The Outdoors Group Podcast

In this episode we were delighted to be joined by Dr Gill Barrett, the Education Director at Autism Unlimited and Dan Garbutt, the Assistant Head & SENCO at The Outdoors School. We met online to discuss how we can, and more importantly, how we should, measure success in SEN schools. They threw out traditional metrics and explained why looking at things like reduced interventions, attendance, a...

In this episode, we were delighted to be joined by our Behaviour Lead, Matt McMann to talk about regulation and why it should be at the centre of any educational approach. We discussed the difference between emotional and nervous-system regulation and looked at how we can support learners, initially through co-regulation and then through other techniques, to learn how to regulate themselves. We de...

In this episode, we continue the conversation with Dr Naomi Fisher and Craig Vincent, in which they discussed how to build a provision that actually works for learners with SEND, SEMH and trauma. In this second half of the conversation, Naomi explains that relationship and flexibility must be at the core of any successful provision. We talked about how meeting each learner where they are and worki...

In this episode, we were so delighted to be joined once again by the fantastic Dr Naomi Fisher. She joined myself and Craig Vincent, our Executive Improvement Lead, at the South Brent site of The Outdoors School to talk about how to design an educational provision that actually works for SEN learners. In this first half of the episode, Naomi and Craig dove deep into what doesn't work. They dre...

In this episode, we were delighted to sit down with one of our Assistant SENDCo's Hannah Gill to discuss how an outdoor learning environment can particularly support learners with complex sensory needs. We talked about the difference between hyper and hypo sensory seeking, what it is about the outdoors that can be a soothing setting for both and talked about the practical applications for faci...

We're at the start of another season of The Outdoors Group Podcast and this time round, we'll be focusing on all things SEND related. So it seemed fitting that our first episode would be looking at the recent government white paper which focuses on inclusion and SEND within schools. In this episode, we sat down with Co-CEO Shevek Pring to discuss the paper 'Every Child Achieving and Th...

SEASON BREAK BONUS EPISODE! In this episode, we were pleased to be joined by three guests. We were joined by Nick Burnett, the Director of Learning & Innovation at PRICE Training, our Executive Inclusion Lead Doug Stein and one of our Woodland Learning Support Assistants Georgia Pennicott-Gibson. They jumped online to talk to me about PRICE Training, which runs courses looking at 'positive...

In this, our final episode of Season 7 of the podcast, we were delighted to be sat around the campfire, once more, with Tom Lowday, Co-CEO of The Outdoors Group and Neil Martin, our Lead Trainer. They joined me to talk about the evolution of our Forest School Leader Training provision. Having run it for over a decade now, we discussed how it all started, their experience of delivering this trainin...

In this episode we were delighted to talk to Bracken Van Ryssen. Bracken is based in Birmingham and is the person behind Bracken Outdoors; he is a fantastic outdoor educator who runs sessions and training in his area and also has a fantastic bushcraft YouTube channel and podcast. We discussed his route to outdoor education and what he loves about it, the sessions and training he delivers and Fores...

In this episode, we were delighted to sit down in Nick's cabin at Exmouth Forest School with Richard Brice-Nye, a recent Forest School Leader trainee of ours. Richard joined us to talk about his career-changing decision to become a Forest School leader, his experience of training with us, his plans for the future and most importantly, to share his thoughts on the Forest School philosophy. Comi...

In this episode, we headed back to South Brent to meet one of our Lead Tutors, Chris Leeds. Chris joined us to talk about his experience of Forest School Leader Training with us and how he uses it in his role at The Outdoors School. We discussed constructivism, biophilia and talked about how transformative outdoor education with an emphasis on being learner-led and autonomous can be for young peop...

We've taken a bit of a mid-season break from our theme of training that has been woven throughout this series because we had an amazing opportunity to connect with someone that we didn't want to turn down! In this episode, it was an absolute pleasure to talk to Maria José Obando from Little Paws Outdoor Classroom in Vancouver about the provision that she runs in the city. We discussed what...

In this episode, we were absolutely delighted to be joined by Tamara Norris, an outdoor educator based on the island of Lamma in Hong Kong. Tamara joined us to talk about her experience of doing her Forest School Leader Training with us and how she uses it now on the other side of the world. We talked about how a Canadian childhood has embedded her love of outdoor learning, the challenges of risk...

In this episode, we were delighted to venture out of county to visit The Donkey Den, which is just outside of Taunton. We were there to talk to Claire and Mark, who both completed their Forest School Leader Training with us about their experience of training and the incredible work they do. We spoke about what Equine Facilitated Learning looks like for them, the bereavement support work they do an...

In this latest episode, we were delighted to head to the beautiful Dartington estate to sit by the river and chat with Emilia Bishop. Emilia is an experienced First Aid trainer who delivers our Paediatric & Forest School First Aid courses. We met up to talk about her very unique approach to first aid training - one that is run entirely outdoors, is trauma-informed and completely power point fr...

In this episode, we were delighted to sit down and talk with Sue Searle, Managing Director and Principal Ecologist at Ecology Training UK. Sue joined us to talk about her journey to ecology, and the work she does training a whole new generation of ecologists. We talked about her decision to become a Forest School Leader, her experience of training with us, what she wants to do with it and why she...

In this episode, we were delighted to be back in the woods at Exmouth Forest School. This time, we were meeting Jen Lovatt, a recent attendee on one of our regular Forest School Leader Training courses. Jen joined us to talk about her journey that led to her finding herself in the woods earlier this year, what surprised her when got there and her experience of the training. We also chatted about w...

In this episode, we were absolutely delighted to visit Escot Forest School and sit down with the Site Lead, Chris Moore. We chatted about how he found his way to the world of Forest School and outdoor education, his experience of training with us almost a decade ago and talked about what it's like managing one of our Forest School sites. We chatted about his late discovery of his love of woodwork,...

In this episode, we were delighted to be joined by Gemma Meredith-Chapman, our new Outreach Manager at The Outdoors Group. She joined us to talk about her new role and her plans for this area of the business. We discussed the benefits of Forest School sessions for school groups and in particular, how it can help learners struggling with anxiety or those with SEMH (social, emotional & mental he...

In this episode, I was joined by our Executive Headteacher Robyn Vincent and our Executive Deputy-Headteacher, Jonathan Breeze to talk about a very current topic. They joined me to discuss toxic masculinity, feminism and how they address these very sensitive and important issues with the learners at The Outdoors School. It was a really interesting and thought-provoking discussion, and we talked ab...

In this episode, we were so delighted to be joined by Dr Jim Rogers. Although with his incredibly impressive bank of knowledge and experience we could have been talking about a lot of different topics, this time he was with us to talk about the Danish school trips he organises and Nordic Schools. We discussed why he started running these trips, what they look like and started to delve into what it...

In this episode, I was absolutely delighted to be joined by Rob Himburg, Director of Upland Hills School in Michigan. We met on teams to discuss the history of this very special school, their unique approach to education and what they mean by the phrase 'a love-based education.' We chatted about how the outdoors is woven into everything they do, the benefits of mixed age groups in schools,...

In this episode, I was delighted to be joined by educational management consultant and lecturer Flo Besse, and deputy head of The Outdoors School, Jon Breeze. We met to talk about the rather heavy topic of 'behaviour'. We discussed what we mean when we talk about behaviour and the mainstream approaches to managing behaviour and behaviour policies. We talked about why punitive and tariff-based beha...

Following her workshop at our Outdoor Learning Conference earlier this spring, we were delighted to be joined by Anna Harrison for this episode. Anna works as a Nature Engagement Officer for the National Trust, on the Killerton estate. She joined us to talk about the work she is doing within the National Trust, the community-based approach they take to conservation and her experience of working on...

In this episode, we were delighted to be joined once again by Adrian Ferraro, from The Bioasis. We sat down with Senco & Assistant Headteacher at The Outdoors School, Hannah Brewer, to talk about resilience. We chatted about the mental health crisis that is currently facing children and young people and dipped our toes into some of the possible causes. Then we took a deep dive into resilience...