Our Mentors
Our team of highly-skilled and qualified facilitators are here to help children achieve full spectrum human potential.
They maintain the highest integrity and concern for your child’s wellbeing. We believe in supporting and engaging the whole child, inside and out, in this critical stage of their development.
Meet Raffy: Your local expert in Forest School Pedagogy
Rafaela Abraham is a certified Forest School Teacher and co-founder of Wise Earth Bush School (WEBS). With a passion for outdoor education, she specialises in expanding learning beyond traditional classrooms, fostering a diverse range of skills and understanding among children and their families.With her firsthand schooling experience in Sweden, she brings a holistic approach that has connected children’s love for learning through nature for generations.
Rafaela’s teaching philosophy centres around engaging children with nature through building respectful relationships, singing, games, and hands-on sensory experiences. Her journey began in Africa, where her early years instilled in her the autonomy and reflective mindset necessary to navigate diverse environments. After moving to Sweden, traditional school settings proved challenging due to her active nature. She found a home away from home in a pedagogy school that embraced varied learning styles, incorporating elements of the Montessori Method with extensive outdoor activities. This experience motivated her to pursue accreditation in Forest Kindergarten Level 3, focusing on:
- Language, and Communication Skills
- Personal and Social Development & Well-being
- Non-Verbal Communication
- Practical Skills Development
- Knowledge and Understanding of the World through
- Physical Development and its Impact on Academic Learning
Rafaela has earned the Swedish Scouts award, the “Silvervargen” (the Silver Wolf), holds a Waldorf education certification, and completed a degree in International Marketing. Raffy holds a Wilderness First Aid Certification, drawing from her extensive background and the diverse influences of her mentors throughout her life. She has built WEBS on a strong foundation rooted in Forest School and Play Work Principles.
With her extensive background and commitment to nature-based learning, Rafaela is dedicated to helping your children explore their potential and face life’s obstacles with confidence and strength.
Meet Matty: Bridging Practical Skills and Body-Based Wisdom
Matty is the co-founder of Wise Earth Bush School (WEBS) and brings over two decades of carpentry experience to the Bush School and Skill School programs. Growing up near Bronte Beach, his passion for surfing and nature inspires his teaching.
Since moving to the Northern Rivers in 2014 and starting a family, Matty has loved sharing his skills with children. He expertly guides young learners from idea to end product, emphasising practical skills that complement and enhance children’s academic education.
Why Matty is Ideal for Leading Children’s Learning:
- Hands-On Expertise: With decades in residential construction, Matty brings extensive real-world experience, coupled with a strong understanding of industry standards, to his teaching approach.
- Woodworking Skills: Teaching knife safety, whittling, carving, and creative projects to enhance fine motor skills and problem-solving.
- Oceanic Knowledge: Educating on wave dynamics, rip currents, and water safety, integrating science with practical application.
- Aquatic Rescue Awards: Bronze Medallion (BM) and Surf Rescue Certificate (SRC)
- Bush Survival Skills: Leading shelter-building, friction fire techniques, and tool crafting to foster resourcefulness and critical thinking.
- Nature Connection: Fostering a profound connection to nature, community, and practical skills,
Benefits for Children facing challenges in school:
- Enhancing Academic Skills: Projects reinforce mathematical concepts and spatial awareness.
- Interdisciplinary Approaches: Competency-based learning through fun outcome-focused projects.
- Scientific Inquiry: Lessons on wave dynamics, fire-making deepen our insight of natural physics, practical chemistry in the real world.
- Problem-Solving: Real-world challenges build critical thinking, adaptability, encouraging individuals to move beyond the fear of failure.
- Building Resilience: Hands-on learning nurtures resilience, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment through constructive feedback.
At WEBS, Matty’s hands-on approach to learning empowers children to excel academically and personally, guiding both girls and boys from the ground up.
Meet Matty: Bridging Practical Skills and Body-Based Wisdom
Matty is the co-founder of Wise Earth Bush School (WEBS) and brings over two decades of carpentry experience to the Bush School and Skill School programs. Growing up near Bronte Beach, his passion for surfing and nature inspires his teaching.
Since moving to the Northern Rivers in 2014 and starting a family, Matty has loved sharing his skills with children. He expertly guides young learners from idea to end product, emphasising practical skills that complement and enhance children’s academic education.
Why Matty is Ideal for Leading Children’s Learning:
Hands-On Expertise: With decades in residential construction, Matty brings extensive real-world experience, coupled with a strong understanding of industry standards, to his teaching approach.
Woodworking Skills: Teaching knife safety, whittling, carving, and creative projects to enhance fine motor skills and problem-solving.
Oceanic Knowledge: Educating on wave dynamics, rip currents, and water safety, integrating science with practical application.
Aquatic Rescue Awards: Bronze Medallion (BM) and Surf Rescue Certificate (SRC)
Bush Survival Skills: Leading shelter-building, friction fire techniques, and tool crafting to foster resourcefulness and critical thinking.
Nature Connection: Fostering a profound connection to nature, community, and practical skills,
Benefits for Children facing challenges in school:
Enhancing Academic Skills: Projects reinforce mathematical concepts and spatial awareness.
Interdisciplinary Approaches: Competency-based learning through fun outcome-focused projects.
Scientific Inquiry: Lessons on wave dynamics, fire-making deepen our insight of natural physics, practical chemistry in the real world.
Problem-Solving: Real-world challenges build critical thinking, adaptability, encouraging individuals to move beyond the fear of
Building Resilience: Hands-on learning nurtures resilience, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment through constructive feedback.
At WEBS, Matty’s hands-on approach to learning empowers children to excel academically and personally, guiding both girls and boys from the ground up.
Meet Felicity: Your Storytelling and Experiential Guide.
“The education system needs a shake up. Too many kids are stuck inside, still and silent, with their talents and gifts going unrecognised. We need to guide the next generation to live a life of passion, and not obligation. Bush School is the best place for children to find out who they are and what they love, setting them up for a successful and fulfilling future”
Felicity has been in the Northern Rivers for 17 years. For the first half of that time, she ran a drone design and video business, specialising in sales and training. This industry highlighted a lot of what was wrong in the world and begged the question; What can be done to fix it? It was around the age of 28 when Felicity received her calling to change the world through the next generation.
It was then that she designed Guidance Cards for Kids. A set of animal shaped cards, for the purpose of children to learn how to name and express their emotions, to help them with their own healing. She then received her Early Education and Care certificate in 2017, and trained in Rites of Passage Facilitation with The Rites of Passage Institute, where she has been facilitating family camps ever since.
After working as a school camp instructor at Midginbil Eco Resort for 4 years, Felicity began to seek a way to foster stronger, ongoing connections with children, and found her way to Bush School. She has been working with Wise Earth Bush School since 2022, and mentors on Mondays and Fridays.
Felicity has a mixed bag of bush school skills including Storytelling, Sensory and Awareness Games, Bush Crafts, and a whole lot of love to give.
“Meet Stuie the greatest fun”
In the Victorian land where forests whisper old stands Stuart Paton, passionate and bold.
A dad of two girls with heart sincere.
Amelia and Nixie, his daughters dear.
Environmental activist, his noble quest, Campaigns for wildlife that now echo, for yours and for nature’s best.
Thirty years of dedication pure, an Australian keeper of land, he made our future sure.
At forest’s edge, he takes the stand, guardian of trees, across the land.
Flora and fauna, his tender care, shielded from change, and despite the heat, of terrifying bush fire he made the track up here.
Arborist he is with hands that know. Timber milled and stories to sow.
Teaching climbers high and free, in Nest box homes, for creatures to be.
Through East Gippsland’s ancient green, guided tours, through wondrous scene.
Bush survival’s art, in summer’s grace, native foods to embrace.
Circus skills he imparts with glee, Juggling balls (kids) in harmony.
Motor neurons dance and grow, Hand-eye coordination’s glow.
With children bright, his spirit sings,
Growth and joy, the happiness it brings.
A mentor true, a guardian’s heart,
In a field where roles often part.
A proud uncle’s joy, his eyes ignite,
Guiding young souls to a future bright.
Meet Stuie: The greatest fun and a burning activist at heart
Stuie, a dedicated environmental activist and experienced arborist from Victoria, where ancient forests whisper stories of resilience and conservation. As a father of two daughters, Amelia and Nixie, Stuie’s passion for wildlife conservation spans over thirty years of unwavering commitment. He champions sustainable land management and forest conservation across Australia, guiding others through East Gippsland’s pristine landscapes and sharing his expertise in bush survival skills and native flora.
Stuie’s approach to teaching is as developmental as it is engaging. Through workshops like the Toy Story, he transfers his deep knowledge of native animals, fostering children’s understanding and love for their animal friends. Every Wednesday, Stuie mentors in the Bush School program, where his childlike and playful nature endears him to all children, creating lasting memories and nurturing a lifelong respect for nature.
