The Outdoors School

Home
United Kingdom
Shillingford
The Outdoors School

The Outdoors School offers an innovative and radical learner-led, project based approach to education at our Ofsted registered school for SEND learners.

Run entirely outdoors on four sites across Devon, we are here because one size does not fit all!

29/08/2026

The final puzzle piece in our approach to education is that we believe that learning should be experiential. But if we want to go beyond ‘learning by doing’, what do we mean by experiential learning?

Fundamentally, experiential learning is based on engagement with a topic, the experience of engaging with the learning, and how a learner relates to the topic at hand. It means that learners will relate more authentically to the topic they are learning, being able to contextualise it within their own lives.

Experiential learning mirrors the world around learners, it is the foundation of their interactions with the world. It is the basis upon which they will progress personally, professionally and as part of communities.

This kind of learning also allows a growth mindset and an understanding of failure in the context of development rather than as an end point to a negative experience which is crucial to developing resilience and a healthy relationship with learning.

28/08/2026

We talked about relationship being a key part of our approach to education last week, but another crucial component is our ability to be flexible.

Particularly for learners with SEND, being flexible in the way you work together can be the difference to a successful engagement or interaction and one that completely misses the mark. Many of us will have seen the meme with the animals all set to take an exam and the task being completely impossible for some of the species – the same is true of our kids. There isn’t one way to teach, one way to educate, one way to learn – we are all beautifully unique and correspondingly, all have our own unique ways of learning.

Admittedly, it would be ‘easier’ if the same approach worked for everyone but that just isn’t the case and by trying to act as if it was, all we’re doing is failing the young people that we are trying to support.

That’s why we work hard at The Outdoors School to be as flexible as possible in meeting our learners exactly where they are and supporting them to learn in a way that works perfectly for them.

27/08/2026

🍃🍃Our Sites: Crediton 🍃🍃

Our smallest and most 'hybrid' site is Crediton, the home for our Key Stage 4 learners. This site is located on the edge of the town in the hospital grounds and is a mixture of broadleaf woodland, grassy areas, and also has a building that we use with our learners when their projects require the use of technology that we can't take outdoors.

We have been developing this site since we acquired it in 2022 and it's been an absolute delight to include the learners in that process as they've helped decide what they might like on the site, whether that's a gym area or a giant cargo net to hang out in.

This site currently is home to 3 learner groups, comprised of year 10's and 11's as they work towards the next steps on their learning journeys.

26/08/2026

Woodworking is a core component of our daily life at school, whether that's learners crafting their own small creations or working together to achieve a larger project like a round house or sports equipment.

It's a fantastic vehicle for helping our learners develop a range of skills, and one that we are pleased to safely facilitate for them.

Woodworking requires the use of real tools, and our learners must learn how to use them safely and risk assess the activity for themselves which are great transferable skills for life.

It also needs a learner to concentrate and focus on the task at hand which doesn't always come easy to some of the young people we work with.

Watching them develop and grow these skills during their time with us is such a privilege and it's why working with wood and tools remains a firm favourite of staff and learners alike.

25/08/2026

It's not long until school starts again and for lots of our learners, this is a tricky time as they navigate the transition from holidays back to term time.

One of the biggest things you can do to positively support your child during this time is to keep life simple and quiet when not in school. Try not to plan too much in the evenings and weekends for the first few weeks and if possible, ease off on the demands you place on them at home, giving them the time they need to process the change whilst staying regulated.

Remember that it's likely that there will be some big feelings, particularly if you know that your child struggles with change. Be ready to listen, to support them in the way you know is most effective for them, to accept their feelings without belittling or diminishing them.

And please don't forget that you can reach out to our Family Support Team if you need some extra support - we're here to help our whole school community, not just our learners 💚

24/08/2026

At The Outdoors School, learners are actively involved in mealtimes. This might include writing shopping lists, helping to prepare food, sharing a meal with fellow learners or helping to wash up and tidy away.

Important social learning happens during mealtimes, as children learn new vocabulary and practice skills, such as taking turns and sharing.

We understand that some learners have anxiety or sensory issues around eating and food. Our mealtimes are child-centred and inclusive so that each child feels comfortable to engage and eat intuitively.

23/08/2026

🍃🍃Meet The Team!! 🍃🍃

Today we'd like to introduce our Head of School, Daniel Garbutt.

Dan champions an inclusive, trauma-informed approach to education that places relationships, belonging, and real-world learning at its heart. He is passionate about ensuring that young people who may not have thrived in traditional educational settings can experience success, develop confidence, and discover their strengths through meaningful and personalised learning experiences.

Having worked across mainstream, PRU, and specialist SEND settings, he has consistently championed innovative, learner-centred practice that improves outcomes for young people and their families. Before joining the school, Dan was Headteacher of a specialist SEMH school in Somerset, rated Good with Outstanding features by Ofsted.

With over ten years of leadership experience, he brings extensive expertise in creating environments where learners feel safe, valued, understood, and able to thrive. Dan is a qualified SENDCo and is particularly proud of his work in leading whole-school culture change, developing future leaders, and building strong partnerships with families. Outside of school, Dan enjoys spending time in nature and is a keen musician, playing both drums and piano.

22/08/2026

One of the cornerstones of our approach is that our practice is relationship based. But what exactly do we mean by that? It means that the relationships between learners and staff are of utmost important to the success of our provision.

It’s not uncommon for people to remember a specific teacher when reminiscing about their school days. You often hear celebrities shouting out and thanking a particular teacher in interviews, marking them as someone who supported and encouraged them when others may not have done. Although anecdotally, this shows us that a strong learner-teacher relationship can have lasting positive consequences, well into adulthood.

But why is this? Because when someone takes time to get to know you and to build a relationship with you, you immediately start to feel respected, valued and your self worth grows. In education, these feelings are so important in order for a learner to be regulated and grounded enough to be able to access learning.

If we revisit Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, having positive relationships helps meet the needs for belonging and the needs for esteem. And once these needs are met, learning is more likely to be successful and alongside that, there is a lowered chance of dysregulation or using behaviour that may be unhelpful or disruptive to communicate unmet needs.

We believe that relationship based practice is absolutely key to a young person being able to engage successfully and take charge of their own education and that's why it is such a focal point of the way we work.

21/08/2026

It occurred to us that perhaps some of you are interested in the history of The Outdoors School and our origin story that led us to where we are today...

It all started many years ago, back in 2006, when two old school friends bumped into each other in Exeter and, after a night of reminiscing, realised they shared a mutual passion for outdoor education and a strong belief that education could be done radically differently.

Shevek Pring and Tom Lowday then spent the next few years gathering equipment, running ad-hoc sessions and continuing their own learning journeys before opening Exeter Forest School in 2011. For the next 8 years, they ran Forest School sessions, grew their team, and quickly developed a specialism for working in the 'alternative provision' sphere. They observed that their unique brand of outdoor education was perfect for SEND learners and those struggling in other, more mainstream settings.

After several years of planning and lots of paperwork, The Outdoors School officially opened its (metaphorical!) doors 7 years ago in September 2019. Originally two sites and a handful of learners, over the years we have grown to operating for over 100 learners across four woodland sites with more growth on the horizon.

It's been quite the journey, and of course, the team now consists of many more staff - all united in that original dream that there is a different approach to education. One that meets learners where they are, supports them holistically, and encourages them to become lifelong learners who go on to thrive in adulthood.

20/08/2026

A common question that we get asked is what our school day actually looks like in practice.

We thought we'd share our daily timetable with you today so you can get an idea of the rhythm of the day that we use once learners are in the woods with us.

As we mentioned earlier this month, project based learning is the primary vehicle for learning at our school and this changes on a regular basis. Our core sessions are where we 'do' our project based learning, picking up where we've left off the day before or starting on a brand new project.

Our holistic approach to projects draws in lots of different subjects by relating them to the same topic (e.g. a project on trains could include elements of science, maths, history, literature, geography…etc).

However, whilst we do have a timetable (of sorts), we believe that flexibility is key and if, for whatever reason, a learner needs to spend more time grounding, more time in therapeutic interventions, or more time in a different period of the day, we facilitate that as much as possible.

Address

The Outdoors School
Shillingford
EX29QQ

Opening Hours

Monday

9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441392832632

Website

http://www.theoutdoorsschool.co.uk/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Outdoors School posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to The Outdoors School:

Want your school to be the top-listed School/college in Shillingford?