Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve comprises 450 acres of ancient heath and forest. It is famous worldwide as the legendary home of Robin Hood, and one of the oldest areas of native woodland in Europe.
We welcome visits from school groups. We offer both supported and self-led activities.
Supported activities
Environmental education team-led activities
Bring your class to the world's most famous forest and explore its unique ecology and legend.
These are full day environmental education sessions which are organised and planned by Nottinghamshire’s Outdoor and Environmental Education Team. These sessions are led by fully trained teachers. They take place on Wednesdays and sessions run from 10am until 3pm. View the environmental education activities.
Ranger-led activities
On Tuesday and Thursday mornings we can offer one or two hour sessions led by country park rangers. View details of ranger-led activities.
Our rangers are first aid trained, however all visiting groups must have a qualified first aider and carry a first aid kit at all times. Please note that during ranger-led activities, rangers will act as guides and instructors, but the overall responsibility for the group remains with the teacher.
Self-led visits
You can order a copy of our comprehensive Teacher's Pack. This is an excellent resource for background information and history of the site. It includes plenty of suggestions for self-led class activities which can be run by yourself with your group when visiting Sherwood Forest. View the options for self-led visits.
The pack costs £12, and can be ordered by telephoning the Visitor Centre on tel: 01623 823202, open 10.30am - 4pm. The supervision and safety of all pupils whilst on site is the responsibility of the teacher. We recommend a maximum pupil-teacher ratio of 10 to 1. You may wish to hire the Forest Classroom as a base for your activities at a costs of £20 per day.
Booking and payments
Visits should be booked in advance, and activities paid for at least two weeks before the visit.
We can accept payment in cash or by cheque made payable to "Nottinghamshire County Council".
On the day
On arrival please report to the ranger team at Visitor Reception. Please try to arrive promptly so as to get the most from your visit and to avoid disrupting other groups' visits.
Activities normally go ahead whatever the weather, so remember to ask pupils to come dressed for the outdoors with warm waterproof clothing and wellies or sturdy shoes.
Children's University
Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve is a validated learning destination for the Children’s University, and whenever you see this sign on our education activities and event programme you can bring along your ‘Passport for Learning’ and we will sign it for you.
