OK, that statement probably isn’t true. But, how do you know?
What we do know is that hundreds of people start a Forest School qualification every year. We also know that not all of them go on to complete their course and gain the qualification. Trainers will often say how many trainees they take on each year but some are a bit coy about their completion rates.
There is no central record of all Forest School qualification awards. Each awarding body makes their own awards. We could ask each separately but, even if they were willing to provide that information, there have been a number of changes in the structure of awarding bodies over the years and more colleges are starting to produce their own courses. It would be big job to take on and the FSA does not have the resources.
We also know that there are many people ‘out there’ saying that they do Forest School but who do not have a qualification in it. Conversely, many of the people who do gain their Forest School qualification never go on to use it.
So, if you are a member of the public wanting to know if someone is Forest School qualified or not you have two choices. Firstly, you could ask to see their qualification certificate yourself … let’s be honest, almost no-one is going to do that. Secondly, you could search for them on the internet and find out whether or not they appear on the FSA database of verified qualified Forest School practitioners… perhaps some people would do that.
Of course, if someone sees the FSA badge for verified practitioners being used as part of the practitioner’s publicity and promotion then they will know that that person is indeed qualified. The more the badge is used by qualified FS practitioners the more likely it is that people will expect to see it being used, and ask questions if it is not.
The FSA regularly gets asked, ‘how many qualified Forest School people/leaders are there?’ and ‘how many active Forest School leaders are there?’. The answer is, ‘no one knows’. All we can hope to do is establish a comprehensive database of qualified people from the FSA membership. Other ideas welcome.
We know that we have over 600 FSA members who say that they have a Forest School qualification. Only 108 have had their qualification verified by the FSA so far. Why not take your certificate and certificate copy to your next local group event and get the copy countersigned?
How to get on the database of qualified Forest School practitioners
Thanks Gareth a hard copy makes sense then… I’ll get on with sorting it out:)
Seems like the minority out trump the rest of us.
Not liking the language here……Surely is a difference between not being registered on your database and not qualified?
Thank you : )
https://forestschoolassociation.org/faqs-members-map-and-qualified-practitioner-verification-schemes/
Is there a group in Louth Lincs that I could have details for please?
The existing local groups can be found from the button on the website homepage but any FSA member can countersign the copy of your FS cert. There is a map of members on the website under the ‘about FSA’ menu tab.
leaving this so I can get notifications as IU forgot to tick boxes:)
got my attention ~Gareth:) any way to do it electronically to save loads of paper copying?
Hello Arainn, Yes, this post does seem to have captured attention in a way that simply telling people about the scheme has not achieved over the months. In answer to your question. The e-form with your details is obviously electronic but in most cases we will need to receive a hard copy of your countersigned FS qual. The only exception to this was at the conference where I was able to verify the original certificate personally and take electronic photos for our records (these still get printed off so that they can be stored with the others). I suppose that, now the affiliated groups are forming, we could receive electronic copies (photos) from local group committee members who can verify the cert on our behalf. Having said that, it is almost as easy for th person to turn up at a meeting with the original cert and a photocopy to get signed. However, that has not yet been agreed but is definitely worth thinking about. The key principle here is that an FSA member (bound by our code of conduct) countersigns the certificate. I am sure that it will evolve but that is where we are now.
Ditto that question…just asking the same thing. Can any L3 sign it? Thanks.
I was thinking that. Does the person signing off have to be one of the 108? Also, my Cert was issued by a current director of the FSA, is there a way that this can be confirmed and I get added to the list?
it’s coming back to me…I signed for someone I have worked with several times and did my assessment with. That was last year sometime…never got round to sorting mine :p
So no I was not one of that 108.
Any FSA member can countersign the copy of your certificate
That’s a very fair question tbh .
Ok…consensus so far seems to be it’s a list…simple.
What do I need to do? Take my original cert and a copy to a meeting and get the chair to sign it? Date it? Make a statement? Then post the copy to FSA?
https://forestschoolassociation.org/faqs-members-map-and-qualified-practitioner-verification-schemes/