The Home Ed Woodland Academy
Flexible, ongoing wilderness skills for ages 8–12 and 12–16.
Building mastery at your own pace through a long-term skills framework.
The Home Ed Woodland Academy is a structured, long-term programme where young people build confidence, develop practical skills, and spend meaningful time outdoors.
Unlike rigid courses or one-off workshops, the Academy is an ongoing, progressive environment designed to adapt to your family's schedule. While our woodland doors are open every single week, you have total control over your attendance—allowing you to pick, choose, and book only the specific dates that work best for your calendar.
The Drop-Off Model & The Passport Framework
To foster genuine outdoor resilience and social consistency, our Academy operates as a fully immersive drop-off experience. Young people operate independently in the woods, allowing them to truly own their decision-making, learn natural risk management, and bond with their peers.
Powered by The WILD Passport Curriculum
We deliver our skills using a highly acclaimed, multi-level WILD Passport outdoor learning framework. This structured programme tracks individual progression across 125 distinct learning objectives over 5 core wilderness competencies:
Fire Craft – Lighting, management, and campfire cooking.
Woodcraft & Tools – Safe knife work, bow saws, and green woodworking.
Shelter – Tarp rigging, knots, and campcraft.
Rope – Cordage, tracking, and practical rigging.
Nature – Ecology, conservation, and woodland stewardship.
Every child tracking their journey through this curriculum utilises a physical WILD Passport booklet to record their progression, mark off milestones, and celebrate their practical achievements.
What Young People Will Gain
Genuine Self-Reliance: Operating in a fully drop-off environment allows young people to safely navigate real-world decisions, manage risks naturally, and build lasting outdoor resilience.
Long-Term Peer Connections: Meeting regularly with a dedicated, capped group of just 6 participants allows for deep, collaborative teamwork and the space to form strong, lasting friendships.
A Sense of Mastery: Watching their practical accomplishments get officially marked off in their physical WILD Passport booklet gives them a tangible, immense sense of pride and achievement.
Practical Lifeskills: Beyond just "activities," they are mastering foundational, ancestral skills—from tool handling to campfire cooking—that foster a lifelong connection to the natural world.
Choose Your Group & Book
Our Current Seasonal Theme: The Craftsman
While every young person works through the passport curriculum at their own natural pace, our overarching group projects this term will celebrate Woodcraft & Tool Mastery.
Safety is our absolute priority. New to the woods? Don't worry! Every participant begins with foundational tool safety, learning how to manage their safe working space and handling introductory tools. Brand-new attendees will never be handed advanced tools like carving knives until they have confidently demonstrated core safety competencies and progressed naturally through the framework.
STEP 1: Buy Your Flexi-Pass (Recommended)
Because our sessions are fully flexible, we recommend securing a multi-session Flexi-Pass upfront. You get our best discounted rates, total freedom to choose your dates across the term, and an official WILD Passport booklet included for free*!
3-Session Pass: £48 (Only £16 per session)
6-Session Pass: £90 (Only £15 per session — *Includes 1x FREE Official WILD Passport booklet!)
12-Session Pass: £168 (Our best value at £14 per session — *Includes 1x FREE Official WILD Passport booklet!)
Pass Flexibility & Policies:
Perfect for Siblings: Your unique Flexi-Pass code can be shared! You can use your credits to book multiple children or siblings onto the same date.
Transferable & Secure: Pass codes are completely transferable—anyone you share your code with can use it to book a spot.
Expiry & Terms: Pass credits have an expiry period of at least 3 months from the date of purchase, with larger passes getting a longer window to use them up. Your exact expiry date will be clearly shown on your booking confirmation email. Because spaces are strictly limited to 6 per session, passes are non-refundable once purchased.
STEP 2: Choose Your Dates
Once you have your Flexi-Pass code (or if you just want to book a single £17 drop-in session), click your group below to select your specific dates.
Wednesday mornings
Adventurers (Ages 8–12)
Friday mornings
Pathfinders (Ages 12–16)
How Date Releases & Priority Access Work
Because we strictly cap our groups at just 6 participants per session, spaces are highly sought after and fill up fast.
We release new batches of dates dynamically throughout the year. To reward consistency, any family who has booked and attended a session in the current schedule gets automatic Priority Access to the next batch of dates. You will receive a private access code via email to grab your preferred dates 48 hours before the remaining tickets are released to the general public.
Skills Covered Across the Academy
Example activities across the pathway may include:
Fire lighting and campfire management
Shelter building and campcraft
Navigation and map reading
Mini Medics (first aid basics)
Knife and tool use (age appropriate)
Woodcraft and simple carving projects
Rope work, knots, and practical rigging
Natural materials and working with the environment
Outdoor cooking and preparing food on the fire
Awareness activities and observation skills
Team challenges and problem-solving tasks
Movement and games that build coordination and confidence
Seasonal activities based on the woodland environment
Understanding risk, safety, and decision-making outdoors
Sessions will vary and adapt to the group, conditions, and season, ensuring a wide range of experiences across the programme.
Why Woodland Roots?
Expert Mentors: DBS-checked, outdoor first-aid trained, and experienced in professional woodland delivery.
Accredited Framework: We are a provider of the WILD Passport programme, giving your home education journey an established, structured, and auditable learning framework.
Small Groups: Strictly limited to 6 participants per group for personal guidance and safety.
Private Site: Set within the beautiful, private Llanforda Estate in Oswestry.
Eco-Legacy: We plant one tree via Ecologi for every child's attendance.
What to Bring
A full kit list will be provided before the programme begins. As a guide, participants will need:
Sturdy, closed-toe footwear (walking boots or wellies)
Weather-appropriate clothing and reliable waterproofs
Reusable water bottle and a healthy snack
Drop-Off Policy: Sessions are strictly drop-off. Parents are asked to drop their children off at the car park check-in point before the session begins and return promptly at 12:00pm.
Location
The course takes place in our private woodland on the Llanforda Estate, Oswestry. The woodland is a short walk from the car park along an established track.
Full details — including directions to the car park, access information, and arrival guidance — are emailed to bookers before the programme begins.
What People Say About Woodland Roots
FAQs
Does my child need any previous outdoor or bushcraft experience?
Not at all! Because the Academy is built around the WILD Passport framework, we meet every child exactly where they are. Whether your child has never built a campfire before or is already highly confident in the woods, our small group sizes (capped at just 6) allow our instructors to tailor the challenges to their personal skill level. Beginners will start with foundational safety, while more experienced participants will be fast-tracked to advanced skills.
Do parents/guardians need to stay?
No. To foster true independence, personal autonomy, and focused collaboration within the peer group, the Academy is run strictly as a drop-off programme.
What is the WILD Passport?
It is a nationally recognised, five-stage outdoor skills framework designed to take learners from basic foundations all the way to advanced wilderness mastery. Your child tracks their progress through this system using an official, physical WILD Passport booklet to log achievements across 5 distinct skill areas.
A copy of the booklet is included for free with all 6 and 12-session packages, or it can be easily added to your order during checkout if you are booking single ad-hoc sessions.
Do I have to come every single week?
Not at all! That is the beauty of the programme. It runs every week, but it is entirely flexible. You can buy a 3, 6, or 12-session pass and spread those credits across whichever specific dates work best for your family schedule.
How do I use my Flexi-Pass code?
First, buy your pass in Step 1. You will instantly be emailed a unique code. Next, look at Step 2, click your child's age group, tick the specific dates you want to attend, and enter your code in the "Voucher Code" box at checkout to drop the balance to £0.
Can I use my Flexi-Pass for more than one child, do they expire, and are they refundable?
Your Flexi-Pass generates a unique credit code that behaves just like a voucher. You can use it to book multiple spaces on the same day (perfect for siblings or bringing a friend along), or pass the code to someone else to use.
Pass credits carry an expiry period of at least 3 months from the date of purchase, with larger packages getting a longer expiry window so you have plenty of time to use them up. The exact date will be shown on your confirmation email. Because our groups have a strict 6-child capacity limit, passes are non-refundable once purchased, but they offer total freedom to pick and choose your dates across our weekly schedule.
How do I make sure I get priority access for future dates?
As long as your child attends at least one session in the current schedule, your email is automatically added to our Priority List. When the next batch of dates is ready to be released, you’ll get an email containing a private password to unlock the tickets early.