Sunderland Primary embeds cultural capital through outdoor education
Hudson Road Primary School, in Sunderland, took part in a project funded by the Community Foundation which aimed to embed cultural capital through outdoor education, physical activity and sport. The school used their allocated funding to send their year 5 and 6 students to Robinwood Outdoor Activity Centre and Derwent Hill.
Community Foundation
The project was funded through a partnership between the Community Foundation and Schools North East. The partnership behind the funding began in 2021. Schools North East teamed up with the Community Foundation to make over £100,000 of funding available for schools in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Northumberland, North and South Tyneside.
Funding was provided for projects that focused on providing a broader enriched curriculum to support students in-school learning, raise levels of pride and appreciation of the region, and develop cultural capital within school settings.
Hudson Road Primary School
The project took place from November 2022 to March 2023 and received £4,000 funding from the Community Foundation.
Hudson Road Primary school serves a catchment in the lowest 1% nationally for deprivation. Around 50% of students speak English as an additional language and approximately 48% of our children are classified as in receipt of pupil premium. The school is geographically in a built-up inner city area with poor access to green open spaces.
Year 5 visited the Robinwood Activity Outdoor Centre. During the 3 days/2 nights at the centre, students took part in rock climbing, canoeing, crate stacking, high ropes climbing, archery, orienteering, team building activities, and geographical work.
The second trip in the project involved Year 6 spending 5 days and 4 nights in Derwent Hill Activity Centre in Keswick. Activities involved hiking, caving, canoeing, orienteering, rock climbing, team challenges, fire lighting, landscape drawing and geographical work (naming rivers, mountains, hills and using maps, identifying features such as contour lines and plotting routes).
Hudson Road Primary Case Study: Impact on Students
Of the 74 learners who took part in the projects, all learners reported in their post project questionnaire they had learned more about themselves. 92% of learners reported feeling more confident after completing the project and the same 92% stated that they felt they had improved communication and team working skills as a result.
At the beginning of the project, none of the learners were aware of the outdoor activity leader job role and that it was a potential career path in later life. When the learner’s aspirations were surveyed again at the end of the project, 20% of learners identified the role as a future career aspiration. The learners also experienced a range of sports and activities which could not be provided at school due to a lack of facilities / the location of school. Prior to the trip, no learners had tried archery, rock climbing or canoeing / kayaking.
Due to all learners from Year 5 and Year 6 attending the trip, it became part of their school curriculum. It was given a very high profile and made affordable to everyone. With the efforts made by school staff and members of their local community, everyone was convinced to allow their children to attend.
Those who struggled to afford the remaining 30% of the cost were given bursaries by Derwent Hill activity centre or efforts were made by school to support the family paying a couple of pounds per week on a payment plan over the course of the academic year. The activities and locations the project provided were tailored to the children’s age and ability level and meant almost all children could successfully access every activity.
The children became significantly more aware of the different environments / terrains and habitats in the UK. A significant minority were unaware that the lake district was still in the same country as Sunderland as it was so strikingly different.
Children understood why geographical/scientific vocabulary such as contour lines, biomes, habitats, etc are necessary and their understanding of these has increased more due to first hand experiences. Children’s ability to use maps, especially for orienteering, has increased dramatically.
Some children with lower reading and writing ability gained confidence when back in the classroom after finding that they had other skills and qualities (such as leadership, communication and organisational skills).
Hudson Road Primary School is a Schools North East Partner School. If you’d like to find out more about our Partner School Programme click here.
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