With the modern world becoming more ‘virtual’ by the second, and our students becoming addicted to their phones and tablets we made a decision at Buckswood that our students needed help to survive ‘wi-fi’ free. With the purchase of 13 acres of nearby forest and the introduction of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme at Buckswood, we wanted to teach our students to do more with their hands than type, swipe and write!

By participating in engaging, motivating and achievable tasks and activities in an outdoor environment, each student has the opportunity to develop intrinsic motivation, sound emotional and social skills. The weekly timetabled visit to the forest school never fails to bring out a surprise leader, where a change in the ‘theatre of learning’ allows students with stronger practical knowledge to mentor their fellow Buckswoodians. The Duke of Edinburgh award programme allows our students to gain a highly regarded qualification and UCAS points, at the same time as officially recognizing their newly found skills.

Removing students temporarily away from their home luxuries and out of their comfort zone enables them to develop a unique set of skills and attributes that they would not normally develop within the confines of a classroom, allowing students to find new skills and demonstrate abilities that aren’t recognised in conventional education. At Buckswood we place a large degree of importance on the use of the outdoors as a medium to enable our scholars to develop their confidence, team working ability and leadership, which compliments both the academic and physical education that Scholars receive as being part of the Buckswood Community.

We feel that in this highly competitive world, this approach develops a unique skill set that makes our scholars stand out from the crowd.

 


Read more on the Duke of Edinburgh website

Woodland Facilities

Buckswood School’s impressive facilities extends to a new 13 acre woodland, which is home the Buckswood Outdoor Activities Centre. The 13 acre woodland is a mixed woodland comprising of pine, beech, ash birch, and oak, The Woods also boast a reasonable size pond. Students will be able to enjoy the woodlands and take part in a number of activities to compliment the academic and physical education that they receive at school.

As a facility the new woodland site enables students to do the following activities:

  • Horse riding
  • Wild camping
  • Paintballing
  • Low ropes confidence course
  • Woodland ecology studies
  • Bush craft survival
  • Mountain biking
  • Field Archery
  • Clay pigeon shooting.
  • Leadership and teamwork development
Paintballing (81.87 KB :: pdf)
Outdoor Experiences (204.88 KB :: pdf)

Paintball at the Buckswood Outdoor Centre

Paintball at the Buckswood Outdoor Centre