Here at Greatwood we are extremely fortunate to have Mr Magee, who is our qualified Outdoor Education leader, together, with the support of Mrs Colley, who is currently working towards being a certified Level 3 Forest School Practitioner. Together, they deliver our daily Outdoor Education programme.

Throughout the year all children from Year 2 to Year 6 take part in a three week programme designed to enhance the National Curriculum and give our children experiences and opportunities that they would not get to experience elsewhere.

Year 5 Outdoor-Ed Timetable Autumn 1 2021

This year some of the activities that our children experience are:

Planning and navigating a walk up Pendle Hill,

Fossil Hunting,

First Aid,

Geocaching,

Pond-dipping,

Walking,

Hiking,

Orienteering,

Fishing,

Den building,

Gardening,

Making a campfire and cooking on it,

Dry stone walling,

Plastering,

Den building,

Climbing,

Tree identification,

Joinery and much much more.

What our children say:

'Outdoor-Ed isn't just about the experiences! It's more so about us being together!  That's the magical bit about it!' Caleb

'There's something for everyone in Outdoor-Ed, the experience allowed us all to develop lots of new skills.' Max

'My favourite experience was walking around Grimwith Reservoir, I enjoyed it so much that I went back with my own family and our dogs.' Izzy 

'I have to say that one of my favourite parts of Outdoor-Ed was the den building, I really feel that this survival technique will stay with me forever!' Colin

'There was so much more to learn that how to plan a walk and how to fish. Mr Magee and Mrs Colley taught us so much!' Jacob

'Fishing was my favourite experience, yes it involved a lot of sitting down, but it also taught us the art of patience!' Autumn

The benefits of Outdoor Education:

Now more so than ever it is critical that our children get to experience the great outdoors. There is an abundance of research that suggests good quality learning outside the classroom adds significant value to young people’s learning. It provides a context for accumulating integrated and subject based knowledge and for developing key skills. Effective learning outside the classroom relies on problem-solving skills, cooperation and interpersonal communication: all essential skills for today’s young people.

What our parents say:

'I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you how much Paisley enjoyed the Outdoor Ed experience. He didn’t really talk about it much at the time only to briefly tell us what he’d been doing & to say he’d had a good time.
During the Easter holidays we took our grandchildren up to The Coldstones Cut near Pately Bridge, as soon as we got out of Skipton , Paisley looking at the scenery said “this is beautiful"
after that he never stopped chatting all the way there, every sentence started with “when I did outdoor ed” he gave us an intense lesson on dry stone walling, explaining in detail how to do it & why the middle is hollow & how the wall settles etc. He chatted about reservoirs & how you never swim in them & why, we had a lesson on hiking, what clothing/ boots & equipment to take, the trig point on top of Pendle Hill,  he told us about his experiences fishing & den making, his knowledge on all subjects covered was phenomenal, we all had a very enjoyable afternoon enriched by Paisleys experience at Outdoor Ed. He also chatted about why we should never to go on railway lines, who makes Tessler cars , how clouds are made & many other topics.  His general knowledge amazing.
Thank you for your dedication to teaching , especially Outdoor Ed.

I am proud to say Paisley attends Greatwood School.' Mary

'Our daughter has had a superb time at Outdoor-Ed over the past three weeks. These are memories that she will never forget.' Cheryl