EDUCAT ION
IMAGES Some of the activities and enrichment available at King’s Ely (above), Gresham’s (right) and Cambridge Steiner School (below) – and do so independently – but we also wanted an academic focus. The structure of the OWLS programme has taken elements of self-led discovery as well as academic-focused tasks, with the sessions designed to give children exciting and practical experiences, enabling them to gain a deeper understanding of theoretical concepts they’ve learnt in the classroom.” She gives a recent example of pre- prep children heading out to the woods to test their home-crafted rocket ships as part of National Space Day – an activity that helped them contextualise classroom learning about the International Space Station and the first people in space. For pupils at the prep, a whole range of outdoorsy activities is on offer, from fossil hunting to casting sea fishing lines. The love of the outdoors continues to the senior school, which has one of the largest Combined Cadet Forces in the country (and an extremely high participation rate, with 90% of pupils choosing to partake in year 9). In 2020, the school even appointed a ‘head of adventure’, who has, among other things, created an impressive new survival course, based on a military escape and evasion exercise. All of this combines to help children “develop beyond the classroom and help them grow into well-rounded individuals”, says Kate.
FOR PREP SCHOOL PUPILS, A WHOLE RANGE OF OUTDOORSY ACTIVITIES IS ON OFFER
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK JULY 2021 75
Powered by FlippingBook