West Rise Junior School - Teaching young students resilience, in the out-of-doors
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McGynHspkos[/embed]
"If kids never step out of their comfort zone, how are they going to learn resilience?"
— Mike Fairclough, Headmaster, West Rise Junior School (Eastbourne, UK)
Not sure if I shared this last year, when it first appeared – if not, I should have! If I did, it's worth a re-share. As I wrote at the time:
What, you mean there's a school that's actually teaching children where real food actually comes from – as opposed to magically appearing, wrapped in styrofoam and plastic, at the supermarket? Good heavens! In fact, the whole program sounds absolutely brilliant.
This amazing state school in the UK teaches children from "a varied demographic" – most of whose families are on various forms of social assistance – how to shoot, hunt, dress and cook the game they take, make bows, build fires, and otherwise function effectively in the outdoors.
The video shows them gutting squirrels, plucking pigeons, splitting wood for the fire with a mallet and fro, and cooking and eating the proceeds.
"The most dangerous thing you can do to a child is to not expose them to an element of risk and danger," says Mike Fairclough, Headmaster, West Rise Junior School, who adds that "if children are excited about coming to school, if they're being inspired and enthused by being outside, then that has an impact back in the classroom."
The school gets the best exam results in the area, and won the 2015 T.E.S. Best School of the Year award, according to the video. "Teaching the children to shoot is controversial," the video notes. "But the school argues it teaches discipline and responsibility."
"The cotton-wool culture of Britain has got a little bit out of control," Fairclough comments, referring to the modern desire on the part of many – schools, parents, media, etc. – to wrap children up and insulate them from many of the realities of life. "It's only really peoples own sort of limiting beliefs, and a few media myths that people have invested in, which have stopped children from having these sorts of activities."
Here's an article with more information (despite the rather absurdly breathless style in which it is written).
Kudos to Mike Fairclough and West Rise Junior! You're doing it right.
Mike Fairclough, head master of West Rise School, just outside Eastbourne, with some of the school's water buffalo. Photo: Christopher Pledger