Outdoor challenges
Programme contact
Michael Mann
Education Programmes Manager
+ 44 203 116 0800
michael.mann@
arkonline.org
Boosting children's learning and confidence through affordable school outdoor challenges
1,000 secondary school children will take part in challenging outdoor trips by summer 2013
10 schools will be able to run their own trips for up to 150 children a year per school from 2014
Evidence shows that children who take part in challenging outdoor expeditions learn better and gain in self-confidence. Yet pupils from low-income families rarely get that chance. Our initiative, piloted in September 2011, will help schools to run low cost outdoor challenges to widen pupils' horizons.
Our impact
By the summer of 2013, more than 1,000 pupils from 15 secondary
schools will be able to take part in affordable outdoor trips and
expeditions with ARK's support. For three to five days, groups of
children will leave their city lives for a succession of outdoor
challenges. For most it will be their first taste of camping,
hiking, orienteering and shelter-building and other new
activities.
Participants will learn to set themselves harder challenges and
develop higher expectations of themselves, gain resilience and work
in teams - with the benefits lasting far longer than the trips
themselves. Studies show that taking part in challenging outdoor
experiences has a lasting positive impact on a child's learning and
self-confidence. Independent research into the Duke of
Edinburgh's Awards, for instance, found 93% of
participants reported improved teamwork,
84% increased their sense of
responsibility, and 84% improved
their ability to stick at tasks until they were
completed.