Job Vacancy

Outdoor Education Practitioner
Job title: Outdoor Practitioner 
Job purpose: Developing and leading/supporting Forest School / Outdoor Alternative Provision,  running Wild Workshops, on behalf of Root-and Branch Out CIC
Hours: As discussed
Salary range: Depending on experience £15-20 per hour
Contract: Freelance part time

Reporting to: Root-and Branch Out CIC Directors
Place of work: Rutland, UK
Office base: Home ​
Job description
Main duties: 
  • Taking a lead in session delivery, risk benefit assessing, planning, reflecting, evaluating and writing observations from the session to inform future practice to include the children’s wishes/needs and to feedback to school/setting/parent/guardian.
  • Ensuring that Safeguarding children/young people is at the heart of your practice.
  • Resourcing/creating materials for sessions with kit from either your own resources or sharing with other practitioners from Root-and-Branch Out CIC Team Kit. 
  • Maintaining the woodland as a safe place to work and to minimise impact from use. 
  • To take part in Continuous professional development and training. 
  • Delivering Forest School or other creative Outdoor play based  sessions and developing gentle, supportive and nurturing relationships with the children/people in the group.
  • Work in collaboration with schools, teachers and support staff to demonstrate the Forest School ethos and how it works in practice by being a positive role model.
  • Offer a range of creative opportunities to ignite children’s curiosity and to develop their appreciation and gratitude for the woodland environment. 
  • Keep organised and up to date risk benefit assessments, planning, evaluation and observations for each group and feedback to school, some weekly stories of what happened in the sessions to share among the school community and families. 
  • Collect evaluation data if needed by funders.
  • Attend team meetings and supervision sessions as determined at the start of the freelance contract.

Qualifications:
  • Teaching qualification, Teaching Assistant or Early Years Practitioner
  • Practitioners must be Forest School Level 3 qualified or suitable alternative
  • Up to date Outdoor First Aid qualification (min 16 hours)
  • Satisfactory Enhanced DBS check Essential criteria

We aim to recruit someone who:
  • Is a highly skilled outdoor education practitioner with a passion for working in the outdoors and enthusiasm to share it with others. 
  • Has a passion for protecting our woodlands for future generations and being able to undertake woodland management and impact mitigation practices to ensure sustainability.
  • Has a deep understanding of child development and an appreciation for child led play and inquiry.
  • Understands differing behaviours and needs of our participants and can support social and emotional literacy development with an empathic and non judgmental lens.
  • Has experience of and an enjoyment of working with young children and people of all ages and abilities, from a range of backgrounds and a commitment to supporting their physical, social and emotional development through outdoor play and/or activities. 
  • Is skilled and knowledgeable in a range of age-appropriate outdoor games, and crafts, and  be able to share skills in line with good practice policies and procedures. 
  • Demonstrates  good communication skills, who is friendly and polite and able to enthuse and motivate others. 
  • Has good planning and organisational skills and is able to work to deadlines.
  • Is proactive at prioritising, problem solving and getting things done. 
  • Has access to own transport to reach settings. 
  • Is able to use judgement and intellect to work on own initiative. 
  • Friendly and polite with excellent people skills and a sense of humour. 
  • A team player with a willingness to work cooperatively and collaboratively. 
  • Fun, warm, caring and can tolerate all outside conditions!


About Root-and-Branch Out CIC
Our objectives  are: 
  • To support children and young people to flourish through connection with nature. 
  • To equip families across Rutland to make sustainable healthy choices in order to meet the challenge of rising costs in a climate conscious way. 
  • To create an oasis of peace, beauty and productivity at our Shared Garden, ‘Growers Row’ for therapeutic benefit.

We run long term Forest School projects for home-educating families, schools, parents and toddlers in woodlands around Rutland and are a registered Alternative Provider and Recognised Forest School Provider. We partner with statutory and voluntary sector organisations to collaborate on projects where we provide an enriching environment. With qualified practitioners, we connect with different cohorts of people of all ages and abilities to make connections with nature.  We also offer Duke of Edinburgh Awards for young people 14 to 25.

We have established a Shared Garden for Rutland, called Growers Row , in partnership with the Rutland Agricultural Society on a 1.4 acre piece of land. This has become both a productive growing space and a rewilded haven for wildlife and wildflowers. Each week there is a volunteer day where participants come to garden together and share the produce. This wonderful garden space is a tranquil venue for also hosting wild workshops and crafternoons where we use nature as our inspiration and resource. 

The last link in the chain which closes the loop, are the  Community Fridges in Rutland. Surplus food from our Shared Garden and from supermarkets that would have gone into landfill is collected by our teams of volunteers and stocked into fridges for distribution to the community . Food from this system is also used in our Forest Schools to cook on a fire, to allow children to recognise that this food can be used and to build knowledge and understanding of how to cook from scratch.  This also supports children’s and participant’s ecoliteracy whilst positively impacts our carbon footprint. 


​Ready to apply for the job?

If you feel you have the skills and experience to be an Outdoor Practitioners, please email:  You will be asked on the application form to include the names and contact details of 2 people, at least one of whom should be a recent employer, who are able to provide references relating to your work and on your suitability for this post.

Application deadline: 14th April
Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview and to participate in a practical forest school session, held during the week commencing 20th April 2026

Online Job Application Form
Outdoor Practitioner with Root-and-Branch Out

    References

    Reference checks are a standard part of our job application process. Please provide the name and contact details of two people who are not family members and who give their consent to acting as a referee for this work. One reference should be from an employer, or former employer or voluntary work organisation. We will contact these people by either phone or email.

    Referee 1
    Referee 2

    Declarations

    If you have ticked yes, please write details in the box below. Having a conviction will not necessarily stop you from successfully getting the job, but it will need to be taken into consideration when assessing your suitability. We reserve the right to request a Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure before any work begins.
    Data Protection
    Thank you for taking the time to fill in the Root-and-Branch Out CIC Job Application Form.