The White Wolf Bushcraft Team

What school visit could be more environmentally friendly than a trip to your local woods? How about regular trips each year to learn more about them and also some bushcraft skills that will last a lifetime? White Wolf Bushcraft was established to meet the needs of local Reading primary schools by providing a programme of outdoor learning that starts in year 1 and progresses through to year 6 where the children are then ready for their next adventure, following the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.  In year 5 the children put everything they have learned to the test by throwing themselves into a overnight survival adventure, where they navigate to camp, build their own shelters that they then sleep in, start their own on fires to cook their own food and so much more.  They also watch a film in the woods with flame cooked popcorn, hot chocolate and s’mores.  The following day they practice throwing tomahawks, relax, play or use their creativity to make bracelets, leather bags and practice other woodland crafts.  

 

The site is 20 minutes from centre of Reading by coach.  It has four acres of woodland as well as a large field and is also equipped with a modern building with toilets and showers for boys, girls and staff, a hall, kitchen and even three bedrooms; though we like sleep in the woods.

 

Getting back to nature, and building self confidence are our focus and this includes learning about the woodland environment.  Our “Wild about Learning” programme links into many KS1 and KS2 objectives and provides a mix of solid practical skills such as fire lighting, shelter building and learning how to use woodland tools such as bush knives as well as understanding UK knife law, with softer artistic pursuits such as Woodland crafts.   Learning to identifying common and useful plants and trees through games and play and linking this knowledge to skills such as firelighting and foraging is all part of the woodland adventure, as is learning to cook over a campfire. We combine Forrest Schools "learning through play” with modelling and participation for specific skills.

 

We love what we do and we limit our sessions to only one school class at a time, with a Class Teacher and Teaching Assistant as this enables us to maximise the learning and efficiency while keeps the costs as low as possible and the teaching ratios to no more than 8:1 (normally 6:1)

 

Caring for the environment is core to everything we do, and we engender our philosophy of “leave no trace” every time we go to the woods.  We aim to buy all our supplies locally. The wood we burn is sustainably sourced from the same local woodland. The fish and meat is sustainably farmed, the way we cook creates very little waste, and we enlist the help of the children to ensure that we can recycle much as possible during our adventure days.