A new and ambitious programme of outdoor pursuits is proving a popular challenge for a group of students at Wilsic Hall School.

Regular outdoor activities such as orienteering and canoeing have become part of the curriculum for seventeen students at the school in South Yorkshire.

David Senior, teacher with responsibility for outdoor pursuits, says, “These activities are an ideal way of improving self-confidence and they give students the opportunity to work together towards a common goal.”

He goes on to explain that the new programme was approached tentatively in October as nobody really knew whether the students would take to the challenge. It started with orienteering where there was a lot of input from adults on the navigation. However, it later became obvious that many of the students were willing and able to take part in the navigation with the use of colour-coded signs, and these have now been introduced.

Another activity which has been a great success, but has been suspended for the coldest winter months, is canoeing. Now David is looking at introducing the use of an adventure-style assault course and rock-climbing into the programme in time for the summer.

He adds, “I personally get a great deal of pleasure out of outdoor pursuits and I can see that many of the students share that great sense of achievement when they succeed in these sports. It is obvious that they too gain enormous pleasure from these activities.”

So popular is the outdoor pursuit curriculum that the students and adult supervisors fill three minibuses when they head off to either the Rother Valley Country Park or the Scout activity centre at Hesley Wood.