Using the outdoors to develop important life skills

Information about the school

Myddelton College is a co-educational independent boarding and day school for pupils from 7 to 18 years, located in Denbigh, North Wales.  The school was founded in September 2016 and is administered by IQ Education Limited, a company that has another school in England and links to several schools in China. There are currently 215 pupils in the school.  These include 34 pupils in the primary section and 179 in the senior section, including 43 in the sixth form.  Around 68% of pupils are day pupils who live in Denbighshire, Flintshire or Conwy and about 32% are international pupils drawn from 16 different nationalities.  Almost 23% of pupils come from minority ethnic groups.  About 32% of pupils speak English as an additional language.  A very few pupils speak Welsh as a first language or to an equivalent standard.  The school does not aim to make pupils bilingual in English and Welsh, but does offer opportunities for pupils in key stages 2 and 3 to study Welsh second language.  A very few pupils have a statement of special educational needs.  The school offers additional learning support to a very few pupils, mainly to support their literacy development or general learning difficulties.  The school describes its ethos as being based around ‘21st century learning’ and ‘the three pillars of resilience, scholarship and fellowship’. The school places great emphasis on developing the whole person ‘to be independent learners in the globalised modern economy’.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

Myddelton College strives for pupils to leave education with a lifelong interest for participating in physical activity to benefit their health and wellbeing.  When the college opened, it wanted to encourage pupils to develop their abilities through nurturing a growth mind set by helping them to understand that hard work, effective strategies and input from others can help them to improve.  To achieve this aim, the college’s director of sport and outdoor learning created an innovative ‘Learning Through the Outdoors’ programme, making use of the natural location of North Wales and proximity to Snowdonia as an engaging learning environment. 

The programme is founded upon the Hahnian approach to holistic education, which coheres with the college’s ethos and takes a multi-stage approach.  The strategy and stages start with framing the learning experience to ensure that pupils understand what they are striving to achieve while learning through the outdoors, rather than merely participating in an activity.  This approach includes the ‘21st century learning skills’ of self-regulation, through looking after your physical and mental wellbeing and managing your own emotions.  The school observes pupils’ apprehension in this phase of the process, such as a fear that they cannot achieve the task set, which is not avoided or washed over as it is vital to reflect upon in the final few phases of the activity.

The second phase is the doing part, taking on the challenge, working with others and overcoming whatever the mountain weather throws in.  Teachers facilitate the learning experience through working with the group dynamics and challenging individuals based on their own development through elements such as leadership and problem solving.  The third phase, the review, generally takes place back at school.  It is vital to the process for teachers to facilitate the review: what happened, what was done well, what would be done differently next time, who provided support and how effective this was.  The key part is the final phase – transference – how can this be made relevant beyond the outdoors?  Are these learning outcomes applicable to home, school and the future?  If you did not think you could do it but you did, what does this tell you about other things that you think that you cannot do?   These type of questions sow the seeds of self-confidence, self-belief and resilience.  Without this, participation would just be activities and not bring the full and true value for the development of young people.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

Pupils participate in the learning through the outdoors programme for a whole day every other week as part of the curriculum timetable.  The programme focuses on personal development in a group setting within a challenging outdoor environment.  Example activities include mountain walking and navigation, expedition skills, climbing and abseiling, bush-craft and water sports.  However, the activities are secondary to the primary objectives of the programme’s four main components:

•           Skill development

•           Cross curricular learning

•           Personal and social development

•           Creating memories

Pupils have their own progress record, which centres on each component above, and where they record and monitor their development individually, and, crucially, personalise their goals for their next session.

Central to the programme is that each session and each year group progresses and provides for the Hahnian process of ‘Training, Main and Final’ stages to be embedded in micro (individual) and macro (whole-school) perspectives from the primary section through to the sixth form.  ‘Training’ is when the school teaches the skills that pupils need to be confident and successful individuals. ‘Main’ is where the school gives support for them to practice and develop these further within a group and ‘Final’ is where they put these to full use with limited input from teachers. 

All pupils learn first aid and CPR training as part of the programme.  In the primary section, pupils work towards the National Outdoor Learning Award, learning how to make fire, use knives, make bread and build shelters.  Years 7 to 9 participate in the John Muir Award, focusing on conservation and exploring.  Engaging in the outdoors helps to protect these environments for the future, through pupils’ ownership and connection to nature.  Pupils from Year 9 upwards participate in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, learning navigation, camp craft, decision-making as part of a small team, and leadership in challenging situations. 

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

Pupils enjoy and are eager to learn during the learning through the outdoors programme.  During the programme, they develop important life skills such as strong resilience and beneficial personal and social skills, including strengthening their organisational, time keeping and teamwork skills successfully. 

Most pupils recognise that several activities can push them out of their comfort zones and they learn how to manage their fear and expectations well.   Pupils who have the greatest difficulties in the traditional classroom setting tend particularly to enjoy the challenging outdoor session, and develop confidence that they transfer to a more positive attitude to learning in the classroom.

Through the learning through the outdoors activities, pupils develop the ability to judge and make risk assessment a part of their everyday life.  They learn how to recognise hazards, what the risk is and what can be done to reduce the risk.  These transferrable skills help pupils to take more managed risks in their own learning in different contexts.   

All activities are co-educational, which shapes an attitude towards equality and inclusion, evidenced in participation levels and feedback from parents about the adventures in which their child has participated outside of school.