Rebecca Hatch discusses her experience of climbing as a member of the Deaf community
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Daisy Scanes shares her average day delivering fieldwork programmes at a residential outdoor education centre in Devon
STEP OUTDOORS
Find out about an action research project which explored the confidence, learning and teaching of undergraduate level 5 education students in the outdoors
SENSING SPRING
As the days are getting lighter, Lizzy Maskey offers us a warming soup that will bring the excitement of springtime with it
EDITORIAL
Catherine Dunn - Editor
Catherine is an award winning filmmaker and creative. Her work primarily looks at mental health, adventure and the climate crisis. She holds an Outdoor Education MSc.
Happy new year Horizons readers! I hope the new year finds you well. We’ve got a great Winter issue to get you through the final stretch of cold days. There’s Rebecca Hatch’s informative piece on climbing as a member of the Deaf community (p.26), Emma Whewell and co. explore the confidence levels of undergraduate education students when it comes to teaching outdoors (p.22) and Lizzy Maskey is sensing that springtime might be just round the corner (p.38).
Chris Sweetman has us up and running with an orienteering programme for you to use in your teaching (p.29) and Daisy Scanes takes us out for a day in the life of a fieldwork tutor (p.13). There are also updates on exciting initiatives, such as Adventures Away from Home (p.10) and the Climate Ambassadors programme (p.33)
As always, there’s plenty more in this issue to get stuck into! Let us know what you liked and what you would like to see more of (using the email address below) - we’re always keen to hear what you think. Enjoy the final weeks of winter!
If you’re interested in contributing to Horizons, have a story you think we should be covering or would like to offer feedback, please get in touch: horizonseditor@outdoor-learning.org.
HORIZONS - EDITORIAL INFORMATION
ARTICLES
Content for publication is always welcome and should be emailed to the Editor. The Editor will attempt to return all unsolicited material but cannot accept responsibility for it. Copyright of the magazine as a publication is vested in the Editor. Copyright of articles remains with the individual authors. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without the express permission of the Editor, who is normally happy to grant requests for educational purposes. Opinions shared in articles are not necessarily shared by the Editor/Editorial panel/IOL. Find past articles in the Horizons archive: outdoor-learning-research.org/Horizons-Archive
ADVERTISE
Contact Fiona Exon at IOL for information: fiona@outdoor-learning.org Advertisers retain copyright of their adverts. Adverts shared in this magazine do not represent endorsement by the Editor/Editorial Panel/IOL.
ISSUE CREDITS
Design and editing is by Catherine Dunn and proofreading is by Jack Reed. Editorial reviews are by Geoff Cooper, Suzie Dick, Di Collins, Sam Moore, Ian Healey, Eluned Roberts, Colin Wood, Liam Scott, Jack Reed, Stuart Meese and Morgan Luddington - of the Editorial Panel. Many thanks to the Editorial Panel for offering their continued support to Horizons magazine.
IMAGES
Magazine images have been sourced from Unsplash, Shutterstock and contributors unless otherwise specified. Photographers retain copyright.
INSTITUTE FOR OUTDOOR LEARNING
The Institute for Outdoor Learning is the professional body for organisations and individuals who use the outdoors to make a positive difference to others. Our Members have a shared vision of Outdoor Learning as a highly valued form of development, education and employment in UK society. Learn about IOL and how to become a member: outdoor-learning.org.
CONTENTS
SCANNING THE HORIZON
Find out all the latest news from around the Institute for Outdoor Learning.
PAGE 4-7
A DAY IN THE LIFE
A day in the life of a fieldwork tutor with Daisy Scanes.
PAGE 13-14
SPOTLIGHT
Dawn Thomas shines a spotlight on the new Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning and Field Studies Professional Practice Group.
PAGE 8-9
OPINION
ADVENTURES AWAY FROM HOME
Find out more about the latest phase of the Adventures Away from Home project.
PAGE 10-12
SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Peter White offers his opinion on the future of safety management. PAGE 15-16
STEP OUTDOORS
A new research project exploring the confidence levels of undergraduate education students when teaching outdoors.
PAGE 22-25
CLIMATE AMBASSADORS
Learn all about the new Climate Ambassadors scheme.
PAGE 33-34
SERIES
WINTER BERRIES
Take a closer look at red berries on display this winter.
PAGE 17-19
A HIDDEN DISABILITY
Rebecca Hatch discusses her experience of climbing as a member of the Deaf community.
PAGE 26-28
FINE ART
Dr Jim Cain offers ten top tips to help you become a better educator and facilitator.
PAGE 35-37
HQOL 2025
Find out about the latest version of High Quality Outdoor Learning.
PAGE 20-21
ORIENTEERING
Chris Sweetman takes us through some valuable orienteering techniques and how you might use them in your practice.
PAGE 29-32
SERIES
SENSING SPRING
Lizzy Maskey brings a taste of spring with a her brand new recipe.
PAGE 38-39
IN PROFILE
This issue, Horizons spoke to Jane Campbell Morrison MBE. PAGE 40-41
Photo Courtesy of Hangloose Adventure Ltd
SCANNING THE HORIZON
The latest news from around the Institute for Outdoor Learning
A word from Jo
By Jo Barnett - IOL CEO
The winter has been tremendously busy with in-person events and a diverse range of webinars - try as I might, I simply could not attend them all! I am now working my way through the video recordings to avoid missing out on the skills and knowledge of our contributors. The year of 2025 is already well under way with the North-West England Annual Conference and the preparation of the spring webinar programme.
#GOLD24
We gave outdoor learning its first global ‘shout out’ with #GOLD24 to celebrate the powerful impact of the outdoors on education and personal development. Global Outdoor Learning Day (GOLD) is an annual opportunity to showcase diverse outdoor learning activities, share best practices and inspire a love for the natural world in learners of all ages. As part of this, the IOL hosted a ‘Strategic Thinking Workshop’ to share and create a vision for outdoor learning in 2030. We were incredibly proud to celebrate #GOLD24 with the early release of High Quality Outdoor Learning 2025. Once again, this document marks the outdoor learning sector’s desire and intention to collaborate, think anew and create strategies for the future on how outdoor learning can make its full contribution to UK society and beyond (see page 20).
Consultations
During the autumn, the IOL made submissions to several consultations including to the Health & Safety Executive regarding Adventure Licensing, the English Curriculum Review and to the NHS highlighting health and wellbeing benefits. These consultations are shared in the IOL weekly newsletter and in the IOL news section of the website. The IOL is able to draw on the expertise of its members to prepare these responses to ensure they are of a sufficient standard and grounded in effective practice.
IOL Alternative Provision Community Group
If your work includes the delivery of outdoor programmes within the all-encompassing term of Alternative Provision (AP), we would like to invite you to the new IOL specialist group. The first step is the current survey designed to build a picture of our current expertise and identify what areas of training or learning development we can deliver collectively via webinars and in-person. The ambition of this group is a unique AP learning platform to reflect on and develop our practice and make connections with other providers.
The IOL will continue to work with you, and for you, in 2025. Keep an eye on the IOL Events web pages for what’s next online or happening near you or head for your preferred social media.
Outdoor Learning Strategic Thinking Workshop
By Jo Barnett - IOL CEO
Over 50 outdoor learning leaders came together for the Outdoor Learning Strategic Thinking Workshop, hosted at Lindley Educational Trust for #GlobalOutdoorLearningDay24, to discuss the contribution of outdoor learning to UK society over the next five years. The outdoor educator, conservationist and sustainability champion Phil Briggs set the scene and gave context to each of the workshop themes, which were: proactive safety management (see page 15); working with governments; talent attraction, development and retention; climate and biodiversity; and equality, equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. All of the workshops were hosted by volunteers. Here’s a flavour of some of the actions that were identified:
1. The outdoor sector is safe enough in established provision, but there are weaknesses within new forms of provision and participation.
2. Being clear and consistent in our dialogue with governments and organising a regular meeting of outdoor learning stakeholders in 2025 and beyond.
3. Develop a stronger youth voice.
4. Take greater ownership of outdoor learning careers advice, work experience and job role sharing.
We also considered where we want to be in five years regarding climate change, discussing the following: the creation of an outdoor sector group representing and overseeing the climate response ; sector sustainability report evidencing our impact; climate Ambassador network with outdoor sector specialism; sector specific carbon literacy training; and case studies on how different outdoor learning providers are meeting sustainability goals.
This is a ‘work in progress’ - thank you for all those who have already given to the future of outdoor learning!
Roll of Honour corrections
By Richard Retallick - IOL Business and Operations Manager
In the last edition of Horizons (no. 107), we proudly ran a Roll of Honour of all IOL Award Holders who are current individual members of the IOL. We missed some equally valued members off that list and would like to take the opportunity to add the following to that Roll of Honour:
LPIOL Holders: Dave Harvey; Clive Atkins; Stephen Dickson; and Ian Harris. APIOL Holders: David Hopwood; Timothy Deighton; Matt Schwarz; David Sampson; Bob Larcher; Owen Williams; Deb Cook; David Stacey; Mike Thomas; and Steve Berry.
We would also like to welcome back APIOL holder Stephen Hannon. Congratulations are also due to Kevin O’Callaghan, who is the latest to join the Leading Practitioners of the Institute for Outdoor Learning group.
EDUCATIONAL VISITS
ARE YOU MEETING YOUR LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS?
Risk assessment, safeguarding and compliance are essential components of running a school and taking care of children and young people. But what about when children are off-site on visits, residentials, co-curricular activities and sporting events? Jake Wiid, Director and Educational Visits Adviser at EVOLVE Advice, outlines the key requirements for all schools related to educational visits and co-curricular activities.
Need to know: have you got the basics in place?
1. As a minimum, each school should have a policy and process in place for planning and approving educational visits in line with National Guidance – free to access online at oeapng.info. Department for Education (DfE) guidance recognises National Guidance on educational visits.
2. The school should appoint an Educational Visits Coordinator (EVC) to oversee the organisation, risk assessment and planning of educational visits. The EVC will check and pass trip documents to the Head/Principal, who will conduct their own review and grant or decline approval for the visit.
3. The DfE recommends that schools work with a competent Educational Visit Adviser/Outdoor Education Adviser to ensure they are following National Guidance and good practice.
4. Schools should ensure their EVC and Visit Leaders are appropriately trained to undertake their roles and have access to competent advice.
This list is not exhaustive, but provides a framework for guiding your thinking and approval decisions. Make sure to check your employer’s policy or guidance and seek advice from your Educational Visits Adviser if you need additional support.
Checking and approving visits
When reviewing visit plans and risk assessments for approval, both the EVC and Head should ensure all aspects have been considered and appropriately assessed. National Guidance on educational visits (oeap.info) includes helpful checklists for EVCs, Visit Leaders and Heads, as well as detailed guidance on many aspects of educational visits. As an aide memoir, we use the acronym STAGED to structure visit review and risk management process.
S is for staffing:
Do you have sufficient and suitably competent staff? What is your staff contingency plan?
T is for travel:
Do you have (enough) qualified drivers? Are you using an appropriate provider?
A is for activity:
Is this provider-led (do they hold a LOtC Quality Badge?) Are staff appropriately qualified and trained if school-led?
G is for group:
Have the behavioural, medical, educational and emotional needs of students and staff been considered? Group dynamics and rooming?
E is for environment: Urban or rural? Season? Is this near water or on challenging terrain?
D is for distance: How accessible are you to emergency services/how far are you from help?
Further training and resources:
To sign up for regular updates and analysis of new guidance, educational visits news, resources and free CPD, visit our Tools For Schools webpage: evolveadvice.co.uk/toolsforschools. Educational visits webinars can be watched on demand at: evolveadvice.co.uk/videos. IOL Accredited EVC training is here (recommended three yearly): evolveadvice.co.uk/courses. Self-directed e-learning for Heads and SLT is available here: evolveadvice.co.uk/ leadership-elearning.
About EVOLVE Advice
EVOLVE Advice provides training, advice, guidance and online systems to over 3,000 schools, trusts and local authorities. Find out more at: evolveadvice.co.uk.
Adventure for All conference report
By Graeme Hill
Adventure for All is a Specialist Sector Group within the Institute for Outdoor Learning. Established over 30 years ago by centres specialising in outdoor activities for people with disabilities, it has recently expanded its membership to foster knowledge sharing, encourage best practices and promote greater access to the outdoors for all. The 2024 conference was hosted at the White Hall Centre in Buxton and centred on the theme of enabling mainstream centres to become more accessible. A notable observation from the conference was the clear progress made by mainstream centres in enhancing their accessibility, a heightened awareness of neurodiversity and a significant increase in the number of individuals with neurodevelopmental differences (ND) utilising these centres. The conference also considered the paramount importance of robust training and risk management protocols. Take a look at the session summaries below to learn more about the
Master’s student Bethany Golding delivered an excellent session on neurodiversity and the outdoors, with specific focus on the diverse sensory considerations that neurodivergent individuals may experience. These considerations, often taken for granted by neurotypical individuals, can significantly impact the outdoor experience for neurodivergent people, potentially causing stress or anxiety. Ben Walmsley, Head of outdoor learning engagement and delivery with UK Youth, presented in-depth insights into his experiences with his autistic son, providing both theoretical knowledge and personal lived experience to enrich the discussion.
Sean Day, Calvert Trust Lake District CEO, provided a session on the Roadford boat incident. The session included a summary of the tragic incident at Roadford Lake in Devon, where two disabled individuals lost their lives when a boat capsized on its way back to the Roadford Lake Activity Centre in 2022. This incident highlighted serious shortcomings in preparation and a complete disregard for the safety and needs of the passengers. This stark example underscored the critical importance of robust procedures and appropriate training, particularly when providing support to individuals with complex needs that extend beyond typical service delivery. It is the role of Adventure for All to ensure high training standards in an area that they have the most collective knowledge.
Gear manufactures
An important part of delivery is equipment research and development. During the weekend we had Adventure Climb Rescue and Equal Adventure attend. Both organisations invest a lot of time into developing equipment that adapts to people’s different requirements and plays a critical role in ensuring that participation is safe. Both organisations can be contacted directly for advice.
Neil Bentley talk
Neil Bentley, who was a very prominent rock climber in the 1990s and 2000s, provided an excellent talk on his incredible life achievements and his recovery from being struck on the head by a rock on a climb on Marmolada. Such a talk was important to illustrate that Adventure for All is part of the continuum of sport and that disability sport is not a separate entity!
Instructing sight impaired climbers
Des Barnett is a Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor and has a degenerative eye condition. The joint Mountain Training and Adventure for All, Climbing for All course has now been in place for over 20 years which covers the subject of disability in a very broad manner. There is now higher demand for people wanting to learn more about specific conditions and how to coach and instruct. Des has been delivering the course around the country to good reception and we hope to develop and promote it more as part of the Climbing for All stable.
Belaying from a wheelchair
This session was prompted by reports of wheelchair users being denied the opportunity to belay at climbing walls. Many climbing walls have policies prohibiting seated belaying, which can inadvertently exclude wheelchair users. Adventure for All (AFA) aims to collaborate with the Association of British Climbing Walls (ABC) to develop a statement that encourages individual assessments of a wheelchair user’s ability to belay safely. This approach emphasises individualised evaluations rather than blanket prohibitions based on the use of a wheelchair.
Conclusion
The Adventure for All Conference 2024 was a great success! What is very clear is we need to make greater efforts to reach the audiences that would benefit more from this knowledge. It’s really encouraging to see such influential centres like the Bendrigg Trust, Calvert Trust, Lakes and Exmoor committed to the cause, with Bendrigg Centre Director Nick taking on the chair role, Sean Day, CEO of Calvert Trust Lakes, back on the committee and Exmoor back on its feet. Jo Barnett, CEO of the Institute for Outdoor Learning, is also in regular conversation with us about standardising training and raising the profile of Adventure for All. A big thank you to White Hall for very professional and welcoming hosting and to all those who contributed.
Slapton Ley Research Seminar
By Em Kendall - Field Studies Council
For over 30 years, the Slapton Ley National Nature Reserve and Field Centre in South Devon have been hosting a free annual research seminar, attracting participants from across the country. It is an opportunity for people to find out about the fascinating projects carried out or research conducted on and around the Slapton Ley National Nature Reserve and nearby area. Past and ongoing research includes: the analysis of Slapton’s changing climate; assessments of individual species numbers over time; understanding how environmental education supports the wellbeing of young people; and the carbon storage potential of wet woodland around Slapton Ley.
This year, the event featured a morning of presentations and talks, followed by an afternoon Marketplace of Ideas session. The presentations came from six speakers, including a passionate talk from keynote speaker, Derek Gow, who is a UK-based reintroduction specialist and discussed the importance of reintroducing beavers in the UK. It was also a pleasure to welcome back several students and a lecturer from the University of Reading, who showcased the research projects they conducted during their degree fieldwork at Slapton.
Our wonderful ranger Kieran gave a talk about ongoing work on the reserve, which is a 209-hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and is managed by the Field Studies Council. It is home to nationally important species and habitats, including the endemic plant species, Strapwort. Kieran and the volunteers manage each unique habitat, monitor species numbers, maintain over 6km of public paths, three bird hides, three boardwalks and support research conducted on the reserve.
After a delicious lunch spread, the attendees were welcomed into the field centre labs to attend the Marketplace of Ideas. This was a space to network with a number of organisations, including the Wild Planet Trust, Environment Agency, National Trust, Barn Owl Trust, National Landscapes and many more, to learn about projects taking place in our local area. This was a great new addition to the event, allowing attendees to share ideas and create connections to foster environmentallyorientated action.
Outcomes and
ambitions
One of the aims for this year was to increase the number and diversity of people in attendance, especially increasing the number of young people. We were thrilled that this year ~110 people were in attendance, which is said to be the largest in the event’s history, and we received many comments on the number of university students.
As a field centre, it is our ambition to interact with our local community, demonstrate the work we do and raise donations for the continued management of the reserve. Our ambitions are to provide demonstrable support to wider research on the reserve and engage with academics in our local area, to collaborate where we can.
It was great to see so many people and a broader range attending this year, reflecting the success of the event (Senior Field Studies Council employee)
The Marketplace of Ideas was a particular highlight as it enabled us to create some really positive connections with other organisations (founder of a local charity)
SPOTLIGHT
This issue, Dawn Thomas shines a spotlight on the new Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning and Field Studies Professional Practice Group
Author Dawn Thomas is the founder and CEO of Nature Days, an outdoor learning, consultancy and training provider. She has a degree in Environmental Biology, MSc in Environmental Impact Assessment and has over 25 years of teaching experience. She has worked with over 200 schools to support embedding outdoor learning into the curriculum. Dawn is also the chair of the IOL Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning (CBOL) and Field Studies Professional Practice Group and IOL Cymru South.
The Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning and Field Studies Professional Practice Group of the IOL is here to support teachers to use the outdoors to teach. Previously the Field Studies Group, we have broadened our scope to include the use of the outdoors to teach all curriculum content. The group’s aims are:
• To provide one point of contact for IOL members on all aspects of curriculum based outdoor learning and fieldwork.
• To disseminate good practice in curriculum based outdoor learning and fieldwork.
• To provide support for IOL members who are nonspecialists who are undertaking curriculum based outdoor learning and fieldwork.
• To promote the benefits of curriculum based outdoor learning and fieldwork to higher authorities, e.g. exam boards.
To this end, we have developed the Teaching Hub on the group’s IOL website. This space links to online resources and organisations who support teachers undertaking curriculum based outdoor learning. If you would like to learn more about the group, then join us for free with your IOL membership.
What is curriculum based outdoor learning?
Curriculum based outdoor learning (CBOL) is a pedagogical approach which uses the outdoors to teach curriculum content. In most UK schools, field studies are used to teach geography and may be a required element of assessment. More and more schools are embracing outdoor learning in the UK and are embedding CBOL into their practice. When fully embedded into planning, CBOL can bring the concepts taught in the classroom to life. Certain subjects naturally lend themselves to being undertaken outdoors, however the pedagogy of curriculum based outdoor learning, when planned well, can be used to teach all subjects of the curriculum outdoors.
Truly embedded CBOL not only uses the school grounds, but uses local learning sites in the form of public green spaces, blue spaces and cultural sites. Wider learning sites are often a little further afield and might be visited as part of a field trip or residential, but can help situate learning in contexts beyond more familiar local environments.
How to implement curriculum based outdoor learning
Looking at the curriculum and considering “where is the best place to teach this?” is a great starting place. This will ensure the session is purposeful and can be measured against key learning objectives. Key things to consider are: what the learning objectives are; where you are going; what resources you need; what you need to teach first (is context required); what you are going to do outdoors; and what you are going to do afterwards.
Photographer credit: Dawn Thomas. Photographer retains copyright.
Ideas for curriculum based outdoor learning
On school grounds
All school grounds have a playground or yard - this is a good location for testing science concepts and design. For example, using the wind to move vehicles with sails allows students to explore the design process and understand friction in a meaningful way.
In the local park (local learning site)
If you have no green space in your school grounds, then local parks can be used for mini beast hunts and plant identification. In autumn and summer, the colours of leaves and flowers can be used across a host of artistic/creative endeavours.
outside much easier in wet weather. Generating a bank of waterproofs and wellies to lend out by asking for donations from parents as the children grow out of them can be helpful.
Resources for teaching outside, however, are generally ones found in schools already – they’re just often in the wrong place. Start by auditing what resources you have – some key resources to start with are clipboards, tape measures, map of the school grounds and chalk. Over time, more resources might be useful but don’t go out and spend money on equipment you may not need. For example, the best identification guides for the plants and animals in your school grounds are ones created by the students. Use opportunities to teach skills such as observation drawing and using keys to create a resource for the rest of the school.
In the local churchyard (local learning site)
The dates and ages inscribed on gravestone are a great opportunity for data collection. Creating tally charts for different ages, finding the oldest and youngest grave. Looking for trends in mortality rates during certain periods of time can be used to bring historical events to life. Also, the language and names on the graves can be linked to local families and historical connections to the present-day.
Somewhere further afield (wider learning site)
You can use Google Earth to see an aerial photo of your school and its surrounding area. You may identify some habitats that you are not aware of or green spaces that look interesting. Local history can also be seen on old maps and provides opportunities to bring local history to life through exploring ruins and old buildings such as castles.
What are the barriers?
The British weather can sometimes be seen as a barrier to curriculum based outdoor learning. Considering the weather as a teaching opportunity might require teachers to change their mindset, but the outcomes can be inspiring! The use of kites or wind meters to collect data on a windy day, the application of measuring skills by collecting rain in rain gauges and measuring temperature using thermometers outside are just some examples of teachable moments in inclement weather. Nature’s calendar can also provide a framework of topics to teach so that the outside is integral to the outcome – e.g. looking at seed dispersal in autumn as the sycamore seeds are falling, planting bulbs in winter to watch them sprout in spring and investigating pollinators in summer. As with all aspects of school life, setting expectations for pupils on behaviour and attitudes to learning at the start of the year is vital and can set you up for effective outdoor learning.
A lack of resources can also be a barrier to taking learning outside the classroom and into the school grounds. Waterproofs and wellies can make going outside much easier in wet weather, so generating a bank of waterproofs and wellies can make going
One of the biggest barriers to undertaking curriculum based outdoor learning is teacher confidence. Many teachers lack experience and training in teaching outdoors and this leads to a lack of confidence. An outdoor teaching session does not have to be long or elaborate when teachers lack confidence or are starting out. Start by bringing the outdoors in by collecting items to inspire literacy or art. Walk around the school grounds to introduce science topics like parts of plants and animals. Within any school there will be staff that feel more confident teaching outdoors, so observe how they work or talk to the Early Years staff and see what strategies you can adapt for your year group.
Conclusion
Hopefully this article has given you the confidence to take your teaching outside and you feel inspired to take a first step towards curriculum based outdoor learning. If so, check out the Teaching Hub on the IOL website and join the Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning and Field Studies group, which is free for IOL members. We are excited to support teachers to fully embed outdoor learning in their teaching and look forward to providing more ideas in future issues of Horizons.
adventures away
Sharon Mackintosh walks through the latest phase of the Adventures Away from Home project and how it has been transforming lives through outdoor learning
Author Sharon Mackintosh is an experienced outdoor learning professional who has worked for UK Youth for over 20 years. Passionate about inclusive participation and the power of outdoor learning spaces as a positive mechanism for change, Sharon is part of the senior leadership team responsible for direct delivery at Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre and strategically raising the profile of UK Youth’s outdoor learning approach.
What is Adventures Away from Home?
As we enter the next phase of Adventures Away from Home (AAfH), now feels like an important time to reflect on the impact of the programme on both young people and the outdoor sector. Launched in 2022, Adventures Away from Home has a clear mission: to foster the social and emotional development of under-represented young people through fully-funded, one day or two night inclusive outdoor learning bursaries.
Designed and distributed by UK Youth, a national youth charity with experience of grant distribution, Adventures Away from Home aims to:
• provide opportunities for under-represented young people, who would otherwise face barriers to participation, to engage in positive outdoor learning experiences;
• build connections between youth organisations and their local outdoor providers;
• and cascade funding through trusted and verified not-for-profit and charity outdoor providers to local youth organisations, whose young people would become the indirect beneficiaries.
With a strong evaluation focus, a diverse portfolio of over 100 delivery partners and through consistent use of the Framework of Outcomes for Young People (1), AAfH is starting to produce significant data. It is hoped the data collected will help strengthen the sector by highlighting good practice, providing structured opportunities for delivery partners to reflect on their own organisational practice and impact and champion wider advocacy and engagement work around outdoor learning and youth work. This dual focus on internal growth and external influence underscores AAfH’s commitment to driving systemic improvements and amplifying the value of outdoor learning in the youth sector.
Funded by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), AAfH has so far created approximately 24,000 opportunities for under-represented young people across England to access outdoor learning experiences and delivered over three million pounds for the sector. By supporting multiple styles of delivery and reaching across England, the aim is that as many young people as possible have access to a transformative outdoor learning experience.
Meeting young people’s needs
Young people today face unprecedented challenges that include rising mental health concerns and a complex employment market - all of which creates uncertainty around their futures. Limited access to enriching experiences often leaves them feeling isolated and unprepared for life’s demands (2). Programmes like AAfH harness the power of outdoor learning and youth work to equip participants with essential life skills, such as problem-solving, teamwork and emotional resilience.
The AAfH approach emphasises relationships between young people, activities and trusted adults like youth workers and outdoor practitioners. These interactions create an environment where young people can thrive, overcome challenges and gain the socio-emotional skills needed to navigate life’s complexities. Exposure to outdoor learning opportunities also nurtures physical literacy, helping young people develop the confidence, motivation, and competence to engage in physical activity.
from home
This is something which is particularly vital for under-represented young people, who often face limited access to safe, engaging spaces for physical activity and may miss out on opportunities to build these foundational skills. Providing such experiences can and has helped bridge inequalities, fostering a sense of empowerment and connection to wellbeing.
The latest evaluation report highlights how youth practitioners benefited from time spent with their groups in alternative environments such as outdoor learning venues. It helped reshape their relationships, as the open and often unfamiliar settings of outdoor learning environments naturally shifted their dynamics. Participating in challenging activities alongside their groups also placed them in positions of equality, where mutual trust and collaboration were essential. As one AAfH youth practitioner shared:
Spending time outdoors with my group allowed me to see them in a new light. The trust we built in those settings carried over into our everyday interactions
This shift in dynamic is especially impactful for young people. Seeing their mentors as “equal participants” encourages open communication, trust and a sense of shared achievement.
The impact and socio-emotional skills
Socio-emotional skills are the bedrock of healthy and fulfilling lives. These skills, which encompass emotion management, teamwork, initiative, responsibility, problem-solving and empathy, are integral to success in education, employment, relationships and overall wellbeing. Since it launched in 2022, the impact of AAfH on these skills has been evident: a staggering 89% of participants demonstrated measurable growth in socio-emotional competencies. From managing their fears to taking initiative in group activities, young people reported a new found sense of self-efficacy that often extended beyond the programme itself. For many participants, overcoming personal challenges, such as fear of heights or social anxiety, proved life-changing.
Youth practitioners also experienced personal growth, with many reporting increased confidence in supporting young people through new activities. One practitioner reflected: “I increased my confidence in supporting young people through new activities, encouraging them to push beyond their comfort zones”.
Spotlighting 2024
In 2024, AAfH delivery organisations came from all regions of England and were able to identify eligible young people and move at pace. Many providers used the funding to reach beyond existing connections or engage young people who may have been excluded.
53% of youth groups came from education providers, including alternative education provision, 44% were from third sector or not-for-profit youth organisations and a small percentage (3%) were from other providers which included statutory organisations such as local authority care teams. The variety of under-represented groups that had never engaged with any form of outdoor learning previously (36%) was higher than our target (35%).
Overall, the 2024 delivery exceeded all our targets and delivery ambitions. More young people were reached, many of whom shared powerful and heart-warming stories of the impact of their AAfH experiences, and positive changes were recorded for each socio-emotional skill. Having a diverse portfolio of opportunities was important, with young people recognising the impact of ‘newness’ and simply ‘being outdoors.’
Breaking down barriers
Despite its successes, 2024 illuminated several key learnings that will be taken into future funding. Whilst we believe the diversity of the young people reached through existing AAfH delivery is indicative of outdoor learning programmes, it remains below the national population average, so more needs to be done to reach communities where outdoor learning is not culturally prevalent.
Financial constraints also remain a formidable challenge for young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Youth group leaders often cited the additional costs associated with supervision, specialised equipment and accommodation for young people with disabilities or other needs. Bursary funding alleviated some of these financial pressures, enabling more young people to participate, however, there is still much to be done to achieve truly equitable access.
Outdoor learning providers, too, faced challenges. While the programme approach connected providers with youth organisations, short lead-in times limited their ability to engage new participants and truly plan for inclusion. Longterm extended planning windows and continued funding are essential to overcome these barriers and expand the reach of the programme.
Looking ahead
The transformative power of outdoor learning is undeniable. For young people, programmes like AAfH offer more than just adventures, they provide opportunities to build confidence, resilience and a sense of belonging. For youth practitioners, these programmes foster deeper connections with their groups, enabling them to support young people more effectively. For the outdoor sector, funded programmes provide access to new audiences and can support operational and financial sustainability all year-round.
The success of AAfH also underscores the need for a unified approach across the outdoor sector. AAfH’s standard data reporting across multiple and diverse delivery partners has produced significant results, as has the intentional blending of outdoor learning and youth work.
The IOL Outdoor Learning Youth Work Special Interest group (OLYWSIG) is working to create a cross-sector convening space that enables organisations and individuals to identify areas for collaboration at both a strategic and practitioner level and share good practice. If you would like to be part of this, the group is free to access for IOL members, so please do sign up to join the next session. More information about UK Youth’s ELD approach can be found on our website here (3).
Together, the outdoor sector and youth organisations have the opportunity to reshape how we engage with the next generation, making the outdoors a space for everyone, regardless of their background or the barriers they face. To do this requires sustained investment, innovative programme design and a continued commitment to inclusion. Adventures Away from Home is just one example of this - it is not just a programme for young people; it is a movement. Let us ensure its legacy continues to grow.
Photographer credit: Large hexagonal image sourced from Unsplash. All other images sourced by author. Photographers retains copyright.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Daisy Scanes shares her average day delivering fieldwork programmes at a residential outdoor education centre in Devon
Introduction
Author Daisy Scanes is the Lead Geography Tutor at Skern Lodge; an outdoor centre based in Appledore, North Devon. She has been working at Skern Lodge since 2018, teaching geography and environmental fieldwork, as well as delivering outdoor adventurous activities (sometimes even combining the two!). When not at work, you can normally find her in, on or near the ocean – she loves swimming, paddle-boarding and walking the coast path.
What does a fieldwork tutor do? My job is to get students outdoors, where they can observe people and places, collect data and apply classroom knowledge to real life examples in the field. Students experience enquiry-based learning, where they are at the heart of the decision-making process, and learn to collect, analyse, present and evaluate their findings. It’s my job as a tutor to guide them through all these processes as well as teach them practical fieldwork skills and provide them with local case studies.
What are the benefits? It gets students outside of the classroom and into new landscapes, encouraging curiosity and different ways of thinking. By engaging directly with their environment and addressing real-world concepts or problems, students learn to think more critically, creatively and collaboratively. It allows them to problem solve, collaborate with peers and gain new skills for the future. I am based at Skern Lodge on the North Devon coast and situated inside the internationally recognised UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, of which there are only seven in the UK. Skern Lodge is only a stone’s throw away from a variety of fieldwork sites, from the TawTorridge estuary and the landforms of Pebble Ridge to the sand dunes at Braunton Burrows and the rocky peninsula of Hartland, providing us with ample opportunities for study.
Behind the scenes
Or as I like to call it: ‘fieldwork prep’. By this, I mean everything that comes before the fieldwork e.g. preparing fieldwork handouts and worksheets, setting up the right slideshows on the computer, gathering fieldwork equipment, checking the weather forecast and packing the tutor bag.
Before heading outdoors for fieldwork, checking the daily weather report and tide times is crucial to ensure I’m prepared for varying conditions. It’s not ideal heading out to the coast to measure beach profiles when most of the beach is underwater! Luckily, there are many apps and websites out there that can provide this information. They also determine whether I’m telling students to pack suncream and a hat or a waterproof coat and wellies. Packing and wearing the right gear is the difference between a good day of fieldwork and a potentially very soggy one (I know which one I would prefer!). It’s equally as important for the tutor to pack accordingly with essentials such as durable footwear, protective clothing, kit for data collection, water, food and a first aid kit.
Just your average day in the office
So, the fieldwork prep is complete, now what? Coastal fieldwork can be tailored to meet the needs of each school and age group, but a typical day for A Level students aiming to develop their fieldwork skills in preparation for their Non-Examined Assessment (NEA) usually unfolds like this…
9AM: A day at Skern Lodge typically begins with a classroom workshop. Students meet their Skern tutor to review the day’s objectives, clarify what to wear and bring and get an overview of the location and topic. During the workshop, students are introduced to the coastal landforms of Pebble Ridge at Westward Ho!, which serves as an excellent case study for coastal geography. They learn about the area’s history, explore the coastal landforms and processes that shape the landscape and gain insight into the coastal management techniques in place. Additional activities include creating a risk assessment for the day, engaging in debates between different stakeholders at Westward Ho! and matching fieldwork kit and methodologies to relevant topics.
10:30AM: We drive to Seafield in Westward Ho!, a fantastic example of a raised, relic beach with views looking out to Bideford Bay, including Lundy Island. This location offers students the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom with first-hand experience of coastal processes and landforms. They can observe evidence of sea level change, erosion and various coastal management techniques. Plus, it is a perfect spot for the first round of primary data collection – creating a field sketch!
11:30AM: We walk along the coast path and promenade into the heart of Westward Ho!, where key features, maps and noticeboards are highlighted to enrich the students’ case studies. During the walk, additional data collection methods are introduced including wave counts, coastal defence analysis and land use mapping, providing students with valuable experience in using and evaluating various techniques.
12:30AM: Lunch at Westward Ho! village green provides a well-earned break after a busy morning of fieldwork. It’s also the perfect opportunity for students to grab that important ice cream or fish and chips (we’re at the seaside after all).
1PM: An introduction to human data collection methods follows, ensuring a balance between human and physical topics. We spend some time in Westward Ho! discussing potential areas of investigations, focusing on themes like regeneration, place-making and settlement dynamics. Students then apply various data collection methods including questionnaires, environmental quality surveys and accessibility surveys, to explore these topics in depth.
2PM: Time for the beach investigation – Pebble Ridge, a large depositional landform in the shape of a spit, is perfect for pebble analysis and creating beach profiles. Students investigate the effect of longshore drift on ridge morphology using ranging poles, clinometers, rulers, tape measures and pebble charts. All fieldwork kit is provided and students receive a thorough briefing on how to properly use and look after each item, as well as how to process their data into the provided worksheets. They are guided through a step-by-step methodology, including sampling sizes, sampling strategies and fieldwork best practice. This investigation is repeated at multiple locations along the spit, allowing for easier analysis and presentation of the results later.
4:30PM: After returning to Skern Lodge, students head back to the classroom to collate their data, document their methodology while it’s still fresh in their minds and evaluate the reliability, validity, and accuracy of their investigation. The day typically wraps up at 5.00pm, giving students (and tutors!) some well-deserved downtime before enjoying dinner, all provided on-site.
7PM:: Students meet their Skern tutor in the classroom to discuss patterns and key learnings from the day, while also considering potential next steps. The tutor-led skills workshop focuses on one of the following topics: methodologies and sampling strategies, data presentation for both human and physical investigations, statistics or a breakdown of the independent investigation. Students then apply what they’ve learned, creating graphs, completing statistical tests or drawing conclusions based on their findings from the day.
And there we have it – a complete coastal fieldwork day! After a day like this, students are equipped with a comprehensive coastal case study to reference in their upcoming exams, along with a wide range of fieldwork skills and techniques that will support them with their independent investigation. If you would like to find out more about what we do at Skern Lodge or have any questions, get in touch with me at Daisy.Scanes@skernlodge.co.uk
Daisy’s top tips
1. Embrace the challenges – whether it’s dealing with unpredictable weather or navigating tough terrain, these challenges are all part of the learning process. Embracing them fosters resilience, enhances critical thinking skills and deepens subject understanding.
2. Take breaks – that’s one of the great things about fieldwork; you’re surrounded by beautiful nature, whether it’s a river, a beach, a glacier or a town. Be sure to take time to soak it all in. These moments of pause can refresh your mind and deepen your connection to the place you’re studying.
3. Enjoy it – whether you are the student or the teacher, fieldwork is a valuable and rewarding experience. It’s an opportunity to connect with the environment, apply classroom learning in real-world contexts and develop practical skills.
SAFETY MANAGEMENT SAFETY MANAGEMENT
In the first part of this two-part series, Peter White explores his ideas on the future of safety management in the outdoors
Author
Peter White is a Lecturer and Instructor within the School of Adventure Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Fort William. Alongside his work in higher education, Peter has experience in residential outdoor education, instructor training programmes and commercial guiding. His main technical expertise are within paddlesports. He has also conducted research on the professional identity of outdoor professionals. He is a member of AAIAC and is currently working on the Collective Knowledge Project.
Safety within outdoor provision is frequently stated as one of the main priorities for providers. Currently within the sector, we have statutory legislation that incorporates the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA), a mixture of other non-statutory licensing schemes (e.g. Adventuremark) and a comprehensive array of national governing body awards that provide evidence of competence in practitioners. The development and evolution of these structures have helped establish the generally good safety record and culture within the outdoor sector, though it is important to recognise that much of this has come out of lessons or responses to a range of incidents within the sector.
If we wish to be seen as a professional sector, then we would be expected to consider future issues and opportunities. In this context, we are attempting to look at that in relation to safety management within the outdoor sector. To achieve this, we will need to have a reasonable understanding of where we are at now, followed by what the implications of that may be. Finally, we need to be prepared to act on these implications, which may not necessarily be evident right now – but could be our small attempt to respond to future incidents before they occur.
This proactive approach was the ethos behind the Proactive Safety Management workshop at the IOL’s Outdoor Learning Strategic Thinking day. It is also the fundamental drive behind the Collective Knowledge Project run jointly between IOL, AAIAC and UHI (see p.16).
The following article is the first part of a two-part series which will explore my personal reflections from co-hosting this workshop and the discussions which occurred before, during and after. I invite you to think critically about these views, be open-minded about how we act on them and contribute your own perspectives on how we can best respond to future issues in the sector.
‘Social licence’ towards risk and safety
Our traditional view of outdoor learning within the UK is strongly biased towards the notions of challenge and personal growth through adversity. This frame of reference heavily influences perspectives of the value and acceptable level of risk towards participants –something which we may incorporate, for example, into a risk benefit analysis. This view therefore ‘allows’ providers to justify taking groups into situations where there is a level of risk present which participants would not have been exposed to otherwise – effectively giving outdoor learning providers the perception of a ‘social licence’ (1). Our challenge is whether this traditional ‘social licence’ remains, and to consider factors that may influence changes in the longer-term.
The first point I’d like to consider is what young people may consider the most important aspects of their lived experiences. The issues of climate change, biodiversity loss and eco-social injustices are established within young people’s lives and are often seen as some of the most critical challenges for their generation. Within my work alongside degree students, I have seen a growing attention and enthusiasm on place-responsive and environmental-focused outdoor learning taking precedence over more traditional forms of adventurous outdoor learning. Flowing from
THE COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE PROJECT
This project aims to connect relevant information to individuals and providers in the sector to reduce incidents, improve quality of provision and support individual/ provider development by encouraging a greater understanding of safety and risk management. It hopes to achieve this through collection (awareness of current trends and themes across the sector), curation (information and knowledge stored in a useful and accessible format) and communication (develop ways of sharing knowledge and information widely and effectively).
their personal motivations, these perspectives reduce the primacy of ‘risk’ in outdoor learning, whilst raising the importance of nature connectedness, attunement and awareness (2).
Linked to the issue of climate change is the growing concern of unpredictable weather with more extreme weather events occurring. This has surely got to become a prominent part of our thoughts on the future of safety management – potentially revisiting our assumptions around what are appropriate poor weather activities.
Another consideration is how diverse communities might view the benefits of exposure to risk. Western culture posits a specific way of viewing the world which doesn’t account for the breadth of other perspectives. Recognising that other cultures may have completely different frames of reference regarding risk should influence how we deliver and sell outdoor learning if we wish to meet the needs of a diverse community. For example, we may have the view that outdoor learning cannot be guaranteed as being ‘safe’, which is acceptable because of the perceived value and benefits it brings. But to encourage participation from those who already experience greater forms of risk in their everyday lives, for example those living in economic deprivation or refugee communities, we may need to provide more concrete assurances around participant safety. This should surely influence our approach to programme design, learning outcomes and acceptance of risk.
It’s also important to consider how diverse socio-economic communities view the benefits of exposure to risk. In the UK, there is an unbalanced distribution of wealth which leaves many families living in systemic poverty. Not that this is a call to reducing levels of risk for those living in deprivation, but it is a reminder that the aims and intentions of outdoor learning are historically built upon the needs and desires of the white, male, middle to upper-class. If we are to encourage a wider range of participation and meet the needs of society, then perhaps we need to understand the issues that are faced by all and whether the exposure to risk is the primary factor in how we can respond to them. For example, if we are looking to help develop inclusion and a sense of belonging within a community then surely focusing on equitable relationships and the shared experience should have a greater importance than ensuring participants are experiencing challenging and risky activities?
Finally, I think we should consider how an increased awareness of mental health and emotional wellbeing might impact our social licence. This presents both a challenge to us with the effects that a risk-embracing outdoor programme might have on participants’ stress and anxiety levels and an opportunity through the potential benefits that such a programme might yield in a supportive environment. This might lead us to reconsider the relationship between risk, challenge and fear within outdoor learning and whether they are helpful, or if, as research has shown, elements of these can marginalise participants who are unable to manage or cope with them (3). Equally, the benefits that participation in outdoor learning can bring to participants emotional wellbeing is well established and is something that, as a sector, we should be confident in (4). This is clearly one of the social issues of our time and is an area that, as a sector, we will inevitably engage with, therefore reinforcing the importance of staff training, awareness and careful programme design to ensure safety (physical and emotional) for all.
Conclusion
In this article, I have begun unravelling my thoughts on proactive safety management in outdoor learning, considering the practitioner’s social licence in detail. Much of this can be summed up in unpacking our own ethos and philosophy behind outdoor learning, disentangling our historical assumptions with our current circumstances. In the next article, I will consider the framework of safety management in the UK and whether it represents the sector as a whole, as well as the impact of our changing workforce on proactive safety management in the sector. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the issues I’ve presented in this article. Please email collectiveknowledge@outdoorlearning.org with your thoughts.
References
1. Brookes, A. (2018). Preventing Fatal Incidents in School and Youth Group Camps and Excursions. Understanding the Unthinkable. Cham: Springer.
2. Lynch, J., & Mannion, G. (2021). Place-responsive Pedagogies in the Anthropocene: attuning with the morethan-human. Environmental Education Research, 27(6), 864-878.
3. Reed, J., & Smith, H. (2023). ‘Everything we do will have an element of fear in it’: challenging assumptions of fear for all in outdoor adventurous education. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 23(2), 107-119.
4. Ingman, B. C. (2024). Adventure education as a pathway to wellbeing: rethinking adventure through the lens of PERMA. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 1-14.
a closer look at RED BERRIES
Author Stephanie Bale is the founder of the Ethical Living Group CIC, which teaches a range of outdoor skills, and is a board member for the Sustainable Life Voluntary Organisation and Friends of Rea Valley Stirchley in her local community. She has been teaching woodland management, basketry and outdoor cooking for at least 8 years and more recently game preparation for 3 years. She has over 10 years of foraging and plant ID experience and today works freelance with a variety of conservation organisations. Her voluntary work includes managing the local woodland and rivers, recording local biodiversity and invasive plant removal.
Winter red berries
Winter has well and truly arrived, which makes identification that much harder for deciduous trees and shrubs. There are, however, plenty of trees and bushes about with red berries on them, so if you want to learn how to identify these berries and trees now is your chance! Winter ID is mainly about learning how to identify trees from their twigs and buds - if it’s got a berry on it as well that’s going to be a great starting place to work from. So, let’s start unpacking the identifying features of some of the red berries you might see out and about at this time of year.
Features of Hawthorn
Botanical name: Crataegus monogyna
Common name/s: Common Hawthorn
Edible parts: fruits, spring leaves
Location: gardens, parks, hedgerows, street trees
Lookalike/s: Blackthorn (thorns), Oak (leaves), Whitebeam (berries)
Family: Rosaceae (Rose)
Hawthorn is a small deciduous tree that reaches a maximum height of around fifteen metres and, as such, is often used in decorative planting schemes. It is also sometimes used as a hedgerow tree, giving it a bushy appearance instead. It’s a beautifully shaped small tree when allowed to grow fully, with dark brown/grey bark that is knotted, fissured and looks ‘gnarly’. The leaves can be quite distinctive in the spring, but during winter we wouldn’t expect to see them. What we would still see, however, is it’s bright to dark red berries still hanging on the branches. The berries can persist right through to February so it’s a beautiful tree in the winter.
Hawthorn fruits
Hawthorn fruit is always red. Sometimes a bright scarlet red and later in the winter a deep wine red. If you squeeze a Hawthorn berry between your fingers you will find a thick creamy texture to the flesh that is an off-white colour – a bit like the inside of an avocado as opposed to a juicy berry like a currant. Technically, Hawthorn berries are not berries at all, but actually pome fruits (which you may remember from my previous article on apples and quinces). However, most people just refer to them as Haw berries or Haws. Inside the fruit is a single stone which is the seed – that’s how it gets its name monogyna (one seed). If you happen to find two seeds inside, you have found the smaller and equally beautiful Midland Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata). Midland Hawthorn trees reach on average only eight metres tall and are more densely packed than its sister the Common Hawthorn.
Thorny bushes
Hawthorn is also identified by its thorns. However, you could at this time of year mix it up with a Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), which is also thorny and of a similar size. Without the leaves to guide you, you will need to look at the berries and thorns themselves. If you have berries on your find, then this makes it pretty straightforward. Blackthorn is a member of the plum family and as such also has small pome fruits that resemble berries – however, they are a deep blue colour and quite round in appearance. If there are no berries to examine, look at the placement of the thorns (or spines) on the branches. Hawthorn spines emerge from the same point as the buds, whereas Blackthorn has buds on the spines themselves.
Rowan trees are again a smaller canopy of tree reaching just fifteen metres high, but they can live for up to two-hundred years so do not be deceived by their small size and frame. Unlike Hawthorns, a Rowan tree has smooth silvery grey bark and the tree often looks very straight and elegant, making it a popular street tree. In the early winter you will often see Rowan berries still hanging on in irregular bunches, although not as abundant as found in summer.
When you don’t have berries to look at you will need to examine the branches and buds. Young twigs start out hairy and become smoother as they grow. The buds of the Rowan are hairy all over and the terminal buds (buds at the end of shoots) are up to eight millimetres long. The buds are conical (round with pointed tips) with a purplish tinge to them.
Rowan fruits
Once again, we are lured in with promises of a berry only to discover it is, in fact, a pome! The fruits of the Rowan tree appear in densely packed bunches that originate from a single stem that branches out into the individual fruit stems, a bit like an umbrella frame. The most common Rowan fruit colour is a bright scarlet red, but you will also find them in shades of yellow, orange, pink and white. Unlike the humble Hawthorn, Rowan fruits are juicy with around two to eight small seeds inside. The base of the berry has a star shape on it where the flower used to be. It was this fivepointed star that was associated with magical protection, because of its likeness to a pentagram, making it a sacred tree to many!
Keywords to remember
Sorbus – a genus of trees in the rose family
Rosaceae – rose family
Pome – accessory fruit
Margins – the edge
Prunus – a genus of trees (plum family)
Conical – rounded shape with a pointed end like a cone
Terminal buds – buds at the end
Rowan pomes
You could confuse a Rowan tree fruit with a Whitebeam tree fruit – but the trees themselves are remarkably different. Let’s take a look...
Features of a Whitebeam tree
Botanical name: Sorbus aria
Common name/s: Whitebeam
Edible parts: fruits
Location: gardens, parks, street trees
Lookalike/s: Rowan (berries)
Family: Rosaceae (Rose) Genus: Sorbus
Whitebeam is another lower canopy tree which can top fifteen metres in height. It’s another popular street tree due to its compact and organised shape and, like Rowan, it’s also in the Sorbus genus. Whitebeam produces beautiful orange to red fruits in bunches, so it’s easy to see how one might get these two mixed up. Whitebeam gets its name from the silvery underside of the leaves – if you stand at the trunk of the tree and look up you will see a fluttering sea of silver above you that is unmistakable – but in the winter you aren’t always going to have these leaves available to use for your ID.
The twigs are a dull brown that shines reddish in bright sunlight. The buds of the Whitebeam are green with brown margins (edges) and have a line of fuzz on the edges of the scales. They are a rounded oval shape with blunt tips. Buds alternate or spiral along the twig.
Whitebeam fruits
Whitebeam fruits are a bright red colour and hang in bunches. They don’t tend to stick around as long as the other red fruits we have discussed and will turn into a hard black lump if still on the tree by the time the leaves have gone. The fruit is a slightly oval shape, similar to a Haw. The flesh of the Whitebeam is a bright orange colour and not very juicy – the texture is often referred to as grainy instead. Whitebeam berries have around four seeds inside them and, once again, are technically a pome fruit rather than a berry!
Berries or pomes?
As it transpires, a lot of what we think of as red berries in the winter are not even berries at all! All three berries we have covered are actually pome fruits disguised as a beautiful berry. We will try not to hold it against them!
Photographer credit: Illustrative images by Stephanie Bale. Cover image on page 17 and background image on pages 18-19 from Unsplash. Photographers retains copyright.
Foraging and identification are undertaken at the individual’s own risk.
Whitebeam fruits (in winter)
Whitebeam buds
Inside a Whitebeam pome
HIGH QUALITY OUTDOOR LEARNING 2025
Author Dr Dave Harvey led the HQOL 2025 project. He runs his own consultancy, training and research businessdaveharveyoutdoorlearning.co.uk
Background
High Quality Outdoor Learning (HQOL) was first published by the English Outdoor Council in 2015, updating the earlier High Quality Outdoor Education (HQOE) from 2005. HQOL expanded on the traditional emphasis on outdoor pursuits, adopting a broader, more inclusive approach aligned with contemporary thinking (1). The guide referenced supporting documents and academic research, focusing on outcomes to provide a benchmarking framework for practitioners and organisations.
The 2015 version retained the original ten outcomes from HQOE, derived from practice rather than academic research. Later studies confirmed these outcomes could be achieved through various outdoor learning (OL) approaches, demonstrating their ongoing relevance. Since publication, HQOL 2015 has been widely adopted within the sector, including translations into Welsh and Chinese.
With growing awareness of outdoor learning’s benefits and a robust evidence base, this revision ensures relevance and connection to current practices and agendas.
Scope and development
Building on HQOL (2015), HQOL 2025 expands its scope significantly by integrating a quality model that encompasses structures, practice and outcomes. Whereas the original document focused on children and young people, HQOL 2025 recognises outdoor learning as a lifelong endeavour, also including recreational contexts. The updated guide reflects the growing role of outdoor learning in the health and care sectors, accommodating adult participation as well as young people’s.
HQOL 2025 is aimed at practitioners, providers, decision-makers and non-specialists. As well as the full guide, IOL have also published a separate guide for policy and decision-makers. IOL members will also be able to access each individual section as separate documents.
HQOL 2025 brings together research, standards and practitioner experience from the UK and further afield. Successive drafts underwent extensive review by the IOL’s Trustees and the LPIOL community of practice, their contributions helping to shape content and ensure its relevance and currency.
Content
The guide consists of two main parts. The first part sets out the societal context for outdoor learning and the potential benefits, supported by extensive research references. This section is also available as a separate document aimed specifically at policy and decision-makers. The second part focuses on the structures, practice and outcomes associated with high quality outdoor learning (2).
• Structures: These encompass physical and organisational features critical to effective practice and achieving outcomes.
• Practice: This covers programme delivery and activities that practitioners can influence. Core elements include safety management, inclusion, relationships, environmental awareness and sustainability, intended outcomes and continuity of learning.
• Outcomes: These are the results of outdoor learning experiences. They may be defined by participants, providers, funders, or emerge naturally from the process. Outcomes might reflect specific group characteristics, such as teamwork, or align with organisational frameworks.
The guide is not a prescriptive manual. Providers and practitioners can use the descriptions of high-quality practice and reflective questions as a basis for self-evaluation and improvement. It also informs external observers, helping articulate good practices that may otherwise be implicit. The guide combines global research and practice with a UK perspective and while it outlines common good practices, the diversity of outdoor learning settings and approaches means that quality must be interpreted in context.
Conclusion
HQOL 2025 is more than an update, it offers a holistic perspective on high-quality outdoor learning, blending good practice with research. By addressing structures, practice and outcomes, the guide highlights how outdoor learning contributes to societal challenges faced by all age groups.
If you are interested in a hard copy of High Quality Outdoor Learning 2025 please email us at institute@ outdoor-learning.org
References
1. EOC (2015)
STEP
outdoors
By Emma Whewell, Helen Tiplady, Tanya Richardson, Karen Woolley and Jo Clanfield
Introduction
A substantial body of research highlights the numerous benefits of outdoor learning, spanning improvements in physical development, creativity, language development and social development. Despite this wealth of evidence, many educators, particularly those working with young children, often lack the confidence to incorporate outdoor learning into their practice. This participatory action research study aimed to address this gap by exploring and enhancing the confidence, learning and teaching of undergraduate level 5 education students (Primary Education and Early Childhood Studies). The focus was on understanding the benefits of outdoor learning for schools and children, while also equipping education students at the University of Northampton with the skills and confidence to utilise outdoor environments effectively as part of their teaching practices.
The research
The study involved designing and piloting a blended outdoor learning training programme, in collaboration with Teach Outdoors (teachoutdoors.co.uk). Teach Outdoors provides schools and educators with the training and support they need to ensure all children can reap the benefits of the outdoor environment. The training programme incorporated online modules and a face-to-face practical training day. This training aimed to help students develop as aspiring teachers and mentors by promoting the use of outdoor spaces to support child development and serve as an active learning tool. The course culminated in the award of the Outdoor Connections certification, internally awarded by Teach Outdoors to recognise the completion of the project.
Data was collected through a confidence survey, administered before and after the training, alongside focus groups (before the training) that helped shape the course design and a final evaluative focus group on completion of the training programme. The research team was a multidisciplinary group of lecturers in Physical Education, Initial Teacher Training and Early Childhood Studies - the students were known to the team and study on their respective degree courses. The confidence survey was designed to understand the education students’ feelings towards taking learning outdoors - it was a series of Likert scale questions including their confidence to plan, deliver and organise their outdoor learning. It also explored their confidence levels in specific subjects such as mathematics,
English and science, managing support staff and general health and safety requirements. This study’s findings are intended to support education students in their work placements and future careers, especially in integrating outdoor learning with the curriculum.
The study’s objectives were to:
• Assess the confidence and skills of education students to engage in outdoor learning, both before and after participating in the training programme.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the outdoor learning training programme, which was designed in consultation with education students.
• Make recommendations for the future development of outdoor learning in professional educational practice.
It is hoped that the insights gained from this small-scale study will inspire educators to adapt their curriculum and teaching practices to include more outdoor learning opportunities.
Background
Anderson et al. (1) described outdoor learning as an inclusive approach that enhances learning, wellbeing and environmental awareness through outdoor activities. In England, while early years education mandates daily outdoor access (2), other educational stages focus primarily on core subjects, leading to a narrow curriculum and limited outdoor experiences for children. Barriers such as confidence, resource constraints and time pressures effect the implementation of outdoor learning. Additionally, concerns about health and safety, risk management and the administrative burden of risk assessments pose challenges (3, 4).
Despite these challenges, outdoor learning is recognised for its benefits, including skill development and improved physical and mental health. Educators’ beliefs and experiences significantly impact their approach to outdoor learning. Barrable et al., (5) found that educators’ connection with nature influences their confidence and willingness to engage in outdoor learning. Increasing educators’ confidence could help overcome barriers such as resource limitations and risk assessments.
Findings
The project recruited twelve second-year education students, all students had experienced placements in an education setting in the first year of their degree, and therefore some experience of the school day, curriculum and teaching. The timing of their secondyear placements aligned with the training, allowing them to apply and evaluate outdoor learning strategies whilst in their settings (including primary schools, nurseries and early years settings). The comparative pre-training and post-training programme surveys and focus groups highlighted changes in confidence and understanding related to outdoor learning.
Key pre-training themes included:
• Participants cited prior outdoor learning experiences, emphasising its benefits in engagement and interaction.
• Concerns were noted around leading sessions and managing outdoor spaces effectively.
• Participants highlighted the need to consider student interactions with outdoor environments, especially for those with special needs.
• Managing behaviour, time and safety were primary concerns.
Post-training feedback revealed increased confidence, recognition of the benefits of outdoor learning and enthusiasm for integrating it into the curriculum. While there were initial concerns among education students regarding outdoor learning, the training they experienced increased confidence and capability in this area. The results also underline the importance of addressing these barriers systematically, particularly those related to confidence, behaviour management and the utilisation of available outdoor spaces.
Initially, many participants expressed concerns about leading outdoor sessions, managing behaviour in an unstructured environment and effectively utilising the available space. For example, in the initial focus group (pre-training), Betty was concerned about “how you deal with those kind of loose cannons [and] being willing to attempt going outside the classroom”.
The post-training feedback revealed a marked increase in confidence among the education students. The training provided students not only with the skills, but also the experiential learning necessary to feel comfortable and competent in taking education outdoors.
(Wilma) “ ”
I thought the children would be really overstimulated from [being outdoors]. And I didn't find that to be the case at all. In fact, they were quite chill when they came back in
Another theme from this study is the challenge of working within the constraints of available outdoor spaces. Participants from settings with limited outdoor facilities expressed concerns about how to maximise the learning potential of such spaces - “[if] you’ve got a massive playing field we can go and use that [for outdoor learning], but being able to do it in any school you go to [isn’t always possible]” - Barney.
Despite these challenges, we found that once the education students became more confident, they were more likely to creatively utilise whatever space was available to them. This adaptability is crucial in overcoming physical constraints and emphasises that outdoor learning can occur in a wide variety of environments, both constructed and natural.
I was a bit nervous, because I was like, oh, they’re going to be quite boisterous, how am I going to deal with that behaviour? But by doing my first lesson outside, I was like, wow, I can do it
(Betty)
It’s something that every child should get to experience and certainly every child in my class, I will make sure that I can get them to experience it
(Barney)
An interesting theme was the use of intuition and spontaneity in taking learning outdoors. As participants gained confidence, they began to see outdoor learning not as a separate, highly planned activity, but as an integral part of their teaching toolkit that could be used spontaneously and was responsive to the immediate context and needs of learners. Fred said, “looking back [the confidence issue] felt like a big deal. But now having done it...it’s not a big deal”.
The participants also cited the wider benefits of taking children outside, including their engagement with learning and their wellbeing. Dino said that “[it] engages the children a lot more. And it’s beneficial for their wellbeing”.
The participants appear to have developed a wider understanding of the use of the environment to support children holistically, which in turn can have a positive impact on learning and teaching.
Implications for future practice
The findings of this small-scale study have several implications for the future development of outdoor learning in education programmes. Although not wholly generalisable to wider educational populations, it could offer some useful generalisations on developing practice. Firstly, there is a demonstrable need for continued and expanded training opportunities that focus on building confidence and providing practical, hands-on experience in outdoor learning. Such training should be an integral part of education programmes, rather than an optional add-on.
Secondly, the study highlights the importance of encouraging educators to be flexible and creative in their use of outdoor spaces, regardless of the limitations of their physical environment. Training could, therefore, include strategies for maximising the potential of small outdoor spaces.
Finally, the positive impact of outdoor learning on pupil engagement, behaviour, and wellbeing suggests that schools could be encouraged to prioritise outdoor learning across the curriculum. This may require curriculum and pedagogical changes to ensure that time and resources are allocated to support outdoor learning activities.
Conclusion
This project showcases the potential of outdoor learning when educators are given the confidence, skills and support to embrace it. While there are undeniable challenges, particularly related to space, resources and initial confidence, these can be overcome through targeted training and practical experience. As the education landscape continues to evolve, particularly in the post-Covid era, outdoor learning offers a valuable tool for enhancing student engagement, wellbeing and holistic development.
References
1. Anderson, N., Harvey, D. and Crosbie J. (2021) Professional matters: describing outdoor learning. Horizons 94. [online] Available from: https://www.outdoor-learning.org/asset/13A726F3-BE61-4E1B-8CCEEF78D938D917/ [Accessed 23rd July 2024]
2. Department for Education (DfE) (2024) Early years foundation stage statutory framework. London: Gov.UK Publications
3.Beames, S., Higgins, P. and Nicol, R. (2012) Learning Outside the Classroom: Theory and Guidelines for Practice. Oxon: Routledge.
4. Catling, S. and Willy, T. (2018) Understanding and teaching primary geography. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications.
5. Barrable, A. Toloumakos, A and Lapere, L. (2022) Exploring Student Teachers’ Motivations and sources of confidence: The Case of Outdoor Learning. European Journal of Education. 3(45), pp.356-372.
Climbing with a HIDDEN disability
Introduction
Author
Rebecca Hatch is a BA (Hons) graduate in Outdoor Adventure Education from Plymouth Marjon University. She enjoys top rope and lead climbing all over the world and is a member of the Deaf and hard of hearing community.
I remember flagging on top of a 22-foot crag in Spain attempting to yell to my belay partner, but not getting a response and I couldn’t see her either. Communication was impossible. It reminded me of the time I was at the top of the lead climb wall in my local gym, but couldn’t hear my belay partner due to the loud music. Why was this an issue? Well, I was born with severe to profound unilateral hearing loss; I am Deaf in my left ear. I usually use lip reading as one of my main forms of communication, however that is increasingly difficult the higher I climb. I do not wear any form of hearing aid, so to the outside world mine is a hidden disability. Over the years, I have become increasingly conscious of the need for better awareness of the difficulties faced by climbers who are Deaf or hard of hearing (HoH) and more focus on how Deaf or HoH climbers could be better supported. This article is the result of my personal experiences, endless discussions and tutorials with my supervisor and a thorough and rigorous investigation of the issue for my undergraduate research dissertation.
The challenges of climbing for the Deaf and hard of hearing community
Deaf is capitalised throughout this article because “Deaf with a capital D refers to individuals who have been deaf their whole lives or since before they started to learn to talk. Deaf people have English as a second language and have British Sign Language as a first.” (1)
It is estimated that there are as many as 1.5 billion people around the world with a hearing impairment. In Britain alone it is estimated that up to 20% of the population have a hearing impairment (2). Climbing offers a host of positive outcomes, such as improved mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing. It has also been known to improve problem solving skills and provides a sense of community. In several climbing centres around the UK, Deaf and HoH climbing groups have been set up which facilitate access to Deaf culture in supportive community settings (I would like to see more of these groups set up). Deaf culture is a set of social beliefs, art, literature, history and behaviours that are influenced by deafness and generally uses British Sign Language (BSL) as the form of communication.
Climbing presents challenges for people who are Deaf or HoH. Many such individuals use BSL as their primary means of communication, rather than spoken English. But since BSL is not commonly used by people who are not hearing impaired, many members of the Deaf and HoH community choose to climb only with other members of the community. Additionally, they find it impossible to use BSL when climbing, as they cannot use their hands to sign.
Research suggests that climbing improves balance, which may explain why so many individuals with disabilities are starting to take up climbing. However, as Insure For Sport (3) explains “balance is everything when you’re climbing. Without good balance, you’re going to struggle to shift your centre of gravity into an optimal position to help complete a problem”. This presents issues for Deaf and HoH climbers who find it challenging to shift weight from dynos and between holds, making it easy to over-balance, compared to climbers who are not hearing impaired. It all stems from the inner ear, which affects balance and can be damaged in people who are Deaf or HoH.
For more information on audism, check out Audism: Oppression in the lives of Deaf individuals (5).
My research
My dissertation survey revealed that Deaf and HoH climbers had both positive and negative experiences of indoor rock climbing. The positive experiences included fun participating in a sport and a sense of achievement, particularly when summiting. Whereas negative experiences included unhelpful background music in climbing venues making communication difficult and insufficient teaching/coaching tailored to the needs of people who are Deaf or HoH. This highlights a need for change.
Climbing centres are at the forefront of this discussion. Several centres across the UK provide a Deaf friendly climbing experience, such as Bristol Inclusive Climbing and the Big Rock Climbing Centres in Milton Keynes. However, other centres do not encourage climbers from the Deaf and HoH community or, worse still, unknowingly impose barriers for such climbers. For example, some participants noticed that climbing centres often play loud background music continuously –making it difficult for climbers with a hearing impairment to concentrate.
Although there is no research into the number of walls playing loud music, my research revealed that almost 70% of Deaf/HoH participants identified that loud music was an issue. Some centres positioned speakers adjacent to climbing routes, others did not have flashing fire alarms and a number of climbing centres did not have any staff trained to deal with Deaf/HoH climbers - nor were they able to offer contact details for trainers who were experienced in coaching Deaf/HoH climbers. Attitudes from other climbers who have not experienced hearing loss can also be a barrier in itself. Several Deaf/ HoH climbers have reported instances of audism, a form of oppression which is an attitude that results in negative stigma around anyone that cannot hear. It is no surprise that some members of the Deaf and HoH community try to hide their hearing loss, because of the potential negative reaction that can arise when a non-hearing-impaired person finds out that a climber is Deaf or HoH. A number of studies have reported the need for improved awareness into how being Deaf can affect one’s ability to climb (4).
Individuals who are Deaf or HoH can use specific ‘hearing-related’ equipment to aid their communication skills in everyday life, but these do not work in climbing gyms. For example, cochlear implants do not fit or work under climbing helmets. Climbing itself can also make hearing aids wet with sweat, making it harder to hear. Climbing gyms themselves make communication difficult for individuals with hearing loss by playing loud, and often non-stop, music in the gym. Whilst this may motivate climbers who do not have a hearing impairment, for individuals with hearing loss it can impede communication and lead to safety issues on the wall. It would be helpful if the Association of British Climbing Walls encouraged its members to ensure that their climbing walls are more inclusive for Deaf and HoH climbers.
The Los Angeles Paralympic committee recently announced the addition of para climbing to the list of sports that will be eligible for the 2028 Paralympics. This is a fantastic step in the right direction for athletes in this division. Hopefully it will inspire more people with a range of disabilities to take up rock climbing, but it is important that rock climbing is not viewed as just for elite athletes. I argue that it is vital that climbing is accessible for all and we need to continue to work to remove disabling and oppressive practices.
Top tips
From my research, here are my top ten tips for climbing centres to be more inclusive of Deaf and hard of hearing climbers.
1. Offer quiet sessions where no music is played.
2. Set up Deaf and hard of hearing climbing groups.
3. Encourage staff to attend Deaf awareness training.
4. Offer a checklist of good practices for instructors who teach Deaf climbers.
5. Keep a list of trained instructors who might teach Deaf climbers.
6. Install flashing fire alarms to supplement traditional audible fire alarms.
7. Encourage a buddying-up system so that Deaf and hard of hearing climbers can climb with a buddy who is either hearing impaired or sympathetic to such climbers.
8. Ensure good lighting and minimise background noise to facilitate communication.
9. Provide written instructions or use visual aids to supplement verbal communication, such as a video or an A4 sheet of paper.
10. Provide clear visual markers for climbing routes, such as coloured tape or holds, to aid navigation when verbal instructions can’t be used.
Conclusion
The aim of this article is to inspire more individuals who are Deaf and HoH to take up climbing and to enjoy it much as I have over the last fifteen years. A key factor in this is encouraging climbing centre staff and outdoor practitioners to rethink how they could be far more inclusive when supporting climbers who have hidden disabilities.
I would like to thank my climbing partners over the years and all the participants in my dissertation. I would not have written this article without the encouragement of Dr Mark Leather, my university tutor, and my climbing experiences in Spain. Nor would I have undertaken this dissertation, or completed my degree, without the help and support of all the staff at Plymouth Marjon University.
4. Carlson, M. L., Nassiri, A. M., Marinelli, J. P., Lohse, C. M., & Sydlowski, S. A. (2022). Awareness, perceptions, and literacy surrounding hearing loss and hearing rehabilitation among the adult population in the United States. Otology & Neurotology, 43(3), e323-e330.
Chris Sweetman takes us through some valuable orienteering techniques to aid navigational ability - and how you might use them in your practice
Author Christopher Sweetman has taught land navigation and expedition skills within the further education sector for 27 years. A qualified teacher with a PGCE in Post Compulsory Education (In Service), Chris has an MSc in Recreation Management and holds a Mountain Leader qualification. In a voluntary capacity, Chris is the British Mountaineering Council Midlands Area Hillwalking Representative, Mountain Training Association Assistant Regional Coordinator for the English East Midlands and Anglia, is a registered walk leader for the Ramblers and also leads walks for the Long Distance Walkers Association. Get in touch with Chris at chrisonholiday@outlook.com
Introduction
The ability to navigate is the cornerstone of independent exploration, providing confidence to access the countryside safely - this is borne out of evidence recorded in UK mountain rescue statistics. For example, in 2023 Scottish Mountain Rescue Teams responded to 319 hillwalking incidents and for 27% the contributing factors were being lost and navigational error (1). Figures from the England and Wales Mountain Rescue services in 2022 showed that over one in three call-outs were due to basic mistakes and poor planning, with 17% caused by human error, 9% by bad decision-making and 9% by inexperience (2). AdventureSmart UK state that navigation is the dominant skill for anyone undertaking outdoor journeys and the need to be confident in their knowledge and skills before setting off for a day’s activity (3). Therefore, the first step to feeling more confident outdoors is learning how to navigate.
This article will focus on teaching orienteering both as a foundation activity to kick start a practical interest in navigation and as one to develop navigation skills using orienteering techniques in unfamiliar environments.
Orienteering as an adventure activity
Orienteering is an adventure activity where the challenge is to navigate around a set course visiting checkpoints (or controls) in the correct order. In competitive orienteering, the objective is to complete the course in the fastest time. It was first used as an adventure activity in the UK during the 1950’s and was sometimes carried out under the alternative title of ‘compass racing’. These days, young people are most commonly introduced to orienteering on their school grounds and sports playing fields. Outdoor centres offering residential activities for schools and colleges will also provide orienteering and, again, this would usually be in the confines of the centre grounds.
Such familiar environments are all great places to teach some of the basics of navigation, but are unlikely to feature the terrain that orienteering courses often cover – including spurs, knolls, depressions and re-entrants (see glossary on page 32) which feature as control points in both competitive and recreational orienteering courses. The point at which orienteering becomes a truly adventurous activity is when it is taken beyond such familiar environments, where navigational abilities can be improved and other benefits associated with outdoor adventure can be attained.
Developing navigational skills using permanent orienteering courses
Let’s explore the potential of using off-site orienteering facilities. A valuable resource here are Permanent Orienteering Courses (POCs) (4). POCs are located across the UK and in areas that can be accessible for inner city schools and colleges. POCs can offer a range of curriculum opportunities, including numeracy challenges, such as calculating speed, distance and time (5), and literacy challenges, such as submitting verbal and written reports and covering plans. POCs can also support key stage 3 and 4 physical education programmes in England by providing intellectual and physical challenges through outdoor adventurous activities (6).
POCs can be urban, forests, heathland, parks and green spaces and each site will have a course(s) where the challenge is to navigate around a set course visiting checkpoints (or controls) in the form of posts or plaques in the correct order. Maps can be downloaded from the POC website and are either free or available for a small fee. The range of orienteering courses available on a particular POC site depends on the environment it is located in and the technical nature of the terrain. British Orienteering offer a colour-coded course structure, which helps both teachers and students understand the technicality/difficulty of the course. At a Permanent Orienteering Course site, you are most likely to encounter the following courses: White - easy on paths or tracks (1.0 - 1.5km); Yellow - fairly easy, uses linear features like paths and streams (1.5 - 2.0km); Orange - more challenging with route choice and use of a compass (2.5 - 3.5km); and Light Greenchallenging with more route choices requiring navigation skills including using a compass and contour interpretation (2.53.5km). These colour-coded courses are ‘line courses’, which means participants are required to navigate to all the controls in the order shown on the map.
In my experience, three POCs at different locations would be the best way to initiate a progressive programme for students – this avoids over-familiarity with any single location. Before each session, students should explore the course on a map. The first POC you use (White/Yellow course) can be used as a supervised session where students can be given tasks on distance calculation, using compass bearings and interpreting contours. The next step would then be for students to navigate independently around a second POC (White/Yellow course) in small teams. The third POC site ideally needs both Orange and Light Green colour-coded courses and these courses can be used as competitive events for students.
Advanced orienteering techniques
Advanced orienteering techniques can be gradually introduced to extend students’ navigational abilities whilst on a progressive programme using POCs. These five techniques are: handrail features; collecting features; attack points; aiming off; and catching features. These five techniques were fully described by Björn Kjellström in his book published in 1955 (7). The rationale behind this book was to assist the development of orienteering in the USA during the late 1950s. These techniques are now embedded in UK mountain training schemes, included in the National Navigation Award Scheme (NNAS) and even feature in relevant units in education qualifications such as the BTEC Level 3 Nationals in Public Services, where students have the opportunity to practice these techniques in a variety of outdoor locations. The following section provides a definition for each technique and describes how they can be used whilst navigating a route, alongside examples for engaging each technique.
Handrail features
Handrail features are linear features such as paths, tracks, fences, streams and others which are specific to orienteering, for example, a vegetation boundary. Using these will literally guide you along a line, just as holding a bannister rail would when going up or down the stairs.
In practice, each student should be encouraged to identify a range of linear features which can be used as handrails using their POC map. In a supervised group, students can then be encouraged to look out for linear features which might be used as handrails for navigating. The ability to recognise and use handrail features is foundational to orienteering, especially to provide confidence to novices so they can succeed in navigating the easier White and Yellow courses on a POC.
Collecting features
Collecting features can be major or minor features on the map and will help you keep track of where you are and provide assurance that you are heading in the right direction. In the first phase of development using White/Yellow courses, collecting features relate to linear/handrail features such as path junctions, wall corners and bends in a stream. Then, progressing onto Orange/Light Green courses, they would include contour features like spurs, knolls, depressions and re-entrants (see glossary on page 32).
In practice, each student should be encouraged to identify a range of collecting features using their POC map. Then, proceeding in a supervised group, students should be able to recognise each type of collecting feature. A technique known as ‘thumbing’ can be used here, which is where you move your thumb over the map to cover each collecting feature as you pass them. This can be conducted whilst moving along linear features used as handrails as in the above activity. The next step would see students using pacing to ascertain relative distances between each collecting feature. As a further developmental stage, an ‘off-piste’ route (a route not using linear features) could be selected, with students setting their compass to provide direction aided by pacing to reach each collecting feature on their way to their destination.
The ability to recognise and use collecting features will provide confidence and assurance when students are tackling Orange courses where there are route choices which include going ‘off-piste’.
Aiming off
Aiming off is a technique where one deliberately aims to one side of a feature and can be used with a compass bearing or by observation.
For this technique, it’s important to select a POC which has an open area that has easily recognised boundaries and a prominent feature such as a bridge. The objective of this technique is for students to aim away from the bridge using a compass bearing to hit a linear feature. The rationale here is that in poor visibility a direct bearing to the bridge may result in missing it completely and not knowing where you are in relation to the bridge’s location. In order to ensure you are to one side of the bridge, the aiming off technique can be utilised. In a supervised group, students can each take a leg and aim off using compass bearings, for example, to the right of the bridge. Once at the boundary, students now know to turn left and follow this as a handrail feature to lead them to the bridge.
The ability to understand and use the aiming off technique will be useful when on Orange level courses, which have greater route choices and require the ability to use a compass when selecting an ‘off-piste’ route.
Catching features
Attack points
An attack point is a prominent feature close to a control or destination point where you take a compass bearing in order to launch an attack.
To identify a good attack point is to use a prominent feature and choose one as close as possible to the control or destination point. To launch an attack from an attack point requires an accurate compass bearing and pacing - the shorter the distance the greater the level of accuracy. It helps in the planning stage to identify catching features (see below) should students miss the attack point, as these will stop them going any further.
In the first instance, students should identify potential attack points on a POC map. Then, in a supervised group, each student can be given a leg where they proceed to their attack point. From this point they navigate to the control feature. This technique can also be used in an exercise involving catching features (see below).
If you overshoot a control point you might look to have a catching feature in place to prevent you going too far in the wrong direction.
Good catching features are well-defined linear features or prominent area features, such as a pond or a large depression, that are easily identifiable. In the planning stage, it is good for students to be able to identify catching features as a ‘just in case’ if students miss a certain feature such as an attack point. Here, good observational skills are initially needed and then supported by compass skills. Recognising catching features at all levels of navigational ability are part of safety procedures to get back on track.
On a POC, students should first identify an attack point and then a suitable catching feature on their POC map. Then, in a supervised group, each student should be given a leg where they proceed to their attack point. If they cannot find the attack point then they move to their identified catching feature. From this point they can either navigate back to their attack point or find an alternative route to the control feature.
Practicing both attack points and catching features on Orange level courses will then provide navigation skills to help students succeed in completing Light Green courseswhich are challenging, have more route choices and require confident use of a compass.
Glossary
Area feature - A feature covering an area with examples including large ponds, depressions, knolls etc.
Contour - A line drawn on a map to show relative elevation.
Control - A point on an orienteering course which a participant has to visit, marked on a map with a circle. At each control there will be a post or plaque with a code. Sometimes referred to as a checkpoint.
Control site - Each control site is at the centre of a circle marked on the map and at a feature described in the course control descriptions list. Depression - Contour feature. A dry hollow in the ground.
Line course - A set course where the participant has to visit all the controls in correct order as indicated on the map. This is the most popular type of orienteering.
Knoll - Contour feature. A raise in the ground, for example, a very small hill.
Off-piste - Navigating a route going cross-country where there are no handrail features.
Pacing - A technique for estimating distance travelled by counting double strides taken. Re-entrant - Contour feature. An elongated sloping hollow.
Score course - An event in which the participant does not have to visit all the controls. There is a time limit instead of a set course. Points are scored for visiting controls, and deducted for finishing over the time limit. The participant has to decide which controls to visit and in which sequence. A watch is a vital item of equipment.
Spur - Contour feature. An elongated raise radiating from sloping ground.
Overview
The overall objective is that, by using off-site POCs in a progressive adventure activity programme and then gradually introducing orienteering navigation techniques, students will gain knowledge and skills which can be transferred to other scenarios where navigation is required. This will provide them with the confidence to access the outdoors and undertake independent exploration safely. In closing, orienteering can provide anyone engaged in outdoor navigation with a range of techniques to support them in reaching their destination - whether it is the next control site during an orienteering competition or finding a camping spot in a remote environment.
References
1. Scottish Mountain Rescue Statistics Report 2023 available as as pdf Accessed 2/10/24
2. Mountain Rescue England and Wales https://www.mountain.rescue.org.uk/ news/ordnance-survey-and-mountain-rescue-england-and-wales-join-forcesto-promote-responsible-walking-and-safe-navigation/ Accessed 2/10/24
3. Adventure Smart UK https://www.adventuresmart.uk/think-about-gear/ Accessed 10/07/24
5. BBC Bitesize How to calculate speed, distance and time https://www.bbc. co.uk/bitesize/articles/zcr3tv4#znncg7h Accessed 2/10/24
6. Department for Education Physical education programmes of study: key stages 3 and 4. National curriculum in England: https://assets.publishing. service.gov.uk/media/5a7c74e2e5274a5255bcec5f/SECONDARY_national_ curriculum_-_Physical_education.pdf Accessed 10/07/24
7. Björn Kjellström (1955) Be Expert with Map and Compass: The Complete Orienteering Handbook 3rd edition 2010 with Carina Kjellström Elgin; Wiley.
Photographer credit: Images on pages 29-31 by Chris Sweetman. Image on page 32 from Unsplash. Photographers retains copyright.
CLIMATE AMBASSADORS
Jane Dickson and Cormac Lawler consider the new Climate Ambassadors project and how the outdoor learning sector can help
Author Jane Dickson is part of the EAUC team co-leading Climate Ambassadors and is Partnerships Manager for the project. As a member of the Climate Ambassadors project management team, she manages partnerships across a range of sectors, supports the nine regional hubs and works with the project’s steering group. Get in touch: jdickson@eauc.org.uk
Author Dr Cormac Lawler is a Research Associate in Carbon Literacy at Manchester Metropolitan University and the North West Regional Hub Manager for the Climate Ambassadors programme. With Climate Ambassadors, his work involves engaging and connecting educational settings and Climate Ambassadors, as well as delivering Carbon Literacy training. Get in touch: C.Lawler@mmu.ac.uk
Taking sustainability and climate education outdoors
Those in the IOL network need little persuading of the need to act with urgency, ambition and impact in the face of the climate and ecological crises. The UK Government’s Climate Change Act and Net Zero Strategy set ambitious goals to reduce emissions, but these efforts are a minimum requirement in the international context. Global commitments, such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), underscore the need for direct action along with adaptation strategies.
Sustainability is at the heart of the IOL’s Manifesto 2024-29, both in the offer to education/activity groups and in making the sector itself more sustainable. Sustainability action is also about future-proofing and, by embedding sustainability into the core of our practice, we can create environments that are not only great places to learn and work, but also resilient in the face of future challenges – whether that’s energy price spikes, flooding or extreme weather.
Whilst tackling these immediate challenges, we also need to be looking to the future: ensuring that the generations after ours
are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and determination to continue the work we have started. Education is at the heart of this and outdoor learning centres and their practitioners, with their expertise and focus, further enrich these opportunities.
Department for Education expectations: climate action plans and sustainability leads
In April 2022, the Department for Education published its first sustainability and climate change strategy which states that all education settings in England should have both a sustainability lead and a climate action plan (CAP) by the end of 2025. CAPs cover the ‘ABCD’ of adaptation, biodiversity, climate education/ skills and de-carbonisation. These pillars touch on all elements of what an education setting does and therefore promote ‘whole organisation approaches’ that span teaching and learning, student and staff engagement, community partnerships, leadership and governance as well as estates and operations. Wales and Scotland have their own unique action plans which are linked at the end of this article.
The DfE has commissioned a number of projects and programmes delivered by multiple partners regionally, to support the delivery of their sustainability and climate change strategy. One such project is Sustainability Support for Education (sustainabilitysupportforeducation.org.uk), which is a resource hub that encourages education settings to assess their current sustainability practice and provides signposts to trusted, quality assured resources that help them further their impact.
The National Education Nature Park (educationnaturepark.org. uk) is another example. They offer valuable resources, digital tools and grants which enable education settings to transition from ‘grey to green’, providing learners and communities with opportunities to connect to nature and participate in citizen science.
Another such project is the Climate Ambassadors programme, which is a group of trained volunteers who are committed to supporting education settings in the development and delivery of holistic climate action plans. With the DfE strategy set to mature in 2025, Climate Ambassadors can match volunteer climate experts with education settings to assist the development of climate action plans. Although not funded by DfE, Let’s Go Zero (letsgozero.org) works in partnership with these projects and have a team of staff who provide similar support.
Sustainability and the IOL
As part of this work, we were delighted to be invited to work with Daniel Playford, the IOL Sustainability Lead, to co-produce a workshop at the IOL National Conference in Derbyshire last November. This workshop started a conversation about how outdoor learning providers and practitioners can work with the Climate Ambassadors programme – including signing up as Climate Ambassadors and developing a shared language that aids outdoor learning providers in supporting education settings to develop their climate action plans. This was a rich discussion, with great questions, suggestions, feedback and lots of potential opportunities for development. The conversation and work are set to continue – and we now need the widespread involvement of the outdoor learning sector to realise the potential that the Climate Ambassadors programme creates and to shape the ‘offer’ that outdoor learning can provide to education settings.
Get involved – Climate Ambassadors
Climate Ambassadors are volunteers with many skillsets. Some inspire leadership teams, others help sustainability leads to navigate the support available and others provide specific technical advice on one element of a climate action plan. Depending on their task, they work with different communities within an education setting: educators, learners, senior managers and/or professional support staff. As such, anyone with knowledge and skills related to (one of) the four CAP areas who is passionate and motivated to offer support to education settings can become a Climate Ambassador.
Why get involved?
Becoming a Climate Ambassadors offers a unique avenue to:
• Make your knowledge and skills count in tackling real-world sustainability and climate challenges.
• Make a genuine difference to your community by supporting education settings that need and value your contribution.
• Develop sustainability and climate leadership skills - for yourself and those you work with - with training provided on climate essentials, systems change and working with education settings.
• Experience personal fulfilment, gaining a sense of achievement as you see your advice and ideas put into practice.
Take action today
The key message is to start somewhere and somehow. You don’t need to have the perfect setup or to have achieved all you’d like to – indeed, waiting for the perfect conditions or full expertise will only delay your progress. As the saying goes, the best time to take action on climate change was fifty years ago; the next best time is now.
If you would like to get involved, but you are not sure what your first step should be, then get in touch with the IOL network. You can also begin by contacting your local Climate Ambassadors Regional Hub Manager (climateambassadors. org.uk/get-involved). Our team can discuss local opportunities and help you to register as a Climate Ambassador and work with education settings in your region. We’re here to help you, from wherever it is you are now, to a more sustainable future.
SCOTLAND
Learning for Sustainability Scotland Action Plan 2023-30 aims to build an inspiring movement for change so that every place of education for learners between 3-18 years old becomes a sustainable learning setting.
Check out this Learning for Sustainability Scotland blogpost for more information.
WALES
The new Curriculum for Wales, introduced from 2022, places an emphasis on the “four purposes,” which include preparing learners (aged 3-16) to become ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world with climate change embedded through cross-curricular themes like science, geography, and social studies. More information at walescouncilforoutdoorlearning.org.
the fine art of working and playing with groups
Dr Jim Cain offers up ten of his top tips to help you become a better teacher, educator and facilitator
Author
Team building Guru Dr. Jim Cain is the author of thirty-two books on team and community building activities from around the world. His virtual activities are used around the world and his in-person train-the-trainer programmes are very popular in the adventure-based learning community. For more information visit: teamworkandteamplay.com
As with many professions, effective teaching, training, team building, group facilitation and staff development requires a variety of skills and competencies. In this article, I’d like to offer ten tips to help you in your quest to be a better teacher, trainer, team builder, group facilitator and staff development specialist. These tips reflect just a fraction of the knowledge I’ve gained while working and playing with groups of all kinds, including school groups, community groups, corporate groups and governmental groups, for more than half a century. These helpful hints and best practices have enhanced my abilities as a teacher, trainer, facilitator and group leader and I sincerely hope that you will find them valuable as well. The following ten tips are from a list of one-hundred tips in the first chapter of my book, Extraordinary Facilitation.
Tip #1 – Squeeze the lemon
When I want to make lemonade, I take a fresh lemon, cut it in half and then squeeze. But if I squeeze harder, I get more out of the lemon. When I choose an activity to share with my audience, I want to get more out of the activity than just the activity itself. Metaphorically, I squeeze the activity to get every drop of value from it that I can - this process has the potential to turn an ordinary activity into an extraordinary one.
The Story of Your Name activity is a great example of squeezing the lemon. In this activity, participants share in as much detail as they like the story of how they came to have their name. Not only is this activity an interesting way to learn the names of the members of a group, but it also builds an atmosphere of respect.
Tip #2 – The law of seven minutes
Never perform a single icebreaker or an opening activity for more than seven minutes. I would rather lead three activities in a twenty-minute period, than a single activity for twenty minutes. By limiting the length of an activity, especially an opening activity, you can maximize the energy and engagement level of the group.
The Big Question, where participants share ice-breaking questions with each other, is one of my favourite icebreakers, but if I play that activity for sixty minutes then no one will ever want to do the activity again. By switching activities just after the group’s energy reaches its highest level, participants will always want to revisit or replay the activity again in the future.
Tip #3 – Be all you can be, read
I believe that there are two things that will make you the person you are going to be in the next ten years; the books that you read and the friends that you keep. People often ask me how I create the activities that I use in my workshops. The answer is very simple, I read! I read everything I can find on subjects related to team building, facilitation, teaching, training, organisational development, leadership, communication, building trust, decision-making, outdoor adventure, puzzles, games, group dynamics, youth development, virtual facilitation, corporate training and education.
When I visit a bookshop, I am drawn to these subjects and constantly look for books that I have yet to read. I also scan the internet for articles and publications of interest, including books and articles from foreign countries (which some search-engines can easily translate).
Tip #5 – Which activity should I present?
The answer to the question which activity should I present is very simple. You should present an activity that you are excited about. If you are excited about an activity, your audience will be excited about it and if you are not, they won’t. Enthusiasm is contagious. Facilitators have more energy for an activity that excites them and they typically pass this energy and enthusiasm onto their audiences.
Tip #4 – Offer participants choices
One of the simplest ways to increase the engagement of any group is to offer them the opportunity to make choices. When preparing for an event, you might have two activities ready for the group. By asking “which activity would you like to do next?”, you give them control over their destiny. Choice is such a simple concept and, when used well, it can dramatically increase the engagement of your audience. So, look for opportunities to give the members of your audience choices and decisions and invite them to join you in setting the course of your time together.
If you would like to dig deeper into the concept of sharing power in a learning environment, see the book: When Students Have Power – Negotiating Authority in a Critical Pedagogy by Ira Shor.
Tip #6 – Stand back
After I present the basic information for a group to begin working together on a team challenge activity, I physically step back from the group and let them work on the activity alone. I discovered that if I remain a part of the group participants would often direct questions to me rather than to each other. This way, when they return from the programme, having grown confident in their abilities, they won’t need a facilitator to help them through the most difficult parts. Empowerment is a valuable life skill.
Faith Evans captured this sentiment perfectly when she shared the following quote in the book, The More the Merrier:
Go to the people. Be with them. Learn from them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. And, of the best leaders, when their job is finished, their task accomplished, the people will say, we did this ourselves
(Lao Tzu)
Tip #7 – The ultimate goal
The goal of a facilitator is not necessarily to help a team succeed, but rather to help a team learn as much as they can from any experience, even when they fail. There are a unique set of skills that are valuable in life related to tenacity, perseverance, fortitude, grit, persistence, determination, diligence, endurance and drive. Learning how to recover from failure is as important as learning how to deal with success. Understandably, many facilitators want their group to succeed, but it can be even more valuable for a facilitator to help their group gain all the knowledge possible, even when they fail.
with reviewing!
Tip #8 – Never stop learning
On one wall of my office, there are several inspirational quotes. “Ancora Imparo”, from sculptor, painter, architect and poet Michelangelo is one of my favourites. In Latin, the phrase translates as still I am learning. I think most people would agree that Michelangelo was one of the most influential artists of his time and for someone of his talents to admit in his advanced years that he was still learning is reassuring. Many people consider teachers, trainers, facilitators and group leaders to be artists, with human interactions as their medium of choice, but when was the last time you learned something new?
Reviewing is not the thing you do at the end of an activity. It is the reason why you do the activity in the first place.
(Roger Greenaway)
The final component of many group activities is known as the debrief or final review. This component of the learning cycle is often the most valuable part of the experience. When I first began leading group activities, I have to admit, I was all about the activity itself. I loved activities, but in those early days, I often raced from one activity to the next without ever pausing to review an activity after its completion. Then I found some truly valuable reviewing techniques that I felt competent sharing with groups. As my list of reviewing activities increased, so did my confidence with this component of the programme. The debriefing process has dozens of valuable techniques that you can use with audiences of all kinds. Search for teachable moments in all of your activities and help your group discuss and learn from these moments.
For more reviewing activities, read: A Teachable Moment – A Facilitator’s Guide to Activities for Processing, Debriefing, Reviewing and Reflection by Cummings, Cain and Stanchfield and you can find additional reviewing techniques in the book, Playback – A Guide to Reviewing Activities by Roger Greenaway.
Conclusion
Tip #10 – The make or break factor
In the summary of his extensive research on training programmes, Dr. Richard Wagner of the University of Wisconsin mentions that the facilitator is the make-or-break factor in the success of any training programme. Simply stated, you could have the best learning facility on the planet and still fail unless your programme invests not only in the facility, but also in the skills of those facilitating these programmes. Both are necessary for success and, according to Wagner, the most significant factor is the skill of the group leader. For more information on this subject, see Do It and Understand – The Bottom Line on Corporate Experiential Learning by Christopher Roland, Richard Wagner and Robert Weigand.
Try creating your own list of truths and tips for working and playing with groups. Whether you are a novice to the profession, or a master, or anything in between, I’m sure you have already discovered tips that improve your abilities when working with groups. So, create your own list and share it far and wide. These were ten of my top tips for improving your group facilitation skills! If you enjoyed these tips and want to further your education in the fine art of working and playing with groups, you can find 100 of these tips in my book Extraordinary Facilitation - acabookstore.org/extraordinary-facilitation.
Photographer credit: Images on pages 36-37 by Jim Cain. Image on page 35 from Shutterstock. Photographers retains copyright.
Tip #9 – Get comfortable
Author
Imbolc
SENSING
Lizzy Maskey runs Pippin & Gile, a bushcraft school based in the South-East, established in 2018. Lizzy has been teaching outdoor education since 2013 and moved to formalise and extend her bushcraft knowledge in 2016. Lizzy launched Pippin & Gile after returning from cycling 9000km to Kazakhstan unsupported. When not cycling or teaching, Lizzy is always looking to learn and develop and can be found exploring hedgerows and muddy puddles across the UK and around the world.
It’s February, and Imbolc is here! The days are considerably lighter, the snowdrops are up and blooming white, the crocuses are on their way and the first daffodils are pushing their way upwards. The world feels like its singing out that spring is well and truly underway. It is this time of year when I really start to feel the promise of the warmer and lighter days to come.
Imbolc is a lesser-known astronomical date which is celebrated on the 1st or 2nd of February. It is also known as a cross-quarter day, as it is 1/8th of the way though the solar year – or halfway between the two clear celestial markers of the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Imbolc is more commonly known in the UK as Candlemas and it has had many names across time and cultures. The name cross-quarter comes as it crosses the quarter days of the solstices and equinoxes. The other three cross-quarter days fall on the 1st/2nd May, 1st/2nd August and 31st-2nd November, the latter being a date we often recognise as Halloween or All Souls’ Day. Historically the crossquarter days were celebrated with fire, as the solar movements were less key than they were on the quarter days of the Solstices and Equinoxes.
Sensing spring
As I alluded to at the start of this article, spring really feels like it is on its way, gaining momentum every day. Walks can be had at 5pm without a head torch! As well as the bulbs bursting though the ground, there is a perceptible change to the colours of the hedgerows each day as the buds start to swell and you see a wide spectrum of colours developing. After months of darkness and dormancy, the woods feel like they are coming back to life again. I tend to find the stupor of winter, which can feel like a heavy blanket, falling from my back too.
This early spring is a time of year a lot of gardeners call the hunger gap, when the winter stores are depleting and often before any seeds are due to go in the ground. Fortunately for us, nature doesn’t believe in hunger gaps. As well as the bulbs springing forward at this time of year, the hardy perennials are well and truly underway on their re-growth and some of the hardier and short-lived annuals and biennials are taking advantage of the brighter days.
As the days are getting lighter, Lizzy soup that will bring the excitement
A springtime walk
As you go for your walks it is a great time to keep an eye out for the first regrowth of many a delicious early spring green. There might be some small, young, tender growth of Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica), which will have been visible throughout the whole winter unless it’s been a particularly cold one, and more will be appearing now.
Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) and Wavy Bittercress (Cardamine flexuosa) are plants in the mustard family that are short-lived annuals and are often to be found on exposed soil from February onwards. Wild Garlic will have started to appear and this winter our Three-Cornered Leek was making an unlikely appearance in November and December, so there may be a bit around to gather as well!
Garlic Mustard, or Jackby-the-hedge (Alliaria petiolata), is a biennial from the mustard family and therefore the energy stored in the roots over winter gives it a head start against many other plants - it can produce lovely whorls of delicate garlic/mustard leaves. Keep an eye out, too, for Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) as this perennial can start up early and is often found on roadside verges. Unlike the other species I have mentioned so far, Cow Parsley, which is a member of the carrot family and is also known as Wild Chervil, has highly poisonous plants that look remarkably similar. So, make doubly sure your ID is 100% and remember - if in doubt, leave it out. The plant will come back next year and give you much easier ID features to go off later in the year. Make sure you are around next year to enjoy it too!
Ground Elder (Aegopodium podagraria) is another member of the carrot family, but much more easily recognisable from its toxic family members. The large mats of roots which form, and from any part can regrow a new plant, cause sleepless nights for many a gardener. But for the forager this imported pot plant, that escaped the pot, in its young leaved form provides a very welcome treat.
SENSING SPRING?
Lizzy Maskey offers us a warming excitement of springtime with it
Spring
green soup
This recipe makes great use of the greens available at this time of year, whilst still respecting the fact that it is not warm! Sitting with a warming hearty bowl of soup is often the ideal thing to do after a cold day outside. The recipe for this soup is very loosely based on the Very Green Soup in ‘Light and Easy’ from River Cottage, with plenty of modifications by me.
This is also a very loose soup recipe and there are more variations than there are ingredients and steps of cooking. Basically, you can almost throw anything you want into a stock pot, cook it for a while and whizz it up in a blender, add seasoning and maybe a generous dash of yogurt or a vegan alternative and you have a tasty soup that celebrates the regrowth that is outside.
The ingredients that make the base of my soup:
• Early spring greens - go easy on the bittercresses as they have a strong flavour and can easily dominate the dish - washed and picked over for yellow bits and tiny snails.
• If you don’t have enough greens, add spinach and, if you like the flavour, watercress. Any wilting rocket or darker green salad leaves can be thrown in too.
• Onion - diced and fried off in copious amounts of butter!
• Vegetable stock cube or vegetable stock .
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Potatoes (for added thickness and carbs) or rice cakes (one per person) for a velvety shiny finish and a brighter green, or ground almonds which will add protein and thicken as well as adding a luxurious richness.
• Extra ingredients I’ll add if they’re around are: carrots (and other half used root veg - cooked or uncooked); stale bread, chopped and tossed in olive oil and salt, then baked as croutons.
Method
1. Fry the onions in a good wedge of butter, add the chopped potatoes and top with veg stock. Leave to cook whilst you wash and prepare the other greens and veg. If you’re adding raw root vegetables, add these to the water at a suitable interval for them to cook alongside the potatoes.
2. Remove any tough stalks from the Cow Parsley and any roots and mud from the Bittercress, it can be quite a challenge to pick these without extracting their roots, so I suggest scissors are used. Use washing up gloves when removing any tough stalks from Stinging Nettles to avoid getting stung.
3. Add all the washed greens to the pan once the potatoes and any root vegetables are cooked and stir in.
4. If you’re not doing potatoes, add a centimetre of water to the bottom of the onion pan and wilt the greens in this.
5. You might need to add the greens in batches - I tend to find my pan overflows otherwise, but they do shrink down hugely when cooked. Keep adding greens until you have enough.
6. Now add any other cooked vegetables you are using.
7. If you’ve already added the stock to cook the potatoes, blend everything together and add more stock to desired consistency. If you didn’t go for potatoes, add a good mug of stock before blending and roughly add a crunched up a rice cake per person or a tablespoon of ground almonds. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve with a flourish! I love serving this in dark blue bowls to highlight the deep green. I get a stronger green with the rice cakes than I do with the potatoes or ground almonds, so you can really play around with contrasting colours.
9. Don’t forget the croutons in the oven if you did those too!
Photographer credit: Recipe images by Lizzy Maskey. Illustrative images from Unsplash. Photographers retains copyright.
IN PROFILE
In this issue, Horizons spoke to Jane Campbell Morrison MBE about her life, career and the outdoors
Jo Barnett: Welcome to Horizons, Jane, and thanks for sharing your interesting career with us. To start, may I ask what is your current role in outdoor learning?
Jane Campbell Morrison MBE: My answer may be controversial, because some people might say I’m not in outdoor learning! I feel that I am because I work in the outdoors, I teach people about the outdoors even through the most casual of conversations. I teach people skills that help them develop as a person, develop educationally and develop into lifelong vocations. I have three outdoor learning roles: firstly, I run a small water sports centre; secondly, I work for the Royal Yachting Association Scotland in delivering instructor training up to senior instructor level; and thirdly, I chair both the Scottish Adventure Activities Forum and the Scottish Outdoors Consortium.
JB: So, where did your own personal love for the outdoors come from?
JCM: My dad is a keen sailor and skier and that’s where I started. There are photos of me in a boat at the age of about two years old. Actually, to be perfectly honest with you, I hated sailing with my dad and for a long time I didn’t even really like skiing! But I reached the point at school where I had to make some decisions about what my career was going to be and the more traditional academic avenues weren’t for me at all. I needed to be outdoors doing stuff.
JB: Thinking about your career in the outdoors, what are you most proud of?
JCM: The thing I’m most proud of is being given an MBE for my services to the outdoors in Scotland, which I value as an expression of support for my work. The second thing is introducing people to the outdoors. Seeing someone go outside and say, ‘oh, this is cool!’ and seeing people realise that it’s there for them and they can do all kinds of stuff in the outdoors. Watching young people and older people alike getting out on the water or on skis and just loving it - that makes me feel really proud of my part in that.
Then the parents that I trained when they were young, now bring their children to me, that’s when I know my true impact - I am seeing the work I did with the first generation has worked so well that they are bringing the second generation back to me to learn in the outdoors. I also feel sense of pride when instructors that I have trained get back in touch on a regular basis – usually when they have a complicated question, but still wanting to learn from me. I am proud of my work with the Scottish Adventure Activities Forum; bringing people together to collaborate on challenges in the outdoors and finding the way forward, not always easy but has to be done!
JB: Looking back over your career, what’s the most significant thing that you have learned?
JCM: The importance of the outdoors to life in general and that there is still so much work to do to get people outside to make it ‘normal’ - it’s something we must recognise as important and something that doesn’t need a social prescription or to be anything special. When I go outside, it isn’t me going outside, it’s just as much a part of my life as the ‘indoors.’
JB: So, what is your top tip for someone starting out in a career in the outdoors?
JCM: My top tip for someone starting out would be to figure out which outdoor activity is your thing, because not all of them are for everybody. Then to think about whether to be a general outdoor instructor or to specialise and become really knowledgeable and skilled in one or two outdoor activities. I have full admiration for the people out there who can do it all to really high levels, but I couldn’t do that and that’s why I chose to specialise in skiing and sailing. If your choice is to work in a particular place, then understand what you need to be of use to that centre or venue, work on those skills and get plenty of experience. Then you can go on to earn the relevant National Governing Body Awards or maybe a further/higher education qualification or the IOL Accredited Practitioner Award.
I value the apprenticeship model of training, which is where someone’s going to look after you and where you can make all your mistakes and learn from them. I am saying this with my employer’s hat on, because I think this will stand you in good stead in the long-term. You’re never going to make shed loads of money out of being an outdoor instructor, but my goodness it makes you feel good inside.
JB: What do you think is important for the future of outdoor learning, Jane?
JCM: I am thinking about my collaborative work with the Scottish Adventure Activities Forum, the Scottish Outdoor Council and Countryside Learning Scotland. Countryside Learning Scotland have great programmes for young people, called Rural Pathways, which help young people see the opportunities that are available to them, particularly if you’re not that academic. They provide chances for young people to work alongside people like gamekeepers and achieve vocational qualifications, such as in tree surgery and arboriculture. The reason I’m a Countryside Learning Scotland Trustee is to build some adventure activities into their programme and so increase opportunities for rural employment.
JB: You’re talking about more of an integrated landscape and outdoor learning route?
: Yes. My grandparents were into countryside sports including hunting and fishing. I don’t like killing things so I’m terrible at that sort of thing, but I think there is synergy from countryside sports which we would be remiss to overlook. We, in outdoor learning, need to engage with our countryside cousins because they are the people who are doing much of the hard work of maintaining and conserving the landscape and managing the wildlife, especially here, in Scotland. They are also influential lobbyists who we can learn from.
JB: And to finish, what are you doing next?
JCM: We’ve just had the first summer of our little water sports centre. So, next up is to build on that and make more people aware of the accessibility of blue space - from any background, any size, shape or creed - I want everyone to go out on the water. My big thing in Scotland is to try and streamline the outdoor sector a little bit, because I think it’s quite fragmented. Everybody does really great work, but I think there must be better collaboration. We have something in the region of twenty-seven different outdoor bodies just within the Scottish Activity Consortium. That makes it challenging for any external organisation to engage with the outdoor sector. There has to be a way of trying to reduce the number of bodies we’ve got while still achieving our desired outcomes. And then finally, I suppose the third thing comes back to my very genuine wish to see the outdoors featuring as part of life in general. Maybe we start with social prescriptions. Helping people understand that it’s OK to go out and get wet and dirty. Being outdoors will help you feel better. Whether I’ll ever achieve the third ambition, even the second one, in my lifetime remains to be seen, but I will give it a right good go!
JB: Thank you, Jane, for sharing your fascinating experiences, thoughts and ongoing career in outdoor learning with us.
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