About | Wild Warrior Education

The Wild Warrior Story

We have always been wild about the great outdoors! Best friends since childhood, we loved to play outdoors. In our teens we worked hard to afford to backpack on a shoestring and explore the natural world. From scuba diving the Great Barrier reef to meeting the inhabitants of the Ecuadorian Amazon to trekking the Salkantay trail to Machu Pichu, we often dreamed of ways we could make a positive impact on the world.

A few years later, here we are! It has been a real labour of love to combine our passion for the great outdoors and create something that has such a positive impact on holistic development of young people.

We believe all young people should have the opportunity to connect with nature and engage in high quality Forest School and outdoor learning. It is our mission to empower education settings to achieve this using the Wild Warrior Forest School framework.

Beth

Assistant Headteacher

Head of Forest School Provision
Level 3 Leader

'My love for the outdoors was sparked in early childhood. The nearby woodlands was always so exciting and seemed like a place full of possibilities. I loved playing hide and seek and building mini 'fires'. This feeling has never expired and I still possess a sense of awe every time I see a woodland and wonder, 'What adventures could I have in there?'

As a Forest School Leader for 12 years, I've been very lucky to be able to tap into the essence of this magic, observing the positive impact on young people that the freedom to direct one's own experiences in Mother Nature's classroom affords. The Wild Warrior Framework is a personal testament to the importance of creating meaningful, child-centred learning experiences in nature, inclusive for all.'

Felicity

Renewable Energy Consultant

Outdoor Enthusiast
Mum

'I'm thrilled to be a part of Wild Warrior Education. I grew up rurally, spending time with my best friends outdoors, often helping my mum on her small farm, tending to the animals and trying my best to keep count of wandering sheep!

Sustainability is close to my heart and these days I champion renewable energy development in the UK.

I'm happiest in nature and love to watch my little ones explore the outdoors with awe and wonder, they love Forest School, too! There are endless benefits to outdoor learning and connecting with nature and I know the Wild Warrior framework will make it easy for everyone to get outdoors and develop new and exciting skills! I love the Wild Card Activity ideas and often use these with my little one, he especially loves choosing a badge to explore.'

'I really like how the framework can be adapted and used based on the kids I'm working with. The kids are working on Rain Shelter and Flora Identification, they are very proud of their shelters and are excited about the badges. Thanks for all the great ideas you provide!'

Wild Awake Nature Adventures

It was undeniably clear during the depths of the pandemic just how enormous the impact the outdoors has on health, wellbeing and development. The idea to create a unique framework for Forest School had been only a seed up until this point but this was the pivotal moment when we worked feverishly during the long hours of lockdown: and then blossomed the Wild Warrior framework.

Since then, the framework has been refined to ensure that the package we offer is exceptional and contains everything needed to run sessions confidently. We believe all young people should have the opportunity to connect with nature and engage in high quality Forest School and outdoor learning. It is our mission to empower education settings to achieve this using our simple framework.

It's difficult to put into words how incredibly proud we are of the framework and seeing our vision come to life. It is so exciting to support leaders across such a diverse range of settings and hear the feedback we'd always dreamed of: that the Wild Warrior framework has empowered them to easily support holistic development and raise the profile of Forest School-all without compromising on the quality, creativity and skills of outdoor learning leaders.

Pricing Plans

Have more questions? Check out our FAQs

The Wild Warrior framework is for learners between the ages of 3 and 14. It is a totally inclusive award and suitable for learners of all abilities, including SEND, EYFS, primary and secondary. We have a wide range of customers from various settings, including primaries, secondaries, SEMH, SEND and alternative provision settings, nurseries and home education groups. Both schools and freelance Forest School providers use our framework and have been thrilled with the benefits.

Each Wild Warrior framework is a complete bank of downloadable resources, linked to a Wild Warrior badge, e.g. Fire Lighting.

An individual badge toolkit includes:

Wild Warrior Learning Journal

This is an editable journal, including space to jot down plans and resources for sessions, record session reflections and add photos or drawings. These can be used as a single central record, kept by the practitioner and printed on completion as a record of achievement for each learner, or can be printed for individual learners to fill in week by week. (Downloads in MS PowerPoint).

Wild Warrior badge specific assessment template/Printable tracker

Each assessment template contains a set of progressive descriptors unique to each badge. Every template has space to complete assessments for up to 30 learners. The assessment template calculates the level each learner/participant is working at (Between 1-10) based on their engagement.

Wild Warrior Certificates

Printable, badge specific certificate to celebrate engagement and participation.

Wild Warrior Practitioner Guide

A guide to support implementing and using the Wild Warrior Education resources in your setting, including how to fill out the assessment templates and use the Learning Journals to support child-centred planning, observation, reflection and celebration.

Wild Warrior Printable Badges

40mm, full colour awards badges. 20 per sheet. Beautifully designed with a space to write in the level of award achieved. Simply print out and then share with your learners. Why not stick to wood cookie medals? Or print directly onto sticker paper. Alternatively, order pre-cut and printed recycled stickers from our shop.

Wild Card

The Wild Cards are activity ideas linked to each award. There are 5 ideas provided for each award. These are suggestions for you to adapt and give you a little inspiration for you and your learners on those days a little inspiration is needed!

The Wild Warrior framework is split into 3 core award areas: Skills, Knowledge and Holistic.

Badges within each of these core areas are organised into a collection of similar badges, identified as a category e.g:

Core area: Skills
Category: Tools
Badge: Bow Saw

Skill badges focus on developing specific skill areas linked to outdoor learning e.g. using knots or techniques in outdoor cooking.

Knowledge badges develop understanding of and connection to the natural world, such as understanding native flora and fauna.

Holistic badges focus on developing invaluable interpersonal qualities and skills in learners, such as leadership and teamwork.

Any setting with an outdoor space and plenty of enthusiasm for the outdoors! Every educational setting is different, it may be urban, rural or somewhere in between. There are over 50 badges to choose from, so you're guaranteed to be able to facilitate something your learners are interested in. Nurseries, SEND, EYFS, Primaries, Outdoor Learning Centres, CICs, PRUs, secondary settings, afterschool clubs and home educators all take advantage of the learning resources available from Wild Warrior Education with fantastic results!

Whenever you are undertaking outdoor learning or Forest School! Encourage learners to use the badge menu as a stimulus for what they would like to do in the outdoors. This could be displayed in your setting, or shared at the beginning of sessions.

Conversely, when facilitating learners interests, it may be more natural to match their interests to a badge.

The progress descriptors on the assessment template are great to use as ideas for activities but certainly don’t need to be used as a prescriptive set of learning activities. Some badges may be better for a specific season, such as the Bug Hunter Award, which will be more suited to warmer seasons.

There are several approaches to Forest School and outdoor learning and many factors can put pressure on how this type of learning is carried out, but a commonly held principle is that outdoor learning should be carried out over a sustained period of time to really allow learners to be connected to the outdoors and consolidate their interests. After several weeks, or when a unit of sessions conclude e.g. half term, would be a great time to fill out the assessment template and celebrate learning and development.

Each learner has space for 3 separate end of unit assessments, these are great to show how learner engagement is progressing over time, especially with a handy graph at the bottom!

The Wild Warrior framework is totally flexible.

It is designed to use as a standalone framework and is suitable for Forest School or other outdoor learning.

Naturally, it does link to other areas of the curriculum, such as Science, English or Maths. Select the badges most appropriate for your learning purpose. You can be guided by the progress descriptors on the assessment templates but these are not exhaustive and are not designed to dictate learning experiences, which means that they can be used very flexibly and woven into the interests of the learners or needs of the curriculum if this is most suitable for your setting or learner needs.

The Practitioner Guide contains everything you need to know about how to fill out the assessment template for a specific badge when you are ready to reflect on the engagement of your learners at the end of a unit, e.g. at the end of a half term. The MS Excel templates have space to assess up to 30 learners, including 3 different assessment points for each learner.

Simply type the name of the learner at the top, add the date of assessment and then rate the level of engagement against each badge descriptor. The spreadsheet will do the rest of the work for you and then you will be ready to give out your certificates and badges.

The framework assessment is designed carefully to be inclusive, with a strong focus on engagement, enabling learners of all needs to demonstrate development. We believe this is a crucial part of outdoor learning, ensuring that everyone has access and their development is valued.

The framework is not designed to be 'completed', think of it more as a 'pick n mix' library, where interests can be met as and when needed.

No problem!

There are lots of funding grants and bursaries available for outdoor learning and you could use these to purchase the Wild Warrior framework to use in your setting.

Because of the extensive benefits of outdoor learning, it will be simple to evidence the importance and impact of this for funding purposes.

Outdoor learning and Forest School can also be considered as part of the Outdoor and Adventurous programme within PE. Primary schools receive a funding premium for PE and this could be a great way to use this funding. Alternatively, some settings may be able to fundraise or ask for parental contributions to enable your setting to implement the framework.

The Wild Warrior framework has been designed by an experienced Level 3 Forest School Leader and SEND Teacher to support child-centred learning at Forest School.

Many of the badges do not require any specific training, just a passion for being in the outdoors and enthusiasm for learning. However, key badges have been designed with specific Forest School/bushcraft type activities in mind and require that settings have appropriately trained staff and risk assessments in place to carry out activities linked to those badges.

This responsibility is solely on the education setting or company implementing the framework. All activities are suggestions and not obligations. Appropriate risk assessments, qualified practitioners and health and safety procedures must be in place, Wild Warrior Education accepts no responsibility for any injury or loss caused as a direct or indirect result of implementing our resources.

The assessment template is set up for a maximum of 30 learners. Each learner has space for 3 separate assessment points.

Input each learner name and then the date of assessment in the first column for the learner. Then, read through each of the descriptors for the award in the left hand column, these are progressive and gradually increase in sophistication. You will find a drop down box corresponding to the descriptor for each learner with the numbers 0-10. Each number corresponds to a level of engagement, from Experience through to Mastery.

Full descriptions of engagement at each level are indicated on the template. Use these to decide what level the learner is working at for each descriptor. If the descriptor isn’t relevant, or hasn’t been covered, no problem. Just leave it blank. When you have completed each learners assessment it will auto-generate the award level they are currently working at.

Fill these out for all learners at the end of a series of sessions, unit or half-term. We appreciate your setting is different to others, so do what works for you.

When you revisit skills at later points, you can then fill out a newly dated assessment and see the progress automatically generated on the graph included in the template.

There are 2 ways to do this.

1. Badges can be ordered as a pack or single sheets at the time you download the toolkit, that way you have them to hand as soon as you need them.

2. Alternatively, order them after you have completed the assessments, so you know exactly how many of each level you need. This is a great way to make it cost-effective. Badge stickers are printed in sheets of 20 for a single level e.g. a sheet of 20 stickers for Level 1.

The Learning Journal is a digital download (MS PowerPoint). It is fully editable on your computer or device and includes quick to use sections to add photos from your session. They are also easy to print off so your learners can reflect on their sessions and fill in their own.

The Learning Journal is a simple way to implement a planning, observation and reflection process.

Simply jot down loose ideas for sessions and reflect on what happened. It is filled in week by week and is a great way to document the skills, knowledge and holistic experiences of the learners. If edited on the computer, it can be easily printed and kept as a record for each learner, or sent home for parents and carers to enjoy!

The Learning Journal also works brilliantly printed as a blank booklet, ready for learners to use as an individual journal for reflection. Rather than adding photographs, they can draw pictures in the available sections.

Have more questions? Check out our FAQs

Who is the Wild Warrior Framework for?

What is included in the Wild Warrior Framework download?

What are the 3 core areas of the Wild Warrior Education framework?

What type of setting is the Wild Warrior framework suitable for?

When should I deliver the Wild Warrior framework?

How often should I use the framework?

Should I link the framework to our current curriculum or use it as a standalone framework?

How do I fill out the Wild Warrior assessment template?

How long does it take to complete the assessment template?

How long does it take for learners to progress through the framework?

What do the progress levels mean on the assessment template?

I’d like to do it, but don’t have any funding, help!

Do I need special training to deliver the Wild Warrior Framework?

How do I use the badge specific assessment template?

When should I order the Wild Warrior badges?

How do I use the Learning Journal?

What should I do if I need help or support?

What if I can’t find a badge I’d like to use?