It is fair to say that the Coronavirus Pandemic has sadly brought an end to many fantastic opportunities for young learners to get outside, experience their natural surroundings, and, more importantly, enjoy the endless possibilities apparent when participating in school residential visits.

Of course, it is necessary to stay safe at this time of global crisis, adhere to the rules set out by our respective governments, and begin to adapt our lives to cope with and slow down the overall rate of infections and deaths.

Constant changes and restrictions over the last year have inevitably come at a cost. The impact on our everyday existence is evident and during a year of uncertainty, where children have frequently been out of school. Working from home, spending hours in front of a computer screen, the opportunity to freely go outside, embrace natural surroundings and do many things as we are used to and something we take for granted has now become few and far between.

These challenging times have led to increased pressures on children's mental health and their overall well-being. Their natural desire to feel safe and secure has become complicated, resulting in a lack of opportunity to get outside and explore freely.

As an Educational Practitioner and someone who has created and delivered bespoke residential visits in the Derbyshire Peak District for over ten years, I recognise the importance and benefits of outdoor residentials and their need to become an integral part of our school curriculum once the pandemic is over.

Thus, reaching a point where we can look to things being back to normal will undoubtedly take time. Still, it becomes a point teachers and educational establishments should aspire to reach somewhere soon and allow all children the chance to experience some of these excellent opportunities.

From my own experiences, utilising the outdoors as a learning tool is paramount, and it will provide a wealth of opportunity for all young learners to experience and enjoy.

Whether your residential visit is managed and led by an outside provider or designed and led by the class teacher, it is necessary to recognise some of the main benefits a residential can have and how this can impact the quality of a child's education and the benefits to their overall social and emotional well-being.

Residential school visits are an extension of the classroom.

There is no doubt today's curriculum can be demanding, and with more pressure put upon children to achieve and gain results. The classroom can still equip children with essential learning strategies to succeed. Invariably, the outdoor environment can also add to this and enable more significant and long-lasting opportunities when working in the outdoors.

With so much to cover and the pressures put upon the class teacher to secure positive outcomes, the classroom can often become an intense and claustrophobic working environment, which can be detrimental to young learners and their progress.

As a result, well-designed residential trips for schools can add a positive dimension to the regular classroom practice and spark increased enthusiasm for learning and provide balance and positivity among your group.

There is no better reward from any teacher's experiences than a pupil's happy face gleaming with pride, having gone out into a natural space and built their shelter out of sticks, leaves and other natural matter. Also, how they learned the necessary skills to read a map and compass accurately. They then navigate their way back home to the residential base or see pupils previously struggling to be in the same room and work together huddled closely to build their campfire, using materials they find around.

Storytelling, Writing and Meaningful adventures

During an Outdoor School residential, the participants should see it as more than just a fun school trip. When delivered well, residential visits should be fun, provide a learning opportunity and support vital parts of any school curriculum.

Suppose a school offers a diverse range of high-quality school trips. In that case, teachers can begin to create memorable educational experiences that enhance pupils' classroom learning by adding many great opportunities pupils may not otherwise have.

By developing initial ideas in the classroom, you can quickly then bring them to life, out in the field. Storytelling is a great way to capture the audience's attention, and what better way than to have the backdrop of an idyllic scenic view, a sunset or the ambience of natural woodland.

Once a story is started and then developed outdoors, it can soon lead to opportunities within the context of drama or writing, and by establishing a real context and a stimulus for children to relate to, the creative possibilities are endless. Children's writing can thrive in a natural space where children carefully draw upon their senses to add meaning to their written ideas and allow them to flourish, as they should. From my own experiences, I have created scenarios and story themes in the classroom and then developed them in the outdoors and watched reluctant writers discover a new impetus to develop their writing in new and exciting ways.

Residentials can also provide excellent opportunities for children to immerse themselves in meaningful adventures and the multitude of possibilities in role-play and traditional childhood games.

Developing stories into role play is something the children love. When the outdoor setting is used correctly, it can provide an ideal natural stage for all children to perform on and enjoy.

For me, a sheltered spot, carved out of limestone, close to Mam Tor, in the Peak District always provided a great spot to shelter from the wind. It also became the perfect place to sit, with the limestone outcrops acting as the ideal stage props used in the show or for suitable seating.

Building self-esteem and resilience

In teaching, handling the ever-growing number of new words and phrases is inevitably a massive part of the job. This essential vocabulary becomes an ever-increasing part of the job and how we react to it is crucial.

The physical health benefits of residential school trips are proven to positively affect children's self-esteem and confidence levels, thereby improving their emotional health and well-being.

The importance of allowing children to explore their environment, take responsibility for creating a fire / filtering their water, and generally sustaining themselves with minimal adult intervention is significant.

Self-Esteem and resilience are two of my favourites and words naturally suited to activities taking place in the outdoors. By offering children the chance to step out of the classroom and discover something new, we provide many unique and beautiful moments to step out of their comfort zone and do something that involves risk, teamwork, and courage.

In turn, these moments can begin to encourage our learners to develop greater levels of self-esteem and overall higher levels of resilience. Qualities established out in the field can then directly correlate to the classroom's skills and vice versa.

For example, map reading and trudging through the mud on a cold, wet day is not easy, but it builds resilience. Likewise, going on a woodland adventure walk after dark needs moments of self-confidence.

When activities are completed outside and during a time at the end of a busy day, great learning opportunities can occur during important moments of downtime. The teacher or other adults can produce activities that encourage children to reflect on their day and their practice. Finding a space where children can relax, play, and take stock of their daily achievements is vitally essential in allowing them to make their own decisions, grow up, and discover who they are. For children, Residential trips for schools offer a unique opportunity for them to claim their independence, make their own decisions and build new friendships.

Getting things restarted

At the start of this post, I highlighted the impact the Coronavirus Pandemic has had on limiting opportunities through Outdoor residentials for young learners. It is fair to suggest that the effect has not been beneficial to their broader learning possibilities. Still, as the world begins to discover a road map through this challenging time, and our world begins to find some form of familiarity. Our attention should shift towards the importance of valuing the outdoors as a learning tool, even more so. It should become a valuable and integral part of our planning and overall thinking.

As teachers and outdoor educators, I feel a wealth of possibilities for us to tap into and use. In turn, these will most certainly energise our curriculums with new and exciting ideas. Enrich youngsters with a new way of thinking, increasing learning potential, and developing and range of news skills that otherwise may not necessarily be so obtainable in the regular classroom.

So with that said, we should pass on the baton, and like most things in life, anything is possible if you begin to change your mode of thinking and think beyond the box. Further enrichment can only be a good thing for our children, and developing learning through outdoor residentials can be a good thing.

What I can offer

As a teacher and outdoor educator, I have over ten years of experience designing and leading outdoor residential visits. All visits have been produced by myself and naturally weave into any curriculum.

My residential’s build upon a wide variety of skills, like map reading, hiking, basic survival, and shelter building and Forest Schools. They don't necessarily involve outdoor pursuits like abseiling, climbing or canoeing. As a result of my experience and personal belief, I continually put the children's interests first and actively include links from the outdoors into curriculum areas like art, writing, history and geography.

If you would like to find out more, collaborate with me. Please get in touch through my email: hello@garethmate.com.

Thanks for reading, and continue to enjoy your time in the outdoors.