School’s Out… (for the summer!)

And just like that, we’ve reached the end of another term, and with it…another academic year. We could spout some cliches (albeit true ones!) about how fast the time has gone but we thought we’d spare you that today! This always feels like a good time to reflect though. It might not be the end of the calendar year but for many young people (and their parents) some significant milestones have been reached; the end of primary school for some, the completion of a first year at a new school for others, the completion of a whole academic year being home educated for others still. So what are some of our takeaways, here at The Outdoors Group now the 2023/2024 academic year is over?

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We can survive anything the weather throws at us!

Without a doubt, this last year has been the wettest, soggiest, dampest year since our records began. It felt like the rain just didn’t stop as days, weeks and months went by and our woodland sites got more and more sodden underfoot. Our estates team were kept even busier than usual as we tried to keep the vast mud pits to a minimum and parents despaired as week after week, children left the woods at the end of the day soaked and caked head to toe in the finest wet soil that Devon had to offer!

But….we didn’t let this dampen (see what we did there?!) our spirits. We continued to deliver our high quality provision, just in a slightly soggier fashion. Kids and staff alike were such troopers and did their best not to let it affect their time in the woods with us. That said, there was a collective sigh of relief when the sun started to show it’s face a little more and blue skies appeared earlier this summer!

Home Ed kids love a booklet!

Our Forest School team launched their ‘Journey of Achievements’ booklets this year for our Home Education kids and oh my goodness, they have been received so well! These were designed to encourage our learners to take control of their journey at Forest School with us. It takes key aspects of what we think Forest School is all about and encourages them to deepen their understanding of the woods around them, and gives them a chance to practically develop their skillet whilst dong so. We have loved seeing our attendees get stuck into these and some of the imaginative projects they’ve come up with in order to achieve certain milestones have been a wonder to behold!

TLP kids love to cook

Our TLP sessions don’t always get as much fanfare as they should do but all this year, they’ve been quietly ticking along in our woods across Devon, making a phenomenal difference in the lives of the learners that join us for them. We’ve welcomed a new Head of TLP, Nigel Stanley this term and we are so excited about the plans he’s making for this provision (more on that another time!) In the meantime, we love hearing about the culinary concoctions that our TLP learners have been making. They really have a passion for pushing out the boat and making some really incredible things in the woods. From roast dinners to soups and stews, from proper campfire donuts to…cheese!? Just awesome!

Residential trips are a heck of a lot of fun!

For the first time ever, for the first time, our enrichment team at The Outdoors School had the amazing opportunity to run two residential trips for our year 9, 10 and 11 learners. This has been a great highlight of the year. They were awesome and adventurous trips with a lot of opportunity for growth and independence! Our year 10/11 learners spent three days at Llangorse Multi Activity Centre in the Brecon Beacons. They had the chance to explore the quiet town of Brecon and take part in loads of amazing activities at the centre such as climbing, zip lines, caving, abseiling and archery. Our year 9 learners spent two days at Dartmoor Activity Centre and enjoyed many team games, team sports and venturing onto the moors for some rock climbing and weaselling as well as exploring the beautiful landscape. So much fun!!

Author: Hannah Durdin, Content Officer & Forest School Leader

Date: Saturday 27th July 2024