Outdoor Education

Intent

 At Manor Green College we value the outdoor education experience for all students. The objectives of the College’s outdoor education program can be broken down into four areas:

Inter and Intra Personal Skills

• demonstrate the willingness to be responsible for themselves and their peers
• consider: who they are, what their strengths and weaknesses are, what their challenges are, how they make decisions, and how they deal with adversity
• demonstrate an increasing level of maturity and a willingness to take initiative
• consider: how they work in a group, what the strengths of others are, different leadership styles, power manifests in groups, cooperation vs competition, etc

Environmental Awareness

• gain a sense environmental awareness by studying natural systems
• think about their interdependent relationship with the environment and begin to examine their own environmental ethic

Academic Integration

• make connections between learning outdoors and in the classroom (and vice versa)
• engage in learning through the use of the outdoor setting

Outdoor Skills

• learn specific skills and protocols in these activities to be able to develop practices that emphasise ability and maximize safety
• begin developing the skills to assess risk and make responsible and prudent decisions
• demonstrate low-impact camping skills - site selection, cooking, tents, tarps, toilets, food storage.
• develop lifelong interests in physical outdoor activities

 Outdoor education provides a wide range of opportunities for new experiences. Residential visits, expeditions, cooking outdoors, paddle boarding, climbing- the list goes on!

Implementation

Outdoor Education is delivered across the whole college and tailored to the needs within curriculum pathways. Our Forest Schools programme forms the basis of our early delivery across all pathways within the college.

Within our Modular and Generic pathways, Forest schools is delivered to all classes in Year 7 and 8. The Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award is introduced in Year 9. This highly valuable qualification is optional for students however, uptake for this award is very popular. Those students who do not choose to enrol of the Duke of Edinburgh award will still access Forest Schools in Year 9. Moving into KS4, many students will progress from the bronze award to the silver award. Those students who chose not to follow the Duke of Edinburgh will encounter alternative outdoor experiences in their QUEST curriculum.

Within the SLD pathway, students follow the NOLA accreditation. Within the NOLA award, students will have access to Forest Schools and a whole range of outdoor learning opportunities. In KS4, students may begin the Duke of Edinburgh certificate if ready, completing Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections as part of their outdoor education curriculum.

Once these students move into FE, they have the option of converting this certificate to the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award by completing the Expedition section. Progression through the NOLA award and Duke of Edinburgh certificate, provides students greater exposure and opportunity to developing their confidence and competence in the outdoor learning environment. Those SLD students who may be developmentally ready for the Duke of Edinburgh Award in Year 9, have the option to do so alongside Modular and Generic pathways.

Within High Needs, pupils follow the Forest Schools programme throughout their time at Manor Green College. The more intensive adult support in these classes, provides a valuable opportunity for high needs students to develop their personal skills as well as environmental awareness. Where appropriate, high need students may also be assessed against the NOLA award to celebrate the progress made.

 Impact

The Outdoor Education programme has a significant impact on the students at Manor Green College. To date we have 124 students complete bronze, 67 complete silver and 13 working towards their gold. Key skills learnt and developed through the outdoor education programme are taken into adult life. Students often continue with Duke of Edinburgh accreditation even once they leave Manor Green. The development of pupil confidence in Outdoor Education has also provided our parents with the confidence to allow their child to be more independent outside of school.

Parental feedback validates the amazing progress that our students make in this area of the curriculum. Some examples of these comments are found below.