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Blogs
Coombe House School is a special school for young people aged from 5-19 years with complex needs and learning challenges. Each half term since April 2024, two classes a week have been coming to Buddens Activity Centre, engaging in different outdoor adventurous activities in a safe and encouraging environment.
During one of their Tuesday sessions in November, we caught up with teacher Briony as she explains how this block of six-week sessions have impacted her class of young people, and why the Senior Leadership Team felt that the school as a whole would benefit from these kinds of outdoor opportunities.
What I think we see here is very different behaviour than what we see in the classroom - in a very positive way. We see a lot of team building. We see a lot of support for peers. We see a lot of encouragement. You can see just now with the tomahawk throwing that they're lots of coaching from them, telling each other how to stand, where they should place their arms. We are seeing a lot of those skills which are perhaps not as evident in the classroom and yet are hugely important. Here, they are massively pushed out of their comfort zone and have achieved just some amazing things. They are competitive but in a really positive way. It really is lovely to observe. It’s more difficult for them to show sides of their personalities in a more academic environment.
I didn’t know what to expect but it has been really positive and we’ve seen so much success here, especially individual success. Coming here is the highlight of our week. It really is amazing.
I know that my class benefit from being outside and I think that it’s lovely we can get involved as staff as well. When we did Jacob’s Ladder a few weeks ago – it pushed some of the staff out of their comfort zone and the students really supported us. And the kids have achieved so much more than we have in every activity. It’s so great to see them succeed and to be more skilled than an adult in some areas. They prove that the perception of adults always being better is not the case at all.
We’re a very unique school anyway and I think this adds an even further dimension to the provision that we can offer. It compliments what we do. I imagine that a lot of mainstream schools don’t do anything like this because of the demands on their curriculum, but I think that any school that has the opportunity to access this kind of provision should do so.
I think the fact that it’s been really well organised. I don’t have to worry about anything. I know that the transport turns up on time. I know it’s safe. I know that when I get here, the staff are really skilled - their supportive coaching has been fabulous to witness. They are really good at working with children and they are able to lead on everything, so we can actually experience a different relationship for a day with the children, away from the classroom. I can be more on their level and that’s a really lovely experience for us.
Some of our children haven’t had any experience of being outdoors, climbing or abseiling or that kind of thing. They don’t go outside and ride bikes. While some children are lucky enough to go on holiday each year or maybe do some things like this, my students don’t have that chance. So, for them, this is huge. It’s an opportunity for them to have access to things that other families do and that’s really important for us and them.
I was a bit concerned about the weather but it hasn’t been an issue at all. With the dark evenings being so long, it’s good to get out during the day. It’s actually better. But even if it was raining, I don’t think it would be an issue. You’ve got the provision here and actually it’s good for them to know that learning continues. The day goes really quickly and they’re having fun, just doing things they may never have had the opportunity to do. Our kids really benefit from being outside in the winter.