FEATURE: OUTDOOR LEARNING Teamwork is so important as knowing how to


work with others is a quality that is vital in all aspects of life. It’s essential to making friends at school, to performing in sport and at work and provides us with a sense of belonging that is critical for well-being. At residential camps, children are given the opportunity to hone these skills as living together in residential centres requires them to work with new friends for the first time, whilst team building activities – such as orienteering – ask children to work together cohesively to complete a task. Resilience ensures children have the ability to


require strength and stamina. While certain sporting activities can seem easier


to get involved in as they focus on an individual, team sports can often appear very daunting to children on the shyer side who can feel intimidated by group activities. However, there are ways to get around this to help children get all the benefits and expand their skill set. According to research in the US, playing on a


team both encourages fitness and allows young people to develop important mental and social skills. It also allows children to learn to work well with others and effectively contribute to a group. The resulting sense of support and acceptance likely plays an integral role in reducing depressive symptoms and leads to healthy relationships with adults and peers. There are also further great learning


opportunities through taking part in outdoor activities. While no one wants to be the last one picked to join the team, as it can impact children’s confidence and make them dread sports or team building challenges, it’s also possible for teachers to help and encourage those less buoyant children to do things where they can showcase their skills. Sports and activities which don’t require a team such as dance and martial arts, but are often carried out with their peers, are a great way for all children to start getting involved in sports without feeling left out or like they are competing against others. While there’s no I in team, there is in


confidence building and resilience which are a strong focus in all the outdoor learning activities at residential camps. Kingswood doesn’t need children to be the best or the most athletic, it just needs them to be willing to try new things. Activities such as canoeing, raft building and nightline which only require a small but mighty team to work together, are a great way for quieter children to dip their toe into the world of team sports. It builds their communication and team working skills all while being extremely fun and exciting.


Boost engagement We often find that being in a different learning environment rather than sitting at a desk in a classroom, really helps to boost children’s engagement. This is particularly important to note, as with research from the National Foundation for Educational Research also showing that children are three months behind in their studies, there has been much talk of


May 2021 www.education-today.co.uk 31


summer schooling and trying to make up for lost time. While academic education is vitally important,


we must also avoid the notion that they must ‘catch up’. Instead, children must be given the opportunity to get outside and engage in fun activities to help them feel like children again. Trips like residentials can really help as children


are able to be among their peers, be outside, be moving, and learn all while having fun in a positive and safe environment. Again, studies have shown that residentials can


help to boost children’s academic performances as it can increase students’ motivation to learn. They suggest this is down to an improvement in self-perceived self-efficacy and confidence.


Character development Likewise, there may be some pupils who will finish the school year after their exams in May. This will leave them with several months where they are missing out on vital learning and character development opportunities. The activities on offer at our Kingswood


centres help to build the confidence of children and give them a sense of pride in their abilities. It’s not every day that they get the chance to go canoeing, abseiling and fencing, and it’s the shared sense of accomplishment that comes with these activities which is so invaluable to young people. Not only that but it also helps to develop and


improve key skills such as teamwork, confidence, and resilience.


face difficulty and recover quickly. Building resilience from a young age will help equip young people better for inevitable setbacks in their lives, from difficult studying periods to making career choices. Through residential experiences, children will enter new and sometimes challenging situations – be it an activity they’ve never tried before or facing the prospect of making new friends – but learning how to deal and overcome these situations will give them greater confidence in new situations in the future. Building on self confidence is also a skill that


will greatly help children throughout their life. Being in new environments, away from parents, finding ways to make new friends and solving all sorts of problems in the outdoors are formative experiences for children in which they can learn strengths they never knew they had. By spending time outdoors with their peers and


carrying out activities, children and young people can really discover their full potential and all the amazing things they are capable of. And with complete programmes designed to place children in these situations and support them throughout, a residential experience at Kingswood can be invaluable in building a child’s self-belief.


Rebuilding young Britain It has been a turbulent past year and while we know the benefits that being outside can bring to education – for some children they may have missed out on a residential last year and perhaps will be this year too. This is a long time that they haven’t been able to do something that is so important. We’d urge all teachers and schools to consider residentials and outdoor learning in order to help their pupils thrive.


To find out more about the range of programmes on offer at Kingswood visit uwww.kingswood.co.uk


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