Meet our team.

At Our School in the Woods, our purpose is to help children grow and thrive.  
​
Ellen, Amanda and Natasha are parents who have worked extensively with children. We are fully DBS-checked and trained in Non Violent Communication (NVC), Parent Effectiveness Training (PET trainer: Mary Maclachlan), Safeguarding, Outdoor First Aid. Our team meets regularly to plan and discuss best how to meet the needs of the children in our care. 

We have additional, talented members of the team who are available at short notice. This team come from a wide variety of professional backgrounds, with Forest School and Playwork qualifications, experience of working with children and are referenced and fully DBS-checked. 

​If you love working outdoors with children and are interested in joining our cover team please email us at [email protected]
Picture
​
​​
​Amanda​

Amanda is a qualified Level 3 Forest School Leader with a PhD and 15-years’ experience in  biomedical science research. Amanda is as an outdoor educator, freelance play worker, yoga teacher and Forest School practitioner working with pre-school and primary school-aged children. Amanda is co-director of Our School in the Woods and keeps Our School in the Woods going behind the scenes.
Picture

​
​Ellen​

​Ellen is a qualified Level 3 Forest School Practitioner, a qualified secondary school teacher specialising in geography, and a qualified early years teacher. Ellen is co-director of Our School in the Woods. 

Ellen has previously been an outdoors education instructor and holds a Level 3 qualification in outdoor education, as well as qualifications in climbing (SPA), mountaineering (ML), canoeing (L2) and archery. Ellen also runs after school clubs and holiday clubs in her local community garden.

In her spare time, Ellen spends lots of time outdoors with her two children. They go on cycling, hiking and canoeing trips together. Ellen likes to swim outside and generally enjoys being outdoors.  
Natasha

Natasha is a qualified Level 3 Forest School Leader. Natasha has been an Ofsted registered childminder working with early years and primary aged home educated children. Natasha has also worked in mental health and has a degree in Criminology & Social Policy and a Level 3 Counselling Skills certificate.  She also delivers Forest School for an after school club, a Montessori nursery and runs a monthly nature mentoring group in Manchester. Natasha is currently working towards a certificate in Therapeutic practices in the Wilderness 
​
In her spare time Natasha likes to spend as much time as possible outdoors playing, exploring and creating with her two children. Natasha also enjoys running, yoga, foraging, walking up hills, dancing and finding new spots to swim.
Sal

Sal is a qualified Level 3 Forest School Leader and also a trained Child Counsellor (ACCPH Accredited Level 4) with additional therapeutic and creative facilitation qualifications. She has over 15 years of experience working with children in a variety of educational, outdoor, and community settings, including children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), neurodivergent children, and those who struggle to connect with traditional classroom environments. 

Sal also runs her my own performing arts and creative education business, Round The Twist, which specialises in creating playful,  accessible, and therapeutic learning experiences through storytelling, drama, music, nature, and movement.
​

​
 Katy

Katy has a postgraduate certificate in Therapeutic Play Skill and is working towards a Diploma in Play Therapy. Previously, she spent  more than a decade as a children's TV presenter working on CBeebies for CBBC.

As a mother, Katy has volunteered as a forest school assistant for a home education forest school group.  She has independently ran storytelling, art and play sessions, as well as an afterschool children's choir. She is especially interested in children's mental health and emotional well being.