Outdoor Education Residentials: A thing of the past?

by Arc Adventures
published 2 September 2023

Staying away from home, kayaking, hiking, climbing. The format of activity centres has barely changed in 100 years.

Set up in a different era to promote courage, endurance, a sense of honour and public spirit. It was soon recognised by the powers that be as a necessary part of education and soon LEA run residential activity centres became a regular part of young people's schooling.

The problem is, in a post-pandemic world, with most of the LEA centres closing, many educators are considering whether these residential are worth it. Does it actually deliver any of the aims it says it does? Can a week in a Welsh bog really produce socially responsible, self-reliant young people? Does sitting in a plastic boat on a foot of water have an intrinsic ability to make you a more confident person?

The key - according to a lot of the research - is challenge. Studies suggest that the more intense and challenging the experiences, the more personal growth occurs (be that self-belief, resilience, confidence, greater appreciation of personal capabilities, willingness to 'have a go' and respond to life challenges in the future).

So, how do we square the circle between ever-increasing red tape; parents' desire to bubble wrap whilst young people yearn to be challenged? We do so by changing the nature of the tasks: Intense and demanding doesn't have to be more dangerous, it just has to feel so. What if we could take the passion of young people's emotions towards movies and computer games and channel that into positive outcomes?

It is time for outdoor centres to reassess what they do and why they do it. And that's exactly what we have done. We spent the last few years designing outdoor education 2.0.

The answer we came up with is Storyline - visually compelling, engaging, and completely immersive. We have taken the best bits of outdoor education and weaved them into a week-long adventure specifically designed to challenge the young people of the Tik Tok generation.
Contact us for more information.