The comments below are from staff and children at Shakespeare Primary School in Plymouth following their year 6 visit to Bellever on Dartmoor for a ‘Play walk’; their 3rd ‘Great Day Out’. To book contact me at davidbglenny@gmail.com

Every climbing opportunity is taken

Staff Comments: Leadership: David is highly knowledgeable and experienced both with children and in the moorland setting. Working with him inspires confidence and enthusiasm for getting out of the classroom with large groups of children. His flexibility and willingness to match subject content and opportunities to the needs of the group has led to our annual GREAT DAY OUT with year 6 pupils being a memorable and educationally valuable at the end of an intense year of learning.

The summit is conquered

Relationships with staff and children are excellent: The children relate well to David and he to them, he inspires, motivates and values all individuals. They always have a wonderful time and reflect with positivity on their day out.

1, 2, 3, jump!

All staff have fed back positively following annual walks on Dartmoor, enjoying the time out in the natural environment and learning about the moorland habitat and heritage.

Children’s Comments:

The trip was great especially the blueberries (whortleberries) and wild strawberries!

It was amazing because we saw where bronze age people lived.

The trip was amazing: I loved the view from the tor – I would love to go again.

It was the best trip I’ve ever been on!

Dartmoor was EPIC! I would do it again.

I thought it was fun because we saw prehistoric houses and tombs and found things we could eat!

Bronze age burial site

You can get two of your five a day. The berries tasted amazing!

The best day EVER!

It was a fun filled day with lots of things to learn, do and find.

The trip was tremendous. My favourite part was climbing the tor.

I enjoyed it because I learned new things and had fun,

When we climbed Bellever Tor I was flabbergasted.

                                             Jumping across gaps is good

The best trip EVER. Can we go again?

The best trip we have been on; it was an amazing day.

If you would like to consider a ‘Guided Play Walk’ for your Year 6 post SATs or indeed any kS2 Year group any time. Please get in touch at davidbglenny@gmail.com and I will contact you to discuss details and dates

N.B. Other Moorland, Coast and Woodland venues are available!

Play walks

Whether a half day or longer, a play walk is a walk into a wild area where the key focus is not the walk but the opportunity for free play. Typically it might be into woodland, moorland or to a beach (often associated with water). An area is identified with natural boundaries where possible, in which the children can play freely for an hour or more and staff can observe the creativity the physicality and the developing relationships with little or no intervention.

The walk itself is important on three counts. It is an opportunity to learn about the environment, whether it be the plant and animal life, the geography or the impact of humans on the landscape over time. It is also a time to engage the children in ‘Active risk-assessment’; to check that excited children understand the expectations in terms of behaviour towards each other and the environment. Finally it is an opportunity to set up a playful atmosphere by punctuating the walk with small challenges e.g. balancing along a fallen log playing ‘follow-my-leader over and around obstacles.

N.b. I am about to submit an article to ‘Horizons’ the magazine of the IOL (Institute of Outdoor Learning. expanding on this theme (just awaiting permission to use certain photographs).

I am working on a course / workshop for staff aimed at giving them the confidence to work with children in outdoor environments combining planning and risk assessment in a new, positive and more creative way. This has emerged from the approaches demonstrated in my ‘Creating Wild Play Opportunities’ course.

For more details contact me at davidbglenny@gmail.com

This a new addition to the sessions I can run for schools.

This session was requested by Hooe primary School, Plymouth with very positive feedback. It was organised as an option for staff on their non-pupil day. The day was organised to launch a drive in school to increase the emphasis on outdoor learning and creative play opportunities.

If you would like to book this for your school my approach is as follows. During the course we explore what the school wants to achieve and how this might be possible and while lots of ideas are presented (including some with little or no cost) Discussion is grounded in the context of your school and discussion of how children play and how creative play and engagement with the environment can be encouraged.

For a no obligation discussion start by email to davidbglenny@gmail.com or call/text 07522 909 066

This short classroom based course went down well at the ‘Institute of Outdoor Learning’ South West Conference earlier this year.

It was repeated in September 2013 at Shakespeare Primary School in Plymouth and again at Hooe Primary School,Plymouth in October 2013.

‘Absolutely wonderful, she hasn’t stopped talking about it.’ – Parent comment

‘He thoroughly enjoyed himself, can’t wait to go again.’ – Parent comment

Class teacher:

The children have had a wonderful experience, many of them away from home for the first time.

Relationships were excellent and any problems were dealt with in a calm, gentle manner with children given time to reflect and make choices.

Excellent variety of activities with children given time to become absorbed.

They thoroughly enjoyed all the indoor activities which provided another aspect to being away from home as a group. The children have been singing and humming the songs you taught them and asking to play the games you taught them.

Great to see the children trying new experiences, foods and learning in such an exciting and fun way. It was a wonderful opportunity to see the class in a completely different environment

The recognition in this report of the importance of play is very encouraging, but how does this work in practice? In brief, this is how I organise exactly these opportunities on residential visits and days out. The primary aim is to maximise the time for play in the outdoor environment.

Not canoeing, rock climbing, caving (all great fun) but exploring with friends, building dams, inventing games, discovering strange plants and creatures, falling off logs. No equipment just appropriate clothing, a packed lunch, a first aid kit and clear but broadly drawn boundaries.

Why is this a challenge to the outdoor education industry? Because it’s cheap, inclusive and very enjoyable. It frees children to learn from their experience. Teachers don’t need special qualifications, they just need to be confident in what they are doing and have ‘permission’ not to weigh down the experience with a pile of overt curriculum objectives and risk elimination strategies!

So why employ someone like me? Answer: There’s no need.

However I do offer the following:

• An intimate knowledge of local environments, woodland, moor and coast; and the best places to go.
• Long experience of drawing boundaries, engaging children in understanding risk, giving clear explanations and expectations in term of acceptable behaviour, .
• Understanding when NOT to intervene, when to make an open ended suggestion or hint. When to move on or change the emphasis.
• A positive environment that encourages observation and questioning, together with a knowledge of the natural world and local history with stories to intrigue and fascinate
• The experience of children and environments to be able to adjust and be flexible according to the group, the weather and unforseen circumstances

I also, plan the whole day or residential, provide risk assessments, highlight the social and personal learning that is likely to take place. Brief staff, children and parents. Even help with budgeting and kit lists, food orders, draft  letters to parents etc.

Ultimately however it is about children having a great day out in the environment; allowing many to experience for the first time the important idea that as they grow up they will be able to introduce to their own families. ‘You don’t need to spend a lot of money to have fun!’

Time to play and explore. Fantastic three beaches walk and play in Torbay. Pebbles (learn to skim stones) sand (digging and beach games) and rock pooling (crabs, starfish and more) three very different beaches all in one day.

Welcome to this new site currently promoting my work supporting primary schools in developing and running affordable, inclusive residential experiences for their children. I offer a fully managed service at very reasonable rates and am particularly interested in working with schools serving areas of deprivation or those where significant numbers of children cannot afford the current experiences offered by the school.

I am also available schools and other groups to lead guided walks on Dartmoor and the Devon coast and countryside.