Swings & Slings – Rope play workshop

Date: Tuesday 24^th July 2012

Time: 9.30am – 4.30pm

Location: Holt Hall Environmental and Outdoor Learning Centre

Cost: £75 per person

Training Provider: Monkey-Do

Join us at the fantastic woodland at Holt Hall outdoor learning centre for a day of practical, arboreal skills.

Spend a day learning everything you need to know about siting, installing and using rope swings and other temporary rope play installations safely, effectively and sustainably.

Who is the day for?
The workshop is appropriate for beginners and those wanting to develop their existing skills. It may be of particular interest to; Forest School Leaders and Assistants, Playworkers, Nature Educators &/or Mentors, Teachers & Teaching Assistants, Early Years Practitioners and anyone else working to facilitate, promote and enhance children’s natural outdoor play.

What will we be doing?
The day is designed to be a step by step guide on how to create and manage temporary rope installations appropriate for children’s use during play experiences in woodland or areas with trees. Over the day you will:

• Develop your understanding of ropes, cordage and other useful equipment.
• Learn about kit care, storage and maintenance.
• Consider tree selection, assessment and techniques to reduce potential damage to trees.
• Consider the benefits of risk in children’s play and how to facilitate play with an appropriate level of risk.
• Develop your knot tying skills.
• Use different techniques to rig various temporary rope structures using simple equipment. Including; rope swings, tree climbing using slings, rope ladders, and rigging effective group shelters.

The Training Provider
Although the course is being facilitated through us, the Workshop will be provided by ‘Monkey-Do‘. Monkey-Do is a small non-profit social enterprise founded by a group of arborists to promote tree climbing. They are based in London and Wiltshire and run wild play activities for children in parks and woodlands, bringing people together with nature through play. They specialises in temporary, risky play installations in trees, using rope swings, industrial safety nets and soft webbing attachments which leave the trees unharmed. They have provided guidance, training and advice for a wide variety of organisations, schools, landowners and local authorities.

Find out more on their website.

Venue
We shall be spending the day in the beautiful woodland of Holt Hall Environmental and Outdoor Learning Centre, on the outskirts of Holt, in North Norfolk. This centre is owned by Norfolk County Councils’ Outdoor Learning team and is a residential centre for schools to visit and undertake outdoor learning.

Please visit Holt Hall’s website for a map and further information here.

Domestics:
We will have access to an indoor space for the day, however a large part of the day will be spent outdoors in the woodland. Refreshments will be available throughout the day but candidates will need to bring a packed lunch.

Booking:
Download a booking form here.
Further pre course information will be issued after booking.

Please view our Terms and Conditions before booking here.

If you have any questions please contact us.