Teachers invited to use the South Downs National Park and ‘get dirty’ in 2016

Teachers invited to use the South Downs National Park and ‘get dirty’ in 2016

January 12, 2016

Using sheep to teach maths and science, managing challenging behaviour outside the classroom, and teaching tourism in the most visited national park in the UK will be just some of the highlights of the Our South Downs Teachers Conference on 13 April 2016.

The event, now in its fourth year, is packed with inspiration for teachers wanting to find out about opportunities for local outdoor learning in the National Park. This year’s key note speakers include Juliet Robertson, author of ‘Dirty Teaching: A beginner’s guide to learning outdoors’. This year the conference will be held at Ditcham Park School in Petersfield. Places at the conference cost £50 and bookings open on 11 January 2016.

More than 1,600 teachers are already using the South Downs National Park as a resource to teach more than 74,000 pupils across the entire curriculum.

Amanda Elmes, who leads on Learning and Outreach for the South Downs National Park Authority, said:

“The South Downs National Park is an amazing free teaching resource right on the doorstep of more than 700 schools across Sussex and Hampshire. The conference is a great opportunity for teachers from across the area to discover how teachers and learning providers are using the National Park to bring the entire curriculum to life as well as sharing their own experiences and getting expert advice.”

Quotes from attendees at the 2015 event include:

“Best course I’ve been on in a very long time!”

“Fabulous day, buzzing with inspiration to go back to school and get started”

Through the Our South Downs project more than 6,000 students from more deprived communities have been able to access travel grants to visit learning providers in the National Park.

Find out more and book your place