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Developing a Connection with Local Environments

Outdoor learning is an important part of a child’s education and we are passionate about supporting children and young people to experience their local outdoor wild spaces by offering unique and bespoke outdoor learning experiences to schools and groups throughout Sussex.

Our aim is to develop children and young people’s connection with their local environments and develop a sense of ownership of their wild places and to encourage a relationship and love of nature.

The John Muir Award is an environmental award scheme focused on wild places. It supports people to connect with, enjoy and care for nature, landscape, and the natural environment – wild places. Based on 4 challenges: Discover, Explore, Conserve and Share the John Muir award offers a structure to engaging and learning that compliments the whole curriculum.

These activities can take place on the school grounds or in the local areas such as parks, woodland and within the Southdowns National Park.

To give focus and structure to a residential course, field trip or visit and help provide links between remote and school-based activity.

The award is a brilliant framework to support wider themes across learning – such as personal learning and thinking skills, global citizenship and sustainability – by providing an experiential context. As an inclusive way to recognise achievement and to develop and support links between pupils, families and the wider community.

Working closely with the Southdowns National Park we piloted two John Muir awards to targeted groups of hard to engage pupils at risk of exclusion from school in Eastbourne in 2019.

We also offer the John Muir award to community groups and to families.

Visit John Muir Website