A highlight in the curriculum for Junior students is our Outdoor Education Programme. The programme encompasses a wide variety of activities including Forest School, Orienteering, Bikeability, Climbing and Kayaking.

Most recently, our Year 6 students have been climbing and bouldering at City Bloc in Leeds. Climbing and bouldering (as well as the Outdoor Education Programme as a whole) has many benefits for students, including: teamwork, resilience, perseverance, cooperative learning, independence and many other cross-curricular links. It is expected that all Year 6 students will take part in this rich and exciting learning experience as part of the wider school curriculum.

There have been plenty of other interesting activities enjoyed by our Junior students throughout the academic year. Our Year 3 students created their own wooden mallet, using a billhook and whittling knife to carve a stump of wood into a useful tool. Our Year 4 students have built a raft and built a tent, developing essential survival skills whilst working with their peers. All students in Years 4-6 have practised their orienteering skills – being let loose in local parks such as Newmillerdam and Nostell Priory. Orienteering is particularly valuable for cross-curricular learning, as it supports students’ wider cognitive development, such as problem-solving, planning and evaluating their performance, as well as helping children to develop an understanding of map reading and navigation.

We are particularly looking forward to next week when we will be running ‘Bikeability sessions’ with an external provider, Cycle North. Cycle North specialise in providing expert workshops supporting our students’ journey learning to ride a bike, whatever their current ability may be. 

Mr A Bray 

Year 5 teacher and Outdoor Education Lead