Well Wild - Bushcraft & Forest School
Being outdoors and active is a vital part of growing up and living a healthy and fulfilled life. Outdoor learning benefits children, young people, and adults alike. It engages our hearts through what we feel and the emotions we experience; our heads through what we think, see, and say, and our hands through our physical experiences including how we move through the space the outdoors provides. With a career spanning 3 decades meet John Wells.
John is a qualified woodland skills and forest school practitioner based in the woods at Rough Castle Experiences. John’s background comes from an extensive range of different working environments including working for local authorities, voluntary projects, addiction teams, additional support teams, mental health, NHS, and criminal justice. He has volunteered with the Duke of Edinburgh programme and has extensive experience in Youth work settings working with infants to young adults’ youth groups. He has worked with detached youth groups across the Forth Valley supporting some of the areas most deprived communities and through schools supporting vulnerable young people, providing them with a person-centred approach helping build life skills and explore new opportunities. Further to this he has helped care and support for some of Scotland’s most vulnerable children in residential care and education.
Forest School
Not every classroom has four walls…
Johns’ passion is the great outdoors. He understands the importance of giving young people the opportunity to building trusting relationships and to feel valued and respected for who they are. As a Woodlands skills and Forest School practitioner, he aims to encourage learners to engage with their environment and build resilience and meet their full potential. His belief is the best way to facilitate this is through learning outdoors. This allows children and adults to experience the freedom to explore natural surroundings, build positive relationships and trust, allowing them to develop unique skills while grounding themselves in nature.
Forest School is a child-centred inspirational learning process, that offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions. It is a long-term program that supports play, exploration and supported risk taking. It develops confidence and self-esteem through learner inspired, hands-on experiences in a natural setting. Activities for Forest School can be varied but it should be noted that we are trying to create independent learners, who are encouraged to try out their own ideas, explore their own interests and to attempt new ideas. Our activities will depend on the ability and experience of the children. Some of these activities might include, Building dens and other structures , Fires and cooking , Nature exploration Natural crafts, Tool use – saws / drills / knives and much more.
Bushcraft
Bushcraft is the use and practice of skills, thereby acquiring and developing knowledge and understanding, in order to survive and thrive in a natural environment. Bushcraft skills provide for the basic physiological necessities for human life: food water sourcing and purification, shelter-building, and firecraft. These may be supplemented with expertise in twine-making, knots and lashings, wood-carving, campcraft, medicine/health, natural navigation, and tool and weapon making.
Bushcraft includes the knowledge to handle certain tools such as bushcraft knives and axes. A bushcrafter can use these tools to create many different types of constructions, from dugout canoes to a-frame shelters. There are various types of shelters to construct or use in the wilderness.
To find out more and join us at Rough Castle, follow the link below.
Mums, Sons, Lads 'n' Dads
We’ve created a Bushcraft session where Lads, Dads, Mums and Sons can come together and build on that relationship or, have the opportunity where you can both bond together. You’ll need to work as a team, listen to one another, support and encourage praise in each other all while learning the skills of Bushcraft.
All children invited to participate in this experience – not gender specific
As a team you will build your own shelter using natural woodland resources that should be wind & rain proof. Then, build a fire using a flint steel and cook a meal over the hot coals.
Then we come together sit round the fire, have a chat, some self-reflect on how you did as a team, any room for improvement, and how you both can take the skills you learned on the day back home and build on your relationship. We’ll finish off the session with some nature therapy “who knows you both have learned a new skill in Bushcraft and plan to spend more quality time together out in nature”
These Bushcraft challenges are no easy tasks. Working together makes them that bit easier.
All programmes are planned following Education Scotland’s curriculum for Excellence using experiences and outcomes to ensure full coverage of the curriculum whilst adhering to the core values of Bushcraft and Forest School, GIRFEC, Curriculum for Excellence, through outdoor Learning (2010).
Nina Allinson
We all absolutely loved it!!! I really appreciate you all accommodating us changing the times at such short notice and it all went really smoothly thanks to you J It was the first time the whole team had met since Covid, so was a perfect team day out.
All the staff were super helpful and made the day great fun for us.
Lt Barry Stevenson
The Army Cadets from 3 companies of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlander’s Battalion Army Cadet Force, really enjoyed themselves at the event organised by Rough Castle Experience its safe to say it was great end to their two week Summer Cadre Training and are still talking about it now, excellent fun provided by a great and reputable company. It was especially good after the lack of cadet activities due to the COVID pandemic.
Donald H. Hilixer
Fantastic to have had rough castle experiences organise our event. Rhiannon made everything so easy all we had to do was turn up and enjoy the full day. Every cadet enjoyed every single activity including the adult instructor’s. The full day was was run very smoothly. All staff were extremely helpful and went that extra mile to make the experiences an amazing day. Highly recommended.
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