Outdoor Education Blog

Summer Term

This summer term we have been doing a lot of water-based activities and finishing up on our qualifications for this academic year. We have been Coasteering, Surfing, Kayaking, Tidal Pool Swimming, Rock Pooling and Surf Kayaking. We have been doing these activities across Devon and Cornwall. The students have been waiting to get back in the sea since October last year, so it was a long wait. The students have also learnt some new Wake Boarding skills at the North Devon Wake Park. We have also bought a new BBQ for outdoor cooking! In September. We have students that have passed their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh and in 1 week we will have 5 students on their sliver assessment expedition.

We have been doing activities with Adventure Oakhampton during the GCSE exams. These activities include Raft Building, Outdoor Climbing, Abseiling, Create Stacking, Archery and Axe Throwing.  

Every Student at the end of this term will be going home with their awards. We will keep the original copy, just in case. Thanks for all the continued support. Have a great summer from The Outdoor Learning Team. Brandon will be leaving the school site in July after many years of service. We have appointed another instructor and he will be starting in September. 

Walking Challenge Tarka Trail

The students had the opportunity to do a walking challenge on the Tarka Trail. We walked a total of 100 miles and the farthest student walked a total of 13 miles. We started from Puffin Billy and walked towards Barnstaple, all the students walked to Instow and a few managed to walk as far as Fremington Quay. The staff were impressed with the students and how determined they were, legs were very tired the next day when in school.  

Beach Ranger Sessions

Monday 17^th June 2024

We welcomed some of the students to their first Beach Ranger session. With the theme of sand dunes, the group learnt the importance of the habitat and how to protect it. This was followed by a practical conservation task of digging in marram grass. Vinny wasn’t keen on the idea of sand, so sat out on this one, but the other students got stuck in and planted lots of grass! They then got the opportunity to burn some energy in an area of the dunes they were taught was okay to run up and down. They enjoyed this freedom and even picked up litter as they ran around.

Monday 24^th June 2024

Today’s ranger task was in the dune paddocks. We began the session with an open discussion with Ranger Holly, reviewing what they learnt last week and how this tied into today’s session. Dominic was fantastic at remembering and sharing his knowledge.  We then took a walk over to the paddocks, where Ranger Holly explained the practical conservation task, and why it’s important to the land. The group began pulling bracken plants from the ground, to help other rarer, native wildflowers grow. Most of the group got a little distracted, but all the students took part in the task well at various stages throughout the session. Ella had a great chat with Liam and Thomas about why they like the outdoors, and what they enjoy doing outside.

Spring Term

Key Stage 3/4

Educational visits

This half term we undertook some educational visits to the Helicopter Museum, Tiverton Museum, Bristol Zoo, Fleet Air Arm Museum and Bodmin Prison. The students engaged well with these activities and did themselves proud. The highlight was the Fleet Air Arm Museum as the students got to go into a Concorde and a …Helicopter. We got to see all the army planes and helicopters which the boys found fascinating. We also had the opportunity to go on an aircraft carrier and see how it works with other boats on the fleet.

Bodmin Jail was incredible as they have had a 30 million pound investment which has improved the facilities. The students loved the 4D cinema experience as it was so interactive. We walked around the cells the prisoners used to use, found out what they had for food and about the torture regime.  We looked at the devices that are used in Bodmin Jail’s paranormal activity nights and how many ghost sightings have been recorded.

Exeter Energy Recovery Facility

Energy for waste Centre

Group E went to the Energy for Waste centre in Exeter. The trip's outcome was to show the students what happens to our curbside waste and how to reduce it. The lads enjoyed our talk from the lady on site. We got to see them burning the waste in a big kiln which then turns into energy for the national grid. We watched the staff work the big claw that picks up a tonne of waste and puts it in the kiln. The students had a go at this on a much smaller scale on an arcade game made to do the same thing as the staff on-site just a lot safer. We got to look behind the scenes at all the machinal equipment and all the safety protocols they have. We even experienced the power going off for a training exercise which the lad’s thought was brilliant.

We watched what happens inside the kiln if households try to put out gas canisters in their general waste. It blows up and makes a huge explosion.

Sea Kayaking Talk

Group D went to Roundswell Community centre with members of the public to engage in a talk from a local guy who has paddled the whole of the South West. The students represented the school in such a positive way and Brandon was so pleased with them. The talk was about a gentleman that has kayaked the whole South West Coast and all the inlets. He has paddled 33,756 miles and taken loads of pictures of wildlife, dolphins, whales and sharks to name a few. This inspired the students to do some sea kayaking in the summer so I have booked this activity for May. We hope we have good weather and no wind, maybe we will see a whale.

New Mini Bus

We have a new mini bus that will be ready to use after half term. This is a new mini bus that we have had converted from a crew van 6-seat bus to a 9-seater bus. It’s another Ford Transit mini bus but a new model. We will use this on Outdoor Learning. The school has invested money into this great van so please can we ask all students to look after it so that we can keep it nice for many years to come. We will buy a roof rack to put all the surfboards and kayaks on top.