Year 8 pupils from Robertsbridge Community School took part in a series of outdoor and adventurous activities at the Chelsea school in January. The focus of the day’s activities was on Outdoor and Adventurous Activities (OAA) with respect to the range and content identified in the revised National Curriculum for PE (2008). The day was facilitated and run by year 2 BA QTS PE trainees as part of a teaching and learning module in outdoor education. This included planning for the development of personal learning and thinking skills through problem-solving activities and decision-making scenarios so that pupils could experience being an independent enquirer, creative thinker, team worker, self-manager, effective participator and reflective learner. A pupil-centered teaching approach through the processes of planning, performing and evaluating was used to develop practical knowledge and understanding.
The activities highlighted ways in which trainees can draw upon key concepts and processes such as identifying and solving problems to overcome challenges of an adventurous nature, as in outdoor education. This included activities in which success was judged on how efficiently and safely the challenges were overcome, such as orienteering, compass exercises, trust games, problem-solving activities, navigational challenges, team building, decision-making scenarios and survival exercises.
