TCAF’s campaign has focussed on five key areas, which were the foundation of its 2010 report "Outdoor Education: the countryside as a classroom." The report called for:
•An entitlement to outdoor learning to be created within the National Curriculum so that the countryside becomes part of every child’s education.
•The Qualified Teacher Status standards should include provision for the practical training of teachers in delivering learning outside the classroom.
•The Government should take steps to prioritise the funding allocated for outdoor learning and direct resources to help schools that struggle to fund outdoor education visits for children.
•A renewed effort is required by Government and education stakeholders to raise awareness among teachers of the low risks and high rewards of well managed outdoor learning.
•The decline in small grants must be halted if charities are to play a continuing role in developing innovative programmes to increase access to the countryside for children and young people.
LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
•Learning outside the classroom has been defined, in its broadest sense, as any structured learning experience that takes place outside a classroom environment, during the school day, after school or during the holidays . It can include, amongst other activities, cultural visits, science and geography fieldwork, environmental and countryside education, outdoor and adventurous group activities, learning through outdoor play and, visits to museums and heritage sites.
•It is well recognised that outdoor education can add depth to the curriculum and develop children as confident, well rounded individuals by helping them consolidate their classroom learning through real world experiences. In addition, the body of research showing the considerable health and well-being benefits of spending time in natural green spaces is growing. The Countryside Alliance believes an entitlement to outdoor learning should be created within the curriculum to ensure all children have access to the benefits of it as part of their education.
•The Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, in the last Parliament, published a report - Transforming Education Outside the Classroom - which contains a number of very welcome recommendations, including the adoption of our proposal to make outdoor education an entitlement within the National Curriculum. By creating an entitlement, it would install a duty on all schools to give outdoor learning the priority it deserves within the timetable and would focus the Government to allocate the resources needed to ensure its delivery in schools as an integral part of the curriculum.
•The previous government confirmed in its response, which was published at the end of October, that it does not believe outdoor education can contribute to the development of a child, and as such there should be no requirement for it in the National Curriculum. We believe the previous government missed a vital opportunity to enhance the learning of students countrywide. We will continue to make our case for outdoor education and the role it can play in the national curriculum through research demonstrating the benefits and best practice case studies of schools who are delivering outdoor education.
•Despite a pledge made in 2006, by the previous government in their Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto, to ensure all children have access to a wide range of outdoor learning opportunities many still miss out. TCAF research found that only 47 per cent of 6 to 15 year olds went on a visit to the countryside with their school in 2008 .
•Learning outside the classroom has received only £4.5 million in funding since 2005 . In stark contrast to the music manifesto, which attracted £332 million of funding in 2007 .
•Children want more freedom to explore natural places, with 81 per cent expressing such a wish. We believe that if they are less likely to access natural places at home it is imperative they get that chance at school because the health, personal development and education benefits are considerable .
•There is considerable demand for more outdoor learning within schools among parents, teachers and children. In fact, 92 per cent of parents would like their children to have more opportunities to learn outside the classroom about farming and nature ; 97 per cent of teachers believe it is important for pupils to learn about the countryside in the curriculum ; and 85 per cent of children want to take part in countryside activities through school .
•Children have become increasingly isolated from the natural environment. Recent research by Natural England indicates that children’s contact with nature has halved in a generation, with 62 per cent of children saying they play at home and indoors more than any other place. One of the main reasons behind this trend is parental fears about child safety .
•There is still a disproportionate fear around health and safety and risk assessments with 76 per cent of teachers identifying this as the main barrier to delivering outdoor learning .
•Despite the commonly held assumption that outdoor education is inherently dangerous and results in thousands of prosecutions annually, well managed outdoor learning poses low risks and high rewards for participants.
•Of the 138 local authorities that responded to a Freedom of Information request by the Countryside Alliance, only 364 legal claims were made over a ten year period and fewer than half were successful and resulted in compensation payments. The total amount of compensation paid out was £405,000 meaning on average each local authority paid out just £293 per year in compensation between 1998 and 2008.
•TCAF took the opportunity earlier this year to submit their research to Lord Young’s Review on health and safety. TCAF has welcomed the Review’s proposals to simplify the process that schools and similar organisations undertake before taking children on trips and to introduce a single consent form that covers all activities a child may undertake during his or her time at a school. Such measures, hopefully, will enable our young people to access the countryside.
•More must be done to tackle the myths and fears surrounding risk in outdoor education and to inspire teachers to make wider use of the countryside as a classroom.
WHY OUTDOOR EDUCATION MATTERS
•Outdoor education has a major role to play in reconnecting children with the countryside and many of the natural resources it provides. Less than 10 per cent of children play in natural places such as woodlands, heaths and the countryside, compared to the 40 per cent of adults that did when they were young .
•However, 81 per cent of children say they want more freedom to explore natural spaces, but 90 per cent of parents will not let them play unsupervised in woods . This has lead to a situation where children are increasingly finding basic flora and fauna identification a challenge, with nearly half of young people and adults unable to identify our iconic English oak tree . We believe that if children are less likely to experience and learn about natural environments at home it is imperative that they get the chance to do so at school.
•This view is supported by teachers. Nearly all of the 1,400 (97 per cent) primary and secondary teachers surveyed in 2009 believe it is important for children to learn about the countryside in the National Curriculum and 89 per cent believe that the countryside could play a greater role in cross-curricular learning .
•Greater provision of outdoor education is also demanded by pupils, with nearly 85 per cent of the 1,127 six to fifteen year olds surveyed wanting to take part in countryside based activities like farm visits, fishing and falconry through school. In addition 80 per cent would find lessons more fun if they involved a trip to the countryside to learn about school subjects .
•The evidence of the benefits of spending time in natural environments, the support among teachers and demand among children for greater use of outdoor learning within schools is overwhelming. Including a provision to make outdoor education an entitlement within the National Curriculum would ensure all children have access to, and develop a practical understanding of, our countryside and receive all the benefits that outdoor learning offers.
•Wider use of outdoor environments in schools also has a major role to play in improving children’s physical, mental and behavioural health outcomes. British children have notoriously poor diets, with one in three year six children (age 10) being either overweight or obese .Countryside activities such as walking, cycling, fishing and horse riding can burn up to 380 calories per hour and wider access to them should be part of both education and public health strategies to keep children fit, healthy and informed about the need to preserve and manage natural areas for everyone’s benefit.
•Through educational visits to farms, children can learn first hand about where their food comes from and how it is produced. This practical knowledge can help children make better links to learning areas in the curriculum about how nutrition and food choices can affect health. It also encourages an understanding of the environmental challenges we face.
•An increasing body of research also confirms that spending time outdoors in green settings such as parks or nature reserves can be restorative or calming, improve health outcomes through higher levels of physical activity and can improve mental health in both children and adults.
•Anger in young people is linked with reduced physical and mental health, depression and increased anti-social behaviour . The ability of outdoor environments to stabilise anger in young people is particularly relevant in a school context where it could play a key role in reducing the 190,620 permanent and fixed exclusions for physical and verbal abuse in schools . In addition, The World Health Organisation estimates that depression and depression-related illness will become the greatest source of ill-health by 2020. Based on the role of outdoor environments to improve mental health, the increased use of the outdoors in schools would contribute to reducing the levels of mental health problems in school age children.
•With regard to specific behavioral problems in children there is a link between contact with nature and the alleviation of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms. It is estimated that one in 20 children may suffer from ADHD . Children with ADHD have shown a 40 per cent improvement in their symptoms when taking part in activities in green spaces . In addition, children with ADHD also score higher in attention tests after spending time in green spaces compared to urban spaces. However, the most significant finding is that the effect of green space on symptoms can be equal to the effect of two typical ADHD medications.
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