Outdoor Education

Our Bushcraft sessions allow pupils to spend time outdoors, getting stuck in with practical activities and getting back to nature whilst picking up practical and social skills.

Many of our pupils will have experienced the joy of time outside of the classroom during their Forest School sessions in Junior School. Our programme of Bushcraft activities ensures that this passion for nature continues as our pupils move into Senior School and beyond into Sixth Form.

So, what actually happens during a Bushcraft session? Pupils will spend time outdoors exploring the wild areas of our 84 acre estate, learning about the natural environment that surrounds us, and how each of us can look after our local spaces and wildlife in order to make a positive impact.

Pupils will learn various survival skills such as shelter building, wild cooking and recognising different types of natural food sources. Pupils have enjoyed building willow fences and working on their knife, whittling and wood splitting skills.

You will often find our pupils gathered around a campfire at the end of a session, sharing stories and potentially cooking up some Bredon School sausages.

Pupils take part in riding sessions. Beginners are able to gain the basic foundation skills for horse riding whilst experienced riders are able to develop and improve their skills. Pupils are able to take Pony Club badges and BHS examinations as part of their development.

Lessons consist of flat work, pole work and jumping as well as gaining experience of cross country riding structured to ensure pupils improve over time. In addition, stable management sessions are tailored dependent upon age and ability of the individual.

Bredon School has  a partnership with The Elms Preparatory School in Colwall, to give all Bredon School Junior pupils a timetabled equestrian lesson. The initiative sees Junior pupils travelling to The Elms to take part in riding lessons and stable management, providing a truly authentic hands-on experience. Pupils take part in both practical horse management lessons and actual riding lessons on a rotation basis to enable every child to benefit from this opportunity. They also have the added option of obtaining badges as part of their continued development.

Set deep in the School’s extensive woodlands is Bredon’s dedicated 4 acre Forest School.

Learning about the environment and developing a range of practical skills, pupils in the Junior School take part in weekly lessons. From observing insect habitats, learning how to identify different leaves, planting trees and creating numerous works of art from branches and twigs, there is plenty for pupils to try. Of course, making hot chocolate on the campfire using newly learnt cooking skills is always popular!

A long standing part of Bredon School’s sporting provision, clay pigeon shooting takes place on our purpose-built shooting range where pupils can experience shooting for the first time or develop their skills as a member of a number of Clay Shooting teams.

Led by highly experienced instructors, Bredon’s shooting teams have enjoyed enormous success in a host of competitions in recent years. Bredon School has also been named at ‘School of the Year’ by the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (CPSA) recognising the school for encouraging and supporting the participation of pupils in clay pigeon shooting.

A popular activity at Bredon School not least due to our onsite climbing wall, our pupils enjoy regular climbing lessons with qualified climbing instructors.

Challenging pupils to compete against their personal best and conquer their fears, our pupils find climbing to be an extremely rewarding sport. Pupils learn valuable teamwork skills during their climbing lessons, working together to ensure that all safety equipment is prepared and supporting each other as they climb. Clear communication skills are put to the test as pupils strive to help each other to find the best routes whilst climbing.

Bredon also organises an annual inter-school national climbing competition which sees independent schools from all over the country competing in a series of events such as top rope, bouldering and lead climbing. The event is endorsed by the Independent Schools Association (ISA).

Bredon School is a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Directly Licensed Centre, which allows us to run and approve Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards.

From Year 9 upwards, our pupils have the opportunity to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme. There are three Award levels – Bronze, Silver and Gold all requiring a different minimum age and period of participation.

• Bronze Award – available to pupils in Year 9, the Award takes a minimum of 6 months to achieve
• Silver Award – available to pupils in Year 10 and above, the Award takes a minimum of 6 to 12 months to achieve
• Gold Award – available to pupils in Year 12 and above, the Award takes a minimum of 12 to 18 months to achieve

There are four sections to both the Bronze and Silver Awards and five to the Gold Award:

• Volunteering – undertaking service to individual or the community
• Physical – improving in an area of sport, dance or fitness
• Skills – developing practical and social skills as well as personal interests
• Expedition – planning, training and completion of an adventurous journey in the UK or abroad
• Residential (Gold Award) – involves working and staying away from home doing a shared activity and meeting new people. Organised and paid for by the pupils themselves with guidance from additional resources

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme is highly regarded by universities and employers as a reflection of a young person’s commitment, fortitude and adaptability. The programme is achievement-focused and demands significant commitment, thereby engendering our pupils with the vital skills for work and life.

Those who complete their Gold Award are invited to St James’s Palace where a member of The Royal Family presents them with their Award certificate.

From Year 9 upwards every pupil is given the opportunity to be part of Bredon School’s thriving Combined Cadet Force (CCF).

A Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation, the CCF aims to ‘provide a disciplined organisation in school so that pupils may develop powers of leadership by means of training to promote the qualities of responsibility, self-reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and perseverance.’

Bredon School Cadets take part in weekly training when they undertake a range of activities and drills which include:

• Skills at Arms
• Navigation
• First Aid
• Drill
• Bushcraft
• Camouflage and concealment
• Patrol techniques
• Survival skills
• Canoeing
• Climbing

Cadets also have the opportunity to experience regular adventure training weekends and camps throughout the year to Army bases around the UK.

Set at the heart of the School’s beautiful campus is the School Farm.

The fully operational farm is home to a variety of livestock which include Badger Face Welsh Mountain sheep, Scottish Black Face sheep, Welsh Mules, large White pigs, Saddleback pigs, turkeys, hens, South Devon cattle, ponies and geese.

All pupils up to the end of Year 9 take part in timetabled farm lessons each week, helping out with maintenance, planting and allotment duties, seasonal tasks and cleaning, as well as assisting with the feeding and welfare of the animals.

Pupils in Year 10 upwards are able to choose to follow academic qualifications which see pupils studying animal and crop husbandry, horticulture, livestock production and animal welfare, as well as workshop-based skills such as welding, vehicle and machinery maintenance.

Outside of lesson time, volunteers and extra pairs of hands are always welcome whilst enterprising pupils may also get involved in selling farm produce to the school and local community, with proceeds reinvested into the farm.