bristol forest school
Bristol
BFS has a number of STAFF and VOLUNTEERS who assist in running our forest school
sessions, planning activities and preparing resources. All BFS staff who lead
sessions alone are fully Forest School qualified, DBS checked, First Aid trained
and they hold Public Liability Insurance. They include… ANDY WILSON founded
Bristol Forest School in 2004. He trained with the original Forest School cohort
from Bridgwater College, and has a wealth of experience from 18 years forest
school teaching. Andy runs regular Forest School sessions and parties at both
the BFS woodland and in schools throughout Bristol. He also runs Forest School
staff training. As Woodland Manager, Andy has successfully transformed the BFS
site into a beautiful and accessible educational space; he monitors our
ecological footprint through an environmentally sustainable attitude to Our
Woodland. SOPHIE BUTLER joined Andy in 2011 and together they expanded Bristol
Forest School. She is a trained Early Years teacher and qualified as a Level
Three Forest School Leader in 2012. Sophie’s passion for nature and
sustainability has grown over the years since living off-grid in an eco village
in Hawaii. Sophie established the BFS Pre-Schools, the Saturday Club Minis and
Adventurers. She now supports the running of these groups and is responsible for
BFS’s policies, website and social media. HANNAH BUSHELL joined the BFS staff
team in 2015 following a dedicated volunteering stint and completing her Level
Three Forest School. Hannah is an experienced primary school teacher who works
part-time in a Steiner Kindergarten as well as undertaking the nature connection
course ‘Call of the Wild’. Hannah runs our specialist CCS days for adopted
children and their families. To contact Hannah, please email
hannah@bristolforestschool.co.uk. LUCY ROSE HARRIS is a qualified primary school
teacher with six years teaching experience. Lucy gained her Forest School Level
3 Award in 2014 and is passionate about promoting outdoor learning
opportunities, a love of nature and fun adventures for children. Lucy joined
Bristol Forest School in 2017 and, following some maternity time with baby Luna,
she is now back in our Pre-School team. LOUISE SPELLWARD is a qualified
Horticulturalist and garden designer with a background in Environmental
Conservation. Her first experience of Bristol Forest School was as a parent
attending with her son; not wanting to miss out on the fun, she decided to train
in Forest School herself and completed her Level 3. In 2019 Lou took on the
Bristol Forest School Pre-School. To contact her, email
lou@bristolforestschool.co.uk KATE BERRY is an art educator with 16 years’
experience delivering workshops in natural history, conservation, poetry, story
creation, art, design and photography. She is passionate about outdoor education
and wildlife conservation. Kate has worked at Bristol Forest School since 2016
and has a Level 3 Forest School qualification. In 2019 Kate began leading the
Saturday Minis with Lou and Melissa. To contact her, email
kate@bristolforestschool.co.uk VERONIKA SIMON studied agricultural engineering
before working as a special needs teacher for primary school children with EBD
as well as in a nursery for Pre-School children. Veronika enjoys sharing her
passion for nature and animals and can often be found in her allotment digging
or watching the bees! Veronika became a qualified Forest School leader in 2018;
she started volunteering with Bristol Forest School in 2020 and now runs schools
sessions and BFS parties. BESS SPENCER worked as an ‘Access to Nature’
play-worker in inner city London and trained as a Forest School leader in 2018.
She now practices and teaches co-counselling and nature-facilitation activities
using Tom Brown’s Apache derived techniques. At Bristol Forest School, Bess
assists with our school sessions. MELISSA GAULT is a qualified Level 3 Forest
School Leader and is currently studying to become an Early Years educator. She
loves getting out into nature as much as possible! Melissa has been supporting
Bristol Forest School since January 2018. She began as a volunteer for the
Saturday Minis and is now a fully fledged member of the Pre-School team. MILLY
BAILEY has an environmental background – she moved from working in an office as
an environmental consultant, to the forest – which she much prefers. Milly has a
passion for connecting herself and others to the natural world: she is a keen
hiker, forager and wild swimmer. Milly started volunteering with Bristol Forest
School in 2019 and now works as part of the Pre-School team.
