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Arguments about the best way to educate kids are probably as old as our species. But most folk would agree that showing our youngsters a piece of the fantastic natural world we still have in Scotland is a worthwhile use of school time.


The Scottish Government recently published Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning guidance for all schools. It stated that, “The journey through education for any child in Scotland must include opportunities for a series of planned, quality outdoor learning experiences.” SNH support a number of projects to help schools operate beyond the classroom, including school grounds and farm visits. However, visits to natural places are still the exception rather than the norm. Certainly, the numbers involved are huge. There are 700,000 young people in school, which works out at roughly 20,000 class visits a year if each pupil is to spend a school day in a natural place once every two years. The current approach of visits hosted by specialists in outdoor learning could be expanded, as they’re ideal for teachers with little knowledge of the natural world. But this is unlikely to be sufficient to deal with the numbers of pupils involved, which means we have to look at ways to bridge the gap.


So how can we minimise the hassle for teachers and the people who look after the places visited, while still achieving high educational value?


“The journey through education for any child in Scotland must include opportunities for a series of planned, quality outdoor learning experiences”


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Learning outdoors can be fun, creative and adventurous.


www.snh.gov.uk 29


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