Outdoor Education

Outdoor Education

Mountianeer Alan Hinkes, the first British man to climb all 14 of the Himalaya's 8,000 metres peaks including K2 and Everest, has become patron of North Yorkshire County Council's outdoor education service. Alan, 54, said the course of this life changed when, as a school boy, he was taken to Great Fyrupdale near Danby, one of North Yorkshire's four outdoor centres. "I don't think i would have ended up climbing the highest mountains if that hadn't started me off" he said.

Alan, who was awarded an OBE, made history when he became one of only 12 people in the world to have conquered the Himalayan peaks. A former pupil of Northallerton College, Alan said it was his visit to Great Fryupdale and then joining the school's outdoor activities club which got him going. He said: "It was the first time I had been taken to an outdoor activities place and it made a huge impression on me."

North Yorkshire County Council is one of the few councils in the country to run as many as four centres and is one of the highest spenders in England on outdoor education, with a cash allocation this year of nearly £1 million. Alan Hinkes believes the County Council has been "fantastically forward looking" in this respect, maintaining and developing its service at a time when many other councils were cutting back. He said: "Outdoor education centres offer an experience which can change lives."

When Alan Hinkes worked as a teacher in the North East he would take pupils away for outdoor activities as often as possible. He said: "You could see the change in some kids in a week. They would come, having never been away from home and you could see them come out of themselves and develop. Outdoor education gives children something else in life, a set of social values, a sense of adventure, an ability to hold their own in a totally different environment

"It's good for youngsters to be out in the hills, to have to sit and eat together, manage in teams, be with teachers in a different context than at school

"The great thing about North Yorkshire's outdoor education centres is that they are run by qualified, well-experienced staff who know about children and can take them through the whole process. "

Alan hopes that by becoming patron of the centres he will raise their profile further and champion the cause of outdoor adventure.

Over the years the County Council has bucked the national trend by developing its centres rather than selling them off. Indeed one of its centres, Bewerley Park is to benefit from a £527,000 refurbishment. All four centres provide qualified staff to give children a top quality, rich and stretching outdoor educational experience. The County Council encourages its schools to offer the opportunity of a residential stay at one of these centres at least once in every child's school career.

In its last inspection, North Yorkshire County Council's Children and Young People's Service was given an "outstanding" grade 4 rating for its "enjoy and achieve" outcomes with Ofsted applauding the "distinctive and valuable resource" of its outdoor education service "for building the skills and confidence of young people."

Indeed, current national educational thinking is falling into line with what North Yorkshire has practiced for many years. The Government's recent Manifesto for Learning Outside the Classroom sees outdoor education as an important factor in raising achievement and developing skills for life.

North Yorkshire County Councillor John Watson, executive member for schools said: "We are delighted that Alan Hinkes has become patron of our outdoor education service, of which we are very proud. Outdoor education gives children real experiential learning about the fundamentals of life. What's more, unless children have this experience of the outside environment first hand, it is much more difficult for them to appreciate its value."

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