The Countryside Alliance Foundation

Outdoor Education

We believe outdoor learning should be part of every child’s education.

Children exploring the countryside
The countryside as a classroom
Outdoors for a change
An entitlement to outdoor learning should be created within the National Curriculum to ensure the countryside becomes part of every child’s education.
The Qualified Teacher Status standards should include the provision for practical training of teachers in delivering learning outside the classroom.
The Government should take steps to prioritise the funding allocated for outdoor learning and direct resources to helping schools that struggle to fund outdoor education visits for children.
A renewed effort is required by Government and education stakeholders to raise awareness among teachers of the low risks and high rewards of well managed outdoor learning.
The decline in small grants must be halted if charities are to play a continuing role in developing innovative programmes to increase access to the countryside for children and young people.

Change is needed in:

We believe outdoor learning should be part of every child’s education.

  • An entitlement to outdoor learning should be created within the National Curriculum to ensure the countryside becomes part of every child’s education.
  • The Qualified Teacher Status standards should include the provision for practical training of teachers in delivering learning outside the classroom.
  • The Government should take steps to prioritise the funding allocated for outdoor learning and direct resources to helping schools that struggle to fund outdoor education visits for children.
  • A renewed effort is required by Government and education stakeholders to raise awareness among teachers of the low risks and high rewards of well managed outdoor learning.
  • The decline in small grants must be halted if charities are to play a continuing role in developing innovative programmes to increase access to the countryside for children and young people.

Outdoor education – An introduction

Outdoor learning is good for children and young people. It helps them gain a practical understanding of the world around them, build self-confidence, test their abilities, take managed risks and develop a sense of responsibility and tolerance towards places and people.

Children exploring the countryside

The body of research showing the considerable health and well-being benefits of spending time in natural green spaces is growing. Outdoor learning can help children and young people understand subjects, like maths or science, through real world examples and first hand experience. Whilst academic achievement is important, outdoor education can play a significant role helping pupils develop soft skills like good communication, team work and leadership that are essential to the well rounded education that is vital for life beyond the classroom. Despite this, the countryside still remains an enigma for far too many.

The reasons for this are complex but include a lack of opportunity to visit the countryside and parental fears around child safety. It is understandable that every parent wants their child to be safe, but reluctance to let them explore natural places is limiting their exposure to the countryside and reducing their hands on knowledge of the natural world around them. For these reasons, The Countryside Alliance Foundation believes outdoor education must be included in the National Curriculum to give all children the chance to experience the considerable health, personal development and educational benefits of outdoor learning.

This campaign is a helpful contribution to an important debate. The natural environment is there to be explored by children and we need to do all we can to encourage outdoor learning and create opportunities for children to enjoy and appreciate the countryside.
- Dr. Helen Phillips, Chief Executive, Natural England

In addition, we believe outdoor education has a major role to play in reconnecting children and young people with the countryside and the many natural resources it provides. By gaining a practical understanding of the countryside, they also become engaged in protecting its future.

Over the past year the Foundation has uncovered huge enthusiasm for outdoor education among children and teachers. In our survey, 85 per cent of children and young people want to take part in countryside activities with their school, and 97 per cent of teachers surveyed believe it is important for children to learn about the countryside within the National Curriculum.

Yet this level of demand and enthusiasm is not matched by delivery on the ground and as a result millions of children are missing out. Over 60 per cent of children polled felt they didn’t learn enough about the countryside at school and 76 per cent of teachers said concern about health and safety is the main barrier to outdoor education. Therefore it is not surprising that only 47% of children went on a school visit to the countryside in 2008.

Well-managed outdoor education visits pose a low risk to student welfare. Our research on the numbers of legal claims made in relation to children injured on school visits will ease fears around health and safety and inspire greater confidence among teachers to use the countryside as a classroom. No fewer than 138 local authorities in England and Wales responded to a Freedom of Information request by The Countryside Alliance Foundation. We discovered that only 364 legal claims were made over a ten year period and under half of the cases were successful and resulted in a payout. In fact, on average just over £290 was paid out per year by each local authority. These results challenge the widely held assumption that school trips are inherently dangerous and result in huge numbers of compensation claims.

Arguably, media fervour and misinterpreted teacher union guidance following the rare incidents has unintentionally led to a climate of fear surrounding health and safety legislation. As a result children are missing out on valuable learning experiences.

The Countryside Alliance Foundation does not think this is right. Our five point plan shows the way ahead to ensure outdoor learning forms a part of every single child’s education.