Outdoor Education: Introduction

Cranleigh regards Outdoor Education as a key component in a balanced education. Numerous books have been written about its value, but from our own observations these can be summarised as:

It’s fun (though not necessarily at the time!)

It instils new skills and interests

It gets people out and about and introduces them to the natural environment

It teaches self-reliance, motivation and organisation

It develops leadership and team-work skills

It provides challenges to push us outside our comfort zone, and possibly right up to our physical and mental limits

It can provide the thrill of an 'adrenaline rush', whilst teaching risk management

Some of the activities we do can be competitive, but in the majority of cases the only person with whom one is competing is one’s self

As we have Outdoor Education-qualified staff in Common Room there is an enhancement in staff-pupil relationships back in the House and the Classroom

We see these benefits as genuine, life-long and transferable to the workplace as much as to leisure time.