Are you thinking of planning an outdoor education trip but have no idea where to start?
Seeing, feeling and doing things in the real world can enhance students understanding and reinforce all that they have learned in the classroom, with even some of the trickier concepts suddenly making sense.
Hopefully our blog below will get you started and help you to get the most out of your visit.
1.What are the aims of your trip?
What are you trying to get out of your visit?
- Is it the start of the year and you want to get to know your new class, and let them get to know each other?
- Do you want to teach them real world experiences? Give them the opportunity to do things they might not usually get to do?
- Do you want to teach them without the refinement of four walls?
- Would you like to have the opportunity to transform curriculum topics into real world, hands-on experiences?
- Do you want your students to discover things for themselves? See in real life what you’ve been teaching them?
- Do you want them to receive the benefits of being outside, in fresh air and connecting with nature?
These are just some of the reasons you might have for planning an outdoor trip, but your aims will impact what you chose to do, so it is important you think about that first.
2. What are you going to do?
When you start planning the content of the day, think about the individuals in your group and what activities would work best to enable them to get the most out of their trip.
Anxious or excited?
Your group are likely to be very excited when they arrive, so once you’ve got the obligatory trip to the toilets out the way, try to schedule in 10 minutes to just let your students explore, with boundaries of course. For some it will be a chance to run off some steam, for others a chance to be curious and for some a chance to calm any anxieties.
Its not just about science and geography
By being outside, you can bring every curriculum subject to life. For example, your students can do fieldwork investigating habitats, calculating how tall a tree is or how much carbon it’s storing. Draw in English, arts and drama topics by writing a poem about what you can see around you, or creating works of art with natural materials. There are also activities that focus on children's wellbeing, the benefits of connecting to nature and simple techniques to support their mental and physical wellbeing.
Allow time to explore
Although it may be hard to predict how your students will each react in a different environment, think about how long they will likely be able to focus on each particular activity. Give them time to explore their curiosities about the environment around them.
3. Practical handy hints
Group sizes
Think about group sizes and where possible have a mix of teamwork activities and individual tasks. Some activities might work well altogether with students doing the same activity at the same time. Some activities might need closer adult guidance, so smaller groups would be preferable.
Some of your students may be at home in a forest environment, but for others it will be unfamiliar and could be overwhelming. Offering students the choice of working individually, in pairs, or in threes, means they can pick what they feel most comfortable with, allowing them to focus on and enjoy the activity. This particularly works well with more creative activities.
Take time to pause and reflect
It is really valuable to make time to reflect on each activity. Reflection can reinforce what students have learned—not only in terms of subject knowledge, but also how the experience made them feel. Did they enjoy it? Were they surprised? Did it lift their mood? Taking time to reflect helps make outdoor experiences more memorable and meaningful.
4. Being prepared
Having a well thought-out risk assessment and plan for the day will help you to be prepared as you can be, but things don’t always go to plan. Here are some handy tips to help you.
The great British weather
Check the forecast the day before your visit and remind your pupils (and their parents!) about being prepared for the weather. Ensure students have waterproof coats, woolly hats, sturdy footwear, sun hats, sun cream etc appropriate to the forecast. On your pre-visit look for or ask about good areas to shelter from the sun or rain.
On the day if it’s cold, have activities that involve moving around to keep warm. If it's hot, consider quieter activities in the shade, without much movement. If its rainy, keep activities short to help keep focus.
Activities not going to plan
It can be hard to predict how activities are going to work in practice, and don’t be afraid to move on if an activity just isn’t working. Your students might even be able to help you work out why, so you can use it as a learning experience for everyone.
Be prepared and have some additional activities, just in case you end up with extra time. Sensory activities to explore the forest environment can be great time-fillers, helping to re-set and reinforce learnings from previous activities. For example, how many different colours your students can see, how many different textures they can find, or what sounds they can hear?
Don't forget, by enjoying the experience of being outside and bringing classroom topics alive, your students will have learned so much.
Keeping focus
Giving simple, clear and concise instructions to students, staff and parent helpers, will help everyone to understand what they should be doing. Informing everyone at the start of the day what the plan is will also help them to stay focussed in a new environment.
You will know you students best – some may need to quench their curiosity about something before they can re-focus, whereas others should be able to make it until the end of the given task. Try not to squeeze in too much and build upon the opportunity to reflect and allow learning to flow with the pupils questions and curiosity. Anything not covered can be picked up again back at the classroom.
