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Many students who attended an Outdoor Education day at Wellington College last year improved their attendance at school, according to teacher feedback.
Attendance figures provided by schools after their students came on a day at the low ropes and high ropes course at the college showed that in one school, all the students either maintained a good attendance record or improved it.
In a second school, 78% of the students had fewer unauthorised absences compared to the week before, and in a third school, 66% of students increased school attendance following the session.
Anecdotal feedback from schools was also overwhelmingly positive, with reports that students were more confident, and relationships between teachers and students had improved.
One teacher wrote: “It was absolutely incredible to be able to watch the girls grow during the day.
“Each of the girls was chosen for a specific reason, mainly relating to confidence. We turned up with 12 students who were clearly split into four groups, and we left having watched them work as a team of 12.
“Students who never have the confidence to talk in class were able to offer suggestions and ideas for the activities and in some cases take the lead. Some of the students, who were a little quick to get started initially, were the students at the end who were waiting and talking through their plan to get to the top of the ladder.
“One student did not want to do the ladder at all at lunchtime, but the group voted to do it and rather than not participate, she opened herself up to the opportunity, told me she would go up as high as she can and managed to get up to the second level.
“The students had a wonderful day and came away feeling that their communication skills and confidence had grown.”
The programme was designed to promote attendance and reintegration to school post Covid, and to promote self-efficacy and positive communications in young people chosen by teachers who thought they would most benefit from a positive intervention of this kind.
It was absolutely incredible to be able to watch the girls grow during the day. They came away feeling that their communication skills and confidence had grown.
Wellington College’s outdoor education professional Simon Waller, who designed the days and ran many of them, has been analysing the feedback for an interim report on its impact.
He said: “The quantitative data shows a trend towards positive outcomes for attendance and unauthorised absence, with a weaker trend towards improved outcomes in punctuality.
“This, linked to the anecdotal improvements in the students, suggests that the intervention is effective, however this is a snapshot based on a small amount of data.
“Overall, it is safe to say that the response from visiting schools for the intervention has been overwhelmingly positive for both the young person and their personal development.
“The programme now needs further data to be collected to demonstrate its overall positive effects.”
This year the Wellington College Student Alliance is offering 12 more Outdoor Education days to member schools.
The first school to take up the offer for this year will be Blessed Hugh Faringdon from Reading, who will visit this month, followed by two schools visiting before Christmas.
The Wellington College Student Alliance is a formal independent/state school partnership funded by Wellington College.
Its key aim is to raise aspirations among able pupils within partnership schools, raise their awareness of their own potential, support ambitious university applications and the take-up of enrichment opportunities.
There is a nominal membership fee which allows the partner schools to take advantage of the full programme.
