School Story: Adapt and Thrive

Southgate School in Huddersfield
offers specialist provision for children
aged 4–16, with outdoor adventures
at the heart of its curriculum. Outdoor
Learning Lead Ben Walker explains
how the busy activity programme
helps his students to gain confidence,
independence and resilience.
If you call Ben Walker during the
school day, you’ll most likely find
him on a hike with his students.
“We’re just training for our Snowdon
expedition,” he says, as he returns
from a blustery 10 km walk across
Marsden Moor with a group of
Year 9s. “We’re not really classroombased,”
he adds. “We’re always
out and about.”
At Southgate School, outdoor
learning forms a substantial part of
the curriculum. A school week could
include anything from paddling
canoes on the Calder Canal to
archery at an outdoor activity centre
or hiking through the surrounding
countryside. The school has devised
its own cycling curriculum as well
as an ‘expedition curriculum’,
which helps each student progress
confidently from short local walks
to camping expeditions.
Getting the children outdoors,
whatever their abilities, is crucial to
their personal development. “A lot
of them would never go out if we
didn’t take them!” says Ben. “Most
of them have never been camping or
gone on a residential.” The children
quickly learn to enjoy being outside,
to work in teams and to develop their
independence and confidence.
“The students find out what they can
do, and what they’re interested in,”
says Ben. “Quite a few want to get
climbing qualifications after we take
them climbing. And some that have
gone up Snowdon want to go and
do Ben Nevis and Scafell next.
They really get into it.”

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