Only 47%
of children visited the countryside with their school in 2008
An entitlement to outdoor learning should be created within the National Curriculum to ensure the countryside becomes part of every child’s education.
The National Curriculum is changing. The Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) accepted the recommendations of two independent reviews,which included reforming the primary curriculum and making Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education statutory. At the time of writing, Parliament was considering The Children, Schools and Families Bill, brought forward by the DCSF, to bring the recommendations into law.
The countryside is a powerful medium in which to deliver major components of PSHE education, such as healthy living, physical competence and performance, managing risk and developing self awareness. It can also play a significant role in helping primary and secondary students understand subjects such as science and geography by engaging with practical examples outside the classroom. Future legislation should be used as an opportunity to create an entitlement to outdoor education within the curriculum to allow these practical learning opportunities to be fully realised.
In addition to its key role in reconnecting children and young people with the natural environment, outdoor education has exciting potential when it comes to tackling obesity and mental health issues. Innovative action taken here could reduce the substantial costs of dealing with the consequences of these growing problems.
Letting children get their hands dirty gives them the inspiring first-hand experience they need for a rounded education and to understand the environment. We welcome The Foundation’s campaign as it brings some fresh thinking and makes sensible recommendations to draw attention to the importance of outdoor learning and how to reverse its decline.
- Mr Robert Lucas, Chief Executive of the Field Studies Council
Countryside activities such as walking, cycling and horse riding can burn up to 380 calories per hour. Green spaces can stabilise anger in young people, which can help prevent anti social behaviour. Outdoor education could therefore play a key role in reducing the 391,960 permanent and fixed exclusions for physical and verbal abuse in schools that occurred in the 2007/08 school year. It could also help reduce the cost of youth crime and obesity – an estimated £5 billion per annum.
Only 47 per cent of 6 to 15 year olds went on a school countryside visit in 2008. By creating an entitlement to outdoor education in the curriculum, schools would have a duty to ensure all children have the opportunity to visit the countryside, improve personal development, health and academic results through linking subjects with real life examples as an integral part of the curriculum. Not only will this deliver the aims of the PSHE area of learning but it would also present an opportunity for government to prioritise resources and funding towards increasing its use across all schools.
