Teach Secondary Issue 13.4

Empower your students with life-changing skills at Kingswood’s OAE residentials Outdoor adventure education 1 BACKED BY RESEARCH The learning objectives threaded throughout Kingswood’s programmes are designed to significantly improve resilience, build confidence, and crucially, improve wellbeing. In the winter of 2023, an in-depth, mixed methods research project was undertaken to measure and evaluate the development of psychological resilience, wellbeing and 21st century skills by diverse groups at 10 Kingswood centres attending ‘Live It’ – a five-day residential programme specifically intended for young people negatively impacted by the pandemic. Staggeringly, 94% of the young people said they felt more self-confident because of their Kingswood trip – find out more about the research by scanning the QR code opposite. 2 IMPROVEMENTS NOW Post-pandemic, young people’s confidence and resilience levels are at all-time lows, compounded by the image pressures exerted by social media, and a sense of having to live up to unrealistic standards. We can, however, bring about positive changes in their personal growth and wellbeing almost immediately, through outdoor learning. Among the 600 young people taking part in Kingswood’s research, 70% felt more confident in their future academic and career prospects following their outdoor adventure experience. 3 LASTING EFFECTS Kingswood’s research further found that when participants were evaluated on the same resilience and wellbeing measures a month later, they were still benefiting from their experiences. The research data speaks to just how sustained and long-lasting the impact can be, with resilience levels up by 24% and wellbeing by 17%. An overwhelming proportion of these young people perceived their trip as something that had helped them develop their capacity to cope with uncertainty, increase their confidence in meeting individuals from different backgrounds and take a more positive view of education and their future job prospects – thus creating healthier, much more resilient youngsters. 4 21ST CENTURY SKILLS Communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking are all attributes widely recognised as being essential in the modern workplace – as well as prerequisites for generating solutions to the critical problems future generations can expect to face. Kingswood’s experiential learning programmes for secondary students hone in on these essential skills, presenting young people with problem solving tasks and employing the outdoor environment as a vehicle for personal growth and development. 5 ACTIVATE CHANGE The powerful experiences that Kingswood offers provide students with opportunities to try something new and exercise their freedom of choice. Young people leave a Kingswood experience with the capacity to test their newly acquired problem solving skills at home, or indeed in the classroom. Led by experienced coaches, in a safe and controlled environment, they are able to develop profoundly important life skills, with transformational impacts. Kingswood’s findings show how teachable behaviours, pedagogies and practices can make young people more adaptable and engaged in learning vocational skills. These intense, authentic, residential-based experiences enable participants to connect with nature and take ownership of their learning. Key Points 94% of participants said they felt more self- confident because of their Kingswood trip 4 in every 5 students reported being more confident in meeting new people 70% reported feeling were more confident about their education or job prospects 80% felt more positive about people from different backgrounds to themselves REASONS TO TRY… 5 30 SECOND BRIEFING Kingswood’s 11 UK outdoor activity centres welcome school students of all ages and ability, allowing them to participate in skill-building, memory-making adventures in beautiful natural environments under the supervision of experienced coaches. Contact: 0800 655 6564 sales@ kingswood.co.uk kingswood.co.uk Download Kingswood’s latest research PA R T N E R C O N T E N T teachwire.net/secondary 30