High Quality Outdoor Education - English Outdoor Council

What makes aneffective link?When schools, youth organisationsand activity clubs work well togetherthey:• talk to each other and respect eachother’s contribution,• promote each other’s activities,• provide opportunities for all youngpeople, regardless of theirbackground,• share a common approach toworking with young people, and havesimilar expectations of them,• share a common approach toinvolving parents and carers andcommunicate well with them,• build on what young people learn inboth settings,• collaborate in the development ofteaching and coaching expertise,• share facilities, equipment andresources,• understand the framework withinwhich the other partner operates(for example the roles andresponsibilities of local authorityoutdoor education advisers andnational governing bodies).When schools or youth services andoutdoor education centres work welltogether they:• liaise closely with each other wellbefore, during and after the course atthe centre,• respect each other’s educationalaims and ethos, and are prepared toadapt to establish a common set ofaims and objectives for the course,• strive to provide opportunities for allyoung people to participate,regardless of their background,• establish a common approach toworking with young people andagreed expectations,• share a common approach toinvolving and informing parentsand carers,• enable young people to build on whatthey learn in both settings (forexample, by using a residentialcentre experience as part of acoherent scheme of work inoutdoor education over a longerperiod),• agree procedures for recording andassessing young people’s work andcelebrating their achievements,• encourage visiting teachers or youthworkers to contribute effectively to allaspects of the centre course,• encourage and enable visiting andcentre staff to learn from each other’steaching, coaching or youth workstyles, and share expertise,• agree and clearly understand thedivision of roles and responsibilitiesbetween centre and visiting staff, andensure these are communicated tothe young people.23