Sharing Good Practice
Building appropriate experience and knowledge , and considering each area during planning , will help to manage whatever situation might arise .
Involving young people in the process of risk assessing activities provides an additional opportunity for them to develop key skills , including :
Activities perceived to be high risk can provide multiple learning opportunities when well planned and managed .
necessary skills . High challenge does not always mean difficult .
Knowing when to intervene is crucial . Recognising when students have reached an impasse is key , but simply telling the group what to do might not be the answer . The nature of the intervention will depend on what you are trying to achieve - a key question or clue might unlock the process , or you might need to pause the activity to give the students a chance to recap and plan .
• Dynamic – your ability and experience to manage situations as they arise .
• Identifying and assessing potential risk to themselves and others
• Making safe decisions
• Recognising and following relevant safety measures
The International School Grounds Alliance ’ s “ Risk in play and learning declaration ” provides a useful framework - http :// www . internationalschoolgrounds . org / risk / . Written for school grounds , the principles apply to all outdoor learning environments .
Another ‘ barrier ’ which often stops teachers taking learning outside is ideas – what do we do ? Next time we will consider some simple activities to take the curriculum outdoors .
Managing risk
Being outdoors , possibly in unfamiliar environments , provides children with the opportunity to take risks , both physical and emotional , in a controlled , supported way . Adopting a benefitrisk approach starts with looking at the positive reasons for doing an activity . Having established it as worthwhile , identify key hazards and establish control measures to reduce this risk to an acceptable level . We cannot and should not remove all risk .
Planning group activities for learning outdoors requires having the correct equipment .
Assessing and managing risk can be broken down into 3 areas :
• Generic – relating to your school and how things are done
• Specific – you , the group , the environment , the activity
Anita is a Director of the outdoor learning consultancy Maximising Learning . She has spent the last 25 years teaching ‘ Outside the Classroom ’, and works with schools to help them explore and develop opportunities for outdoor learning , embedding these in their curricula .
Class Time | | Jan - Feb 2018 | 37