Right to outdoor education

Across all the SU Scotland centres we are continually thinking about how we can make residential outdoor activities available to as many young people as possible.

We are convinced of the value of outdoor education for every child and young person and currently SU Scotland provides about 5% of the capacity for school residentials across Scotland, working with over 100 schools representing over half of Scotland’s local authorities. The teams at the centres work closely with schools and other organisations to ensure that all our programmes are accessible, and the story on page 4 is just one example of many groups where we will think carefully about the support they need.

Of course, there are other barriers to outdoor education, some social and some economic. Currently in Scotland, not every child has equal access. Some schools have a pattern of offering a residential event to every child, while others don’t. Some groups get access to funding, often parents are covering the costs and sometimes finance is an issue. Some young people have additional support needs which need tailored provision.

I’m delighted that we have been able to contribute to a Scottish Parliament Cross-Party working group that is exploring how an outdoor residential event could be part of every pupil's school experience. The next part of the journey is the development of a members bill, which will then come before the Scottish Parliament. The Entitlement Bill is currently in draft stage with different stakeholders and we have been part of the sector-wide contribution to the working group.

I hope we’ll be able to report progress on the Entitlement Bill in the near future. 

Paul Bayton, Director of Centres