There is a range of research evidence showing the breadth of skills that pupils can learn and develop via outdoor learning, especially school and residential trips.
This guide, which can be downloaded as a free pdf by clicking the button below, breaks down some of these key skills – think team-work, trust, problem-solving, concentration and more! – and suggests how outdoor learning and school trips can be planned and run to ensure these skills are fostered and developed.
We consider what the research says about how outdoor learning can support pupils' bio-psycho-social development, the impact it has on staff-pupil relationships and what this all means for academic outcomes back in school.
We offer six top tips for planning residential trips and visit Ysgol Bryn Coch in North Wales to discover how the school embraces outdoor and residential learning.
We also consider delivering cost-effective outdoor learning and what schools can do themselves, using their own grounds and resources.
This guide has been produced by Headteacher Update with sponsorship from Kingswood. It was written to a brief agreed with Kingswood and published in March 2023.