Workshops
Another great line up of inspiring keynote speakers from the world of outdoor education and twenty two new curriculum-focused workshops for 2025.
The perfect Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for all outdoor educators from Key Stage 1 (KS1) to Key Stage 2 (KS2).
To book and secure your preferred workshop places, you need to first book your conference ticket.
Workshop Title | Curriculum Link | Key Stage | Speaker |
| Getting where we want to be with outdoor learning: strategies for success | Cross - Curricular | all | Dr. Dave Harvey |
| Supporting you to develop your learning beyond the classroom | Cross - Curricular | all | Anne Hunt from LOtC |
| Your pupils, their school grounds and climate change | Science and Citizenship | all | Mary Jackson from Learning Through Landscapes |
| Active Learning across the curriculum | Cross - Curricular | KS1/2 | Josh Jenner from the Outdoor Classroom |
| All you need to know for a successful off-site visit | Cross -Curricular | all | Paul Bowen from SCC |
| Making music in nature | Music and Design Tech | KS1/2 | James Crompton from SCC Surrey Arts |
| Growing and gardening made easy | Science | KS1/2 | Rob from Pot Gang |
| Growing a relationship with Nature | Science and Citizenship | KS1/2 | Louise Shorthose from Surrey Wildlife Trust |
| Wilder School Grounds | Science | KS1/2 | Ross Packman from Surrey Wildlife Trust |
| Blooming Marvellous! | Science | KS1/2 | Emma Rothwell from Surrey Wildlife Trust |
| Making local Geography fieldwork fun! | Geography | KS2 | Alice Mollison from the Geographical Association |
| Embedding an Outdoor Learning approach into an SEN school' | SEN Cross-Curricular | SEN | Quio Marugan from Philip Southcote School/Simon Kibble from SOLD |
| A Curriculum of Hope | Citizenship | KS1/2 | Deb Lambert from Wildtribe |
| Nature and Nurture - wellbeing in the outdoors | PSHE | KS1/2 | Joseph Chamberlain from SOLD |
| Muddy Maths | Maths | KS1/2 | Ellie Rose from SOLD |
| Explorers of History | History | KS1 | Andy White from SOLD |
| Technology in Nature | Computing | KS1/2 | Lucinda Gould from SOLD |
| Cooking Outdoors | Design and Technology | KS1/2 | Tom Newton from SOLD |
| Writing for Survival | English | KS2 | Vicki Armitage from SOLD |
| Orienteering for beginners | PE/OAA | KS1/2 | Ben Rayner from SOLD |
| Crafty and Creative | Art and Design | KS1/2 | Karen Bennett from SOLD |
| Spirit of Adventure | PSHE/PE | KS1/2 | Evie Jefferey from SOLD |
Getting where we want to be with outdoor learning: strategies for success
Speaker, Dr Dave Harvey
This workshop explores the building blocks that enable high quality outdoor learning outcomes to be achieved. We will look at the conditions, activities and thinking that support schools to embed outdoor learning that is planned, progressive and impactful.
Supporting you to develop your learning beyond the classroom
Speaker, Anne Hunt
This workshop is an opportunity to explore ways to develop a whole school approach to learning beyond the classroom, ensuring it is embedded into your practice and has impact. The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom offers various ways to support you to develop learning beyond the classroom relevant to your school and students, including the LOtC Mark framework.
Active Learning across the curriculum
Speaker, Mary Jackson
With a mixture of theory and practice in this workshop we will look at how your school grounds can fit in with your wider teaching about Climate Change including becoming a place where change can happen. We won't just look at biodiversity but at the other different ways you can change your grounds to respond to the impacts of climate change from water, carbon and temperature management to teaching about climate change outdoors. This workshop will also help you with the development of your school's Climate Action Plan.
Your pupils, their school grounds and climate change
Speaker Josh Jenner
The Outdoor Classroom is the all in one digital toolkit to take all learning outside of the classroom.
During this workshop you will learn how The Outdoor Classroom can be used to digitise your outdoor learning using the sport of orienteering. We will focus on the top 5 most taught subject areas our member schools have used in 2024 - PE, Maths, Science, English and Geography, to demonstrate the various media styles available in our system, catering for a variety of learning needs, ages and abilities.
All you need to know for a successful off-site visit
Speaker, Paul Bowen
If you would like to take learning beyond your school grounds, but don't feel confident to do so, this is the workshop for you. Find out how easy and exciting it is to plan and organise a learning experience beyond your school site that will offer progression and development of your outdoor learning curriculum.
Making music in nature
Speaker, James Crompton
Transform your music lessons by taking it outdoors. Find out how to make simple musical instruments outdoors with natural materials and create music from them using a range of sounds and rhythms.
Growing and gardening made easy
Speaker, Rob
This workshop will show you just how easy it is to grow vegetables and herbs all year around with your children and incorporate fantastic learning outcomes relating to healthy eating and cooking too. The workshop will give you ideas of what to grow when and how you can engage your children in the process on a scale that is manageable and affordable.
Growing a relationship with Nature
Speaker, Louise Shorthose
Surrey Wildlife Trust have been working with the University of Surrey to develop a guide to growing a meaningful relationship with nature and the milestones one must reach in order to do this. We will introduce you to a simple toolkit to evaluate where people are on their journey and how we as practitioners can develop this connection. We will present the range of attributes a session in a natural setting can have and show you how to create rich, meaningful sessions and evaluate whether you successfully did this. Finally we will demonstrate some simple practical activities that can be done at school to develop nature connection from an early age or even to get fellow teachers more engaged with being outside! From regular 'brain breaks' outdoors and creating a nature table in your classroom to leading litter picks in the community we will show you where these simple actions can fit into the nature connection journey.
Wilder School Grounds
Speaker, Ross Packam
Surrey Wildlife Trust have helped schools across the county deliver student led actions for nature and enhance their school grounds for wildlife and learning. We have been working with Royal Holloway University to develop a range of easily adopted yet impactful actions we can all take to increase biodiversity in the school grounds – from log piles to hedgerows we can show you how simple actions can encourage nature into grounds and inspire young minds.
Blooming Marvellous!
Speaker, Emma Rothwell
Plants are fun! We will show you a range of outdoor games to kick start your plant curriculum sessions to make them fun and engaging. With simple resources and easy to play games and ideas we will take you through the plant lifecycle and show you how to make the most of the greenery in your grounds.
Making local Geography fieldwork fun!
Speaker, Alice Mollison
This session will provide you with ideas for a short sequence of lessons centered around local area fieldwork. The focus will be assessing our local landscape, whether it be rural or urban. Although Geography focussed, we will also look at cross curricular links with numeracy, literacy and art.
Embedding an Outdoor Learning approach into an SEN school
Speaker Quio Marugan/Simon Kibble
In this workshop, you will hear from Quio Marugan who is the outdoor learning lead at Philip Southcote SEN school.
Quio has developed an outdoor learning approach for his school and will tell you about the journey he has been on including the challenges and successes.
Crucially, Quio will explain how he has adapted activities to meet the needs of his pupils and the positive impact outdoor learning has had.
A Curriculum of Hope
Speaker, Deb Lambert
The rapid changes in our world require educators to adopt a flexible approach to teaching and learning within a pedagogy of hope. Join author Debbie Lambert as she shares ideas from her latest book (Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors) and the Earth Tribe Leaders Award, exploring some of the big issues surrounding Climate Change education in this interactive and practical workshop. Play Climate Change dodge ball, work as a team to explore the impact of creating a Nature Corridor and share thoughts, feelings and concerns using EARTH acrostics!
Nature and Nurture - wellbeing in the outdoors
Speaker, Joseph Chamberlain, SOLD
Discover how to bring the therapeutic power of nature into your students' lives. This workshop demonstrates practices for using outdoor spaces to enhance emotional and mental wellbeing. Through a blend of hands-on activities and insights into the scientific benefits of nature, educators will leave equipped with strategies to foster mindfulness and wellbeing in their students, making the outdoors a valuable tool for growth.
Muddy Maths
Speaker Ellie Rose, SOLD
This workshop will focus on bringing numbers, fractions, graphs, angles, shapes, and ratios into the outdoor environment in an active learning style. We will be taking a traditionally theory based subject and making it hands on by using simple resources found in your school.
Perfect for engaging reluctant mathematicians!
Explorers of History
Speaker Andy White, SOLD
Embark on a voyage for spices and journey along the silk road with these activity ideas for teaching about exploration in KS1.
Technology in Nature
Speaker Lucinda Gould, SOLD
Teach about computers and logic through an exploration of the natural environment. Find out how to practice coding and writing algorithms using sticks in the woods.
Cooking Outdoors
Speaker Tom Newton, SOLD
A workshop focused on new and exciting ways to cook outdoors using different outdoor cooking techniques and recipes. These ideas will include ways to incorporate healthy eating and food nutrition learning.
Writing for Survival
Speaker Vicki Armitage, SOLD
A workshop with a focus on non-fiction literacy skills themed on adventure and survival skills. Write instructions, messages and diary entries to aid castaways and explorers.
Orienteering for beginners
Speaker Ben Rayner, SOLD
Orienteering is the ideal activity to use in your school grounds as a way to meet the Outdoor and Adventurous Activity requirements of the PE curriculum. This workshop will show you how to teach the basic orienteering skills with minimal specialist equipment using engaging and creative activities.
Crafty and Creative
Speaker, Karen Bennett, SOLD
Get creative using natural resources and simple tools. A wide selection of woodland craft activities for primary aged children that can be delivered in your school grounds.
Spirit of Adventure
Speaker, Evie Jefferey, SOLD
To support the keynote speech from Alastair Humphreys this workshop will focus on understanding the unique ingredients of 'adventure' and how you can create a truly adventurous experiences in your school grounds or local area with minimal resources.