to read all Growing Wild's Health & Safety statements, risk assessments and see the staff and volunteers garda vetting, please click here.

For more information about what we do have a look here: www.growingwild.ie

We hope to see you in Donadea Forest Park!

Lucy & crew.