Member Article

Nurture the nature of learning outdoors

Times have moved on a lot since the yells of ‘Get out!’ by a teacher could mean a trip to the headmaster’s office. In more recent years, children have become excited by the instruction for a very different reason.

In 2016, Natural England commissioned the largest survey of its kind to explore the benefits of children learning outside. The results were remarkable and revealed that when youngsters spent more time in the open they became happier, healthier, and more motivated to learn.

Bickley Park School in Bromley is a strong believer in this principle and has been actively encouraging the students to experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of their learning and personal development.

Dee Wheeler, Head of Design Technology & Head of Outdoor Learning at the school discusses her hands-on experience in embracing this vital approach to learning.

I introduced Forest School at Bickley more than five years ago and instantly saw the benefits for the boys. Since then we’ve expanded the programme and the children now also get the opportunity to participate in annual residential trips we’ve named ‘Adventure School’. The concept takes the ethos of Forest School and supercharges it with additional Bush craft and survival skills.

In fact, the idea originated from the older pupil’s love of learning in this way and their desire to continue and to expand their experience. We knew they really benefited from the enrichment that outdoor learning brings, but we were unable to find a place in our everyday timetable for the older year groups due to the demands of our curriculum.

So the decision was made to create a series of residential trips during term time to provide pupils with a good dose of adventure. This also means that the whole school community understands that Adventure School is a valuable part of our educational provision and not just fun trips away.

We are still developing and growing the programmes and this year we are providing the opportunity to all pupils from Year 5 upwards.

The wide variety of Adventure School activities are tailored to the children’s ages and designed to build upon the previous year’s experiences. Some of the favourites include fire building, bug eating, animal tracking and den building (so much so that some boys have slept overnight in their stick shelters in the woods!). Older boys will also grapple with a range of additional activities including raft building and orienteering. And if this isn’t enough, 2018 will bring a new challenge for Year 8 as they will be undertaking the Three Peaks challenge with a twist. In between each mountain there will also be exciting pursuits lined up like caving, gorge walking and travelling on the world’s fastest zip wire.

There is so much research available that demonstrates how these types of outdoor activities are important for children as they are growing, developing and learning. The benefits are far-reaching, and spending time with nature, getting dirty and wet, exploring, discovering, and investigating all build confidence. Our pupils also develop resilience, a respect for the environment, and improved social skills, as well as the physical health benefits of being active and breathing fresh air. The list goes on - it’s just wonderful!

When you take a child out of a school-based environment you often see a very different young person, which is really encouraging and can often be quite a revelation. It enables teachers to bond and support pupils in a more relaxed way which later feeds into relationships in the classroom. Likewise, the students see a different side to their teachers and soon realise they love having fun too! It gives everyone involved a break from the pressure and stress of everyday life and an opportunity to ‘unplug’ from technology.

Yes, such trips are no mean feat, but the benefits outweigh the meticulous planning and organisation. There have been lessons for us along the way too, including making sure your wet weather plans are watertight. But mostly we’ve learnt how much the children love and gain from the experience.

Fitting Adventure School into a very busy academic calendar can be a struggle, but it’s an experience we have all come to cherish. As the Roman poet Horace famously said, “Don’t think, just do”.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Harris .