The renaissance of residential experiences: their contribution to outdoor learning

Residential experiences are currently having a renaissance. The value of staying away for one or more nights as part of an outdoor learning trip, adding further layers of possibility to what are already rich and valuable experiences, is returning as a pedagogic approach. Brighouse (2011: 1) reports that, in its 2008 report Learning Outside the Classroom: How far should you go?, Ofsted infamously commented ‘even when done badly, (residentials) contributed to the five “Every Child Matters” outcomes’! This chapter explores what that ‘contribution’ might be and what doing them well might look like. Roughly a hundred years ago teachers began taking their students camping. Both private and state schools were involved, led by staff passionate about the benefits of living outdoors and providing their students with new and direct experiences. Some set up standing camps, the precursors of the outdoor residential centres that, inspired by the 1944 Education Act, developed from the 1950s onwards. Chapter objectives: an understanding of the worth of residential experiences in supporting a wide range of educational outcomes; an understanding of the criteria for the provision of effective residential experiences; ideas for designing, running and integrating residential experiences into the curriculum and the life of the school.