Outdoor education prepares pupils for GCSEs

A headteacher has written in Tes strongly supporting adventure-based activities and describing how they make the ideal preparation for the GCSE years.

“Outdoor activities offer opportunities for building self-awareness, personal responsibility and resilience that are well-nigh impossible to replicate in the classroom.”

Parallels are drawn between learning to cope in the great outdoors and the demands that exams place upon us. For example, pupils will learn that the forces of nature don’t always go our way. During inclement weather they must learn to take a deep breath and keep walking up the mountain.

“In a similar way, many aspects of the public world that young people are preparing to enter at this time are impersonal and won’t bow to our preferences – the public exam system, of course, and, later, the employment market. We must learn to shoulder our responsibilities, take a deep breath and keep walking towards the next challenge.”

Adding to the mix are the challenges of working in groups and the benefits of a digital-detox, which all build resilience as well as cognitive and emotional development.

Read the full article: ‘Outdoor education prepares pupils for GCSEs’ | Tes News