EXMOOR NATIONAL PARK – the perfect outdoor classroom
Exmoor National Park Authority has welcomed the recent launch of the ‘Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto’ by the Secretary of State for Education & Skills.
Education staff from all National Park Authorities were part of the consultation process that the Government embarked on to develop the Manifesto. Exmoor National Park Authority is unique in still having its own remote residential outdoor education centre at Pinkery where 2,500 children come as part of their school calendars. This includes four weeks of activities with inner city children from Bristol and London. Pinkery is an excellent example that fulfils the agenda of the manifesto by providing experiential learning in a special National Park landscape.
As well as this a further 8,000 children are seen as part of the day visit activity programmes provided by the Authority’s education and ranger staff.
National Park Authority education officer Dave Gurnett said: The Manifesto gives a high profile to an agenda that the Authority is already passionate about as it links local young people with their own special landscape and cultures. We are delighted that the government has put more resources into this.
By endorsing the Manifesto, the Authority along with other organisations have collectively pledged to:
- Provide all young people with a wide range of experiences outside the classroom, including extended school activities and one or more residential visits
- Make a strong case for learning outside the classroom, so there is widespread appreciation of the unique contribution these experiences make to young people’s lives.
- Offer learning experiences of agreed high quality.
- Improve training and professional development opportunities for schools and the wider workforce.
- Better enable schools, local authorities and other key organisations to manage visits safely and efficiently.
- Provide easy access to information, knowledge, expertise, guidance and resources.
- Identify ways of engaging parents, carers and the wider community in learning outside the classroom.