When I was a kid I remember my Dad waxing lyrical about an Outward Bound course he did as a teenager (possibly as an alternative to "inward bound" due to a misappropriated vehicle... but that's another story), but for some reason* I never came across anything like that.
A couple of years ago we were camping west of Canberra in a nice spot and we met a fairly eccentric young man who was spending Xmas alone. He's had a really tough frankly shitty life, but he said the thing that saved him had been going on an Outward Bound course at a critical age. He still goes back to the same part of the world every year to recreate the experience on is own.
My eldest son has just signed up for a winter visit (June for us) to an outdoor education centre (see below) and i'm frankly quite envious.
Anyway, i'm keen to hear other people's experience of outdoor education and how it changed their lives... or didn't.
The main purpose of Mittagundi is to provide programs for young people (age 14 to 17) to explore Victoria’s high country and themselves. They spend time bush walking, camping, abseiling from nearby cliffs, rafting the Mitta Mitta River and helping to run a farm.
The atmosphere at Mittagundi is simple, honest and happy. There are no watches, no timetables and no devices. Instead there is an opportunity for young people to live and work together in an environment where people matter more than anything else.
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*growing up in the East Midlands and playing conventional ball sports probably didn't help
Beau Miles did a video on similar and it was really good.
I didn't go on one, but I was lucky enough to go on holidays that did outdoor stuff and that lit my curiosity.
Hope your son has an excellent time.
The year I left university I went to Nepal for 5 weeks with a group organised by the Brathay Explorer Group. They're still in operation based out of Brathay hall near Ambleside.
We had a couple of weeks of project work in a mountain village, (for my part I installed a rudimentary solar and battery lighting system in a house and the local Buddhist monastery) before we went trekking up to the Everest area. Then a few days loose in Kathmandu which included a day mountain tour.
It was frankly the best trip I've ever taken. I'm sure there are opportunities for adults to do similar if you research, likely it will just be fairly pricey.
I went on one as a child. In Hexham I think. Not a fan. wet, cold, PE teacher - like instructors, dormitories.
It did persuade me never to subsequently try climbing, abseiling, kayaking, or orienteering.
still, it was the late 70s.
one of our children went on at least one in the 2010s and seemed to enjoy it a great deal.
1985 and my new secondary school had a club that painted and renovated the dinghies all winter then sailed them on Ullswater through summer and early autumn term evenings after school. I can remember my first ever solo jaunt - and it transformed what I wanted to do.
The same year we went on a residential and all of a sudden I found "my people" and realised there were jobs doing this stuff.
The grammar school I got into had oudoor sports PE option, which I took every year that I possibly could.
I was playing county rugby which I gave up to sail (PE teacher never spoke to me again!) and also found some youth work that was walking hills and kayaking. One of the youth workers helped me really figure out what a career outdoors would look like for me.
Before I knew it I had a seasonal job rigging dingies and handing out buoyancy aids, I was racing dinghies at national youth evel and up to world champs, out of season I was wandering around mountains with the youth workers in the Lakes.
All this led to outdoor education degree and a life in adventurous outdoor education. I'm on second part of career now as CEO of national school grounds charity.
And I can still remember that first solo in a Topper dinghy, or the joy of getting an ancient Albacore on the plane...
Glasgow schools in the 70s owned a number of centres where outdoor stuff was done. residential weeks at faskally house involved canoeing, hillwalking etcetc. inverclyde was more based around team sports. all very heavily subsidised. iirc it was £1 for a weeks residential course.
all lost under the thatcher cuts
Outward Bound are an organisation and do really good work. Our company supports them and I've been lucky enough to go along to visit a couple of courses at their centre in Loch Eil.
It's pretty inspirational - fantastic instructors (and the whole organisation) set up to take young people into the outdoors and let them learn a bit about themselves. Kids who've never done anything "adventurous" developing some real belief in themselves and others around them.
I think it's called outward bound as it was originally set up to teach some skills / self-reliance to young folks joining the merchant navy and about to be outward bound.
My school didn't do outdoor ed and living in the home counties I was a long way from decent hills. But, fortunately I joined Air Cadets and we had an incredible Adventure Training Team. I got really into that and for several years spent at least one weekend a month and three full weeks a year in North Wales or the Lakes canoeing, climbing, biking, walking and camping. I was given responsibility very early on, ending up being put through my summer ML, mountain bike leader award and various other qualifications. We did overseas expeditions, had phenomenal adventures and gained skills for life. As a direct result of this, I moved to Scotland, volunteered with mountain rescue for 13 years and have I would say that most of my adult life has been influenced by those formative years spend in the hills having adventures.
I've done tons of the residential courses at Brathay as a teen and also did the DoE. I already had a love of the outdoors due to hiking/camping with my family, but Outdoor Ed introduced me to a ton of sports like kayaking & caving that I developed a deep love for.
I did very briefly consider becoming an instructor so I could share my passion, but I lack the people skills tbh
Big ups to the people who are instructors, you folks change people lives and stoke previously unknown passions.
Strathclyde Regional Council rather than Glasgow per se if it was the 70'sGlasgow schools in the 70s owned a number of centres where outdoor stuff was done. residential weeks at faskally house involved canoeing, hillwalking etcetc. inverclyde was more based around team sports. all very heavily subsidised. iirc it was £1 for a weeks residential course.
she was to blame for a lot of things, and no doubt had a factor in this but outdoor education survived Thatcher I went to Faskally and Blairvadach in the Major years. Without doubt the teacher strikes of the 80's and work to rule policies destroyed lots of extracurricular stuff including outdoor activities; that was a Thatcher effect, but most of the buildings and operations survived moving into local authorities but only a fraction still operate today because of chronic underinvestment in both facilities and support to enable schools to use the facilities. If we think of national governments as being short sighted, local governments can be even worse.all lost under the thatcher cuts
Interestingly the Scottish Parliament just passed a bill giving pupils a right to experience residential outdoor ed as part of their schooling. Perhaps ironically the Bill wasn't brought by the Government but by a Tory MSP who honed her politics under Malcolm Rif****d and so is probably regarded as a Thatcherite!
Interestingly the Scottish Parliament just passed a bill giving pupils a right to experience residential outdoor ed as part of their schooling. Perhaps ironically the Bill wasn't brought by the Government but by a Tory MSP who honed her politics under Malcolm Rif****d and so is probably regarded as a Thatcherite!
I agree with the residential bill, buuut, as a member of advisory group to Scottish Govt/Cabinet Secretary for Education we have been working for 18 months on further recommendations for OL in all education settings in Scotland. Post election, and at the choice of whoever is CabSec Education, watch this space.
I am please Liz brought the bill forward, but I still disagree it was brought forward in isolation and from a viewpoint of a privileged urban dweller. For me it has two downsides: one size does not fit all (yes kids from Stornoway High, you must go to a rural outdoor centre and spend a week in nature....) and it has the potential to divert funds and energy from other forms of OL, which is particularly problematic when over 85% of OL is delivered by teachers, locally or in school grounds...and a lot of OL is delivered by youth organisations such as scouts, cadets, BB/GB, bike clubs etc.
I was fascinated to learn recently from an ex OB instructor that Outwood Bound originated in WW2 when the Merchant navy realised that the survival rates of torpedoed ship's crews was higher among older men than younger. This was attributed to the older men's greater life experiences - being better able to deal with challenges, difficult situations and scenarios, the ability to communicate, together with higher personal confidence and inner strength.
So it's not all about having a laugh in a kayak.
Malcolm Rif****d
Ironic swear filter intervention there for me spelling his name correctly (I think) but at a glance looks like, not entirely unreasonably, the swear filter may have been making a political judgement!
always going to be the problem with an private members bill - it can’t really be part of a wider strategy.I am please Liz brought the bill forward, but I still disagree it was brought forward in isolation and from a viewpoint of a privileged urban dweller.
For me it has two downsides: one size does not fit all (yes kids from Stornoway High, you must go to a rural outdoor centre and spend a week in nature....)
the legislation doesn’t mention rural or nature! It’s left to the creativity of teachers and local authorities to work out what’s best for those pupils, I’m sure you can find activities that the average Lewis school pupil doesn’t have ready access to, and just because people are surrounded by the outdoors 24/7 doesn’t mean they are necessarily party to the benefits of outdoor education.
I’m not sure there’s really any funding for the stuff teachers and youth organisations do to get diverted! I’d be more concerned that other bits of non-mandatory provision get deprioritised (music tuition, sports teams, are already “easy” targets).and it has the potential to divert funds and energy from other forms of OL, which is particularly problematic when over 85% of OL is delivered by teachers, locally or in school grounds...and a lot of OL is delivered by youth organisations such as scouts, cadets, BB/GB, bike clubs etc.
I’m more concerned that the legislation allows the costs to be passed to parents with no obvious rules about supporting those who can’t afford or preventing away-with-the-fairies ideas about cost and then saying, “we gave every pupil the opportunity, but parents didn’t take up the offer”. My son did get the opportunity (my daughter did not due to Covid) - and even as a comfy middle class earner the cost was enough to make me go ouch!
I don’t know whether to be happy we have legislation or disappointed we need it. Everyone I’ve spoken to (and that includes the first minister) about the value of residential outdoor education seems to be universally agreed it’s a good thing with long term benefits. However I’ll stop as the OP wants to hear what he missed out on not my rants at political myopia.
I went to cubs as a kid, and an outdoor adventure holiday with school. Both were similar experiences - I have very fond memories of doing abseiling, canoeing, and just being outside. One memory in particular - it was a cub camp, the weather was foul, April time so not particularly warm and hosing down. I stood and probably cried for most of the den building activity we were doing getting colder and wetter. And then something clicked and I just got stuck in. From wet and cold I got wet and warm, and probably filthy. And then the activity was finished and while I was probably sad it did, I mostly just remember being so happy and amazed how things had turned round.
The link to later life? Well, I love "shit" weather - being out in cold, wet, snowy, dark, anything really. As well as biking, climbing, skiing, hill running... anything really, makes me happy.
I did Cubs, but we didn't seem to get into anything particularly outdoorsy oddly enough. A couple of camping trips was about it. I remember a Father and Son's camp where Dad said we had two tents to choose from - the big family tent, or the one-man thing that had "fallen off the back of a Mod's scooter" in the 60s just before he was due to go to the Dragon (motorcycle) rally in Wales. I opted for the one-man job!
Then when i was 14/15 i went with Dad one Easter and we walked up Snowdon with two of his friends in abysmal conditions - which I thought was brilliant fun, especially when his beard froze, but I didn't have anyone else to do that kind of stuff with until I met my wife. So most of my good outdoor experience has been independent. Aside from a trip to Nepal with a tour company when I was 21.
FWIW, Stornoway schoolkids used to go to the outdoor centre at Valtos in Uig. Long since closed of course.
My school had it's own outdoor centre, but budget cuts meant that it had occasional water, no toilets and intermittent power. So use was pretty restrictive. I got one weekend in my 7 years at that school. It rained continually. And the tent leaked. The only activity that we did was going to the local war museum.
Just double checked and they sold the place about 10 years ago.
As far as i can remember we had three residentials.
One in late primary. That was in Wolverhampton, god knows why we travelled from Fife to Wolverhampton.
One early secondary. I can't remember where this was but feel like it was near the giant beech hedge.
And a final one in late secondary that was the one on lochtay i forget the name of.
As far as i am aware they were all curricular
FWIW, Stornoway schoolkids used to go to the outdoor centre at Valtos in Uig. Long since closed of course.
Which leaves me wondering if that is part of the naming of the band...
The band are from Valtos in Skye, not Valtos in Lewis
FWIW we're off to see them in April - they've a gig at the Ptarmigan on Cairngorm.
FWIW we're off to see them in April
I have three boys keen to see them...and I would gladly go too.
And a final one in late secondary that was the one on lochtay i forget the name of.
Ardeonaig likely, unlikely Fir Bush, very outside chance of Splash at Aberfeldy or Parents Get Lost at Logierait.
(Ex Ardeonaig Chief Instructor here)
Its definitely ardeonig i just couldn't for the life if me remember the name.
My sailing skills allowed me to tie a raft so solid that the teacher just started hurling buckets of water at us 🤣
I was really lucky. My school had its own outdoor centre in Patterdale. Spent many weekends up there learning to canoe, sail, climb, hike. I remember them taking us Helvellyn in the snow one February. I don't think we did the ridges but we did have to get the crampons out.
I was also in Scouts which was linked to the School and most of the leaders were outdoor instructors so more of the same each week. Used to do night navigation hikes where they'd blindfold us on the bus, drop us off somewhere unknown with a map and we'd have to get to the pickup point.
After we got our A levels, 4 friends and I spent the summer in Canada. Paddled the Mackenzie river alone from Hayriver to Inuvik. We were away for 7 or so weeks, mostly on on our own paddling in the wilderness. Got a bit of funding through the school but also the skills and confidence to attempt something like that. Year after did something similar, sea kayaked from the Alaskan border down to Vancouver Island over the summer. Married one of the people on that trip. Probably less adventurous these days but still love adventurous holidays. Lots of hiking in the UK, Europe and further afield. My wife loves horses so I did some. Rode across Iceland for a second honeymoon. Spent 3 weeks riding across Mongolia as well. These days I've mostly settled on bikes.
Something I often ponder is that I'd be a bit scared now, to do some of the trips I've done in the past. That bothers me as I used to be (unrealistically?) confident in my abilities to overcome most problems on expeditions.
I'd love to see everyone have the opportunities I did. I know many won't think freezing cold camping trips are fun, but you should have the opportunity to find out.
I was also in Scouts which was linked to the School and most of the leaders were outdoor instructors so more of the same each week. Used to do night navigation hikes where they'd blindfold us on the bus, drop us off somewhere unknown with a map and we'd have to get to the pickup point.
I remember doing those :-).
I was a reluctant Scout, it used to conflict with Blakes 7 on the telly 🙁
I did learn all the scouts stuff and we used to hike and camp which at the time I don't think I really enjoyed.
TBH I'd had the opportunity to do scuba diving(dads m8 was an instructor) and dirt bike trials(I think my dad would have enjoyed that) but my groove was computers.
I think when I got in cycling at an older age I appreciated the stuff I'd learned and actually enjoyed be outside and doing stuff and tbh the whole navigation thing and just being able to fend for yourself without drama fitted in with cycling.
As a kid I never did cubs or scouts, dabbled with DoE until I realised it wasn’t really about getting out and doing things (like the idea, execution isn’t for me).
Instead I just got out on a bike and walking on my own, went camping with my Dad, family and with mates. I was quite privileged in that regard.
we had some mandatory outdoor Ed through school (80/90s) where we went to centres for a few days and did the standard stuff. But my Dad and his mates (teachers) would also book out hostels in the lakes and take their collective broods to play outdoors for a couple of weeks during summer, more because they had to kill a full 6 weeks of summer somehow.
Outward bound stuff always seemed more like a structured environment for kids that didn’t have the same opportunities I had, I don’t envy kids doing these courses, I am glad they’re getting the chances.
My own kids do these things through school now, a few days at an outdoor centre in wales etc, they both did cubs and scouts until the military indoctrination clashed with their tweenage brains. My eldest is off for a “practice” camp with DOE next week.
So we’re taking advantage of those options now mostly because I have failed to motivate them to do outdoor activities as a matter of course, and I don’t get a full summer off to drag them up mountains. But also their mother is just not an outdoor person and her childhood was quite different to mine in that regard. So they’re in need of some outdoor ed and I am thankful it’s there, but certainly not envious.
I went to Outwardbound Ullswater in May/June 1977. An enjoyable week though I was already well used to hillwalking and camping etc as my dad was very active. I am still doing it almost 50 years on. My brother on the other hand went to OB Lochaber but never went on to do very much himself in later life. Perhaps the fact he very nearly drowned in a river crossing didn't help. A few pupils were swept downriver. He was saved by a fellow pupil who only had one hand. He hooked his bad arm round a tree branch using his elbow and grabbed my brother with his hand.
I did cubs and family caravan hols plus the usual playing about in local fields and undergrowth, building fires and trying to warm a tin of beans. So I was an outdoorsy kid and used to wet and cold a bit. I never did anything more structured until joining the workforce. At 18 and doing a year's pre university engineering training i did a week on outward bound....various hikes, bivvying, bit of climbing, problem solving...all team building in an environment to make you feel stretched and uncomfortable. I did a very similar thing a few years later as a graduate trainee. These things are great. They didn't teach me to sail, kayak, hike or climb but showed me anyone could do these things, don't be scared to try my... which is i think the very great benefit.
become a cub/scout leader I absolutely love it , just had a great weekend of endurance hikes with our group, I did the 10k with my cubs, middle child did a 40k in 13 hrs, eldest did 80k in 21 hrs! all of them are buzzing off it (and so am I)
I used to take a group of y8 kids to outward bound Ullswater/howtown each Easter break their were5 or 6 other Leeds schools on this scheme OB trust subsidy with corporate sponsorship. Kids got a huge kick out of it being mixed in with other schools which would have often caused a riot. Very much a team building week. I lost a week of holiday each Easter but only chance to get out and really enjoyed it not involved any more but know how much the experience gave the kids.