The Field Studies Council has responded to a select committee inquiry by urging the UK Government to follow its Scottish counterpart in ensuring that all children have access to outdoor learning.
The national education charity has called on Government to make outdoor learning a guaranteed part of the national curriculum to “strengthen the aspirations of young people”.
Reducing the “disadvantage gap”
The call for access to outdoor learning has come in response to a select committee inquiry into the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy. The Field Studies Council has said that the UK Government should follow Scotland in ensuring that all children have access to outdoor learning to “reduce child poverty and improve social mobility”.
Scotland passed the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill on 16th December last year, guaranteeing every child will experience a week of residential outdoor learning.
The Field Studies Council, which was founded in 1943 and has helped more than 100,000 learners benefit from outdoor education each year, said the move would ensure that learning outdoors does not become the “sole preserve of those who can afford it”.
“The most disadvantaged are the most likely to benefit from more outdoor learning and residentials.”
Joy Blizzard, Field Studies Council
Field Studies Council policy and communications officer Joy Blizzard stated that inequalities in children’s access to nature, green space and outdoor learning deepen the disadvantage gap and limit the aspirations of young people growing up in poverty.
She said: “The most disadvantaged children are the most likely to benefit from more outdoor learning and residentials, but at the same time are at the highest risk of missing out compared to their better off peers.
“The disadvantage gap clearly manifests itself as a gap in experience, opportunity and aspiration.
“Children in poverty have fewer, if any, opportunities to travel, explore beyond their local area, go on holiday, easily access green and blue space, enjoy our national landscapes, join out of school clubs or take part in a wide range of enrichment activities or summer camps that can expand their horizons and boost their learning.”
Outdoor learning boosts attainment
According to Blizzard, outdoor learning is proven to support educational attainment and readiness to learn as well as wider personal development. She continued: “There isn’t a subject on the curriculum that cannot be enhanced by outdoor learning, including maths, English, sciences and the arts.
“For certain curriculum subjects, such as science and geography, there is no substitute for first-hand experiences of the landscapes and habitats being studied in which to develop key fieldwork knowledge and skills.
“Outdoor learning brings classroom learning to life, adding relevance to what is being studied, from seeing the landscapes that inspired literature, to using climbing ropes to explore angles and algebra in maths.”
Outdoor learning can particularly benefit pupils who struggle in traditional classroom settings and transform their engagement, said Blizzard, helping them to develop wider personal and social skills, and building confidence, resilience, teamwork and independence.
Previous Government-funded outdoor learning programmes have been successful, but the Field Studies Council said that they remain “piecemeal” and have been unable to meet the level of demand, with those who cannot afford residential courses losing out.
“Many children continue to miss out,” stated Blizzard. “The outdoor learning residential is rapidly becoming the preserve of the diminishing number of those who can afford it.
“The Scottish Parliament have just passed the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Act guaranteeing that all school children can experience an outdoor learning residential as part of their time at school.
“Why cannot this Government be similarly ambitious?”
The Government “wants to break down barriers”
School Travel Organiser asked the Department for Education for a comment and a spokesman said: “We want to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child at every stage, and that includes removing obstacles young people face to accessing nature. That’s why our National Education Nature Park scheme is helping more than 9000 nurseries, schools and colleges to improve their outdoor learning environment.
“The free programme inspires children and young people to take practical action to improve the biodiversity of their school grounds while developing a greater connection to nature. For settings in the most disadvantaged and nature-depleted areas we have awarded over £12m of grant funding to help them join the programme and turn their grey spaces green.”
We have asked what their stance is on the call for outdoor learning to become part of the National Curriculum.
