Teachers across Wales have an “unmissable opportunity” to transform the lives of pupils through meaningful outdoor education, says the Field Studies Council whose centres include one at Dale Fort, west of Milford Haven.

At the National Education Show in Cardiff on Friday, October 4, the charity’s education manager Jo Harris said: “The Curriculum for Wales is an unmissable opportunity to embed outdoor education as an integral part of the learning experience.

“I urge teachers to embrace outdoor learning as an integral part of the new curriculum as it aims to create the healthy and ambitious young people needed to move our society ahead.”

The new curriculum for Wales has a strong emphasis on four key purposes, with the formal boundaries between subjects becoming more fluid in a more holistic approach to encourage positive well-being. It aims to create capable learners, creative contributors, ethical citizens and healthy, confident individuals.

The first cohort of Year 10 GCSE students will start following the new curriculum from September 2025, and Jo urged teachers to embed field trips and outdoor learning into their planning from the start.

She said: “We know that experience-based hands-on learning in natural environments fosters problem-solving, critical thinking and resilience. It encourages curiosity and a deep connection with the natural world, essential attributes for the citizens of tomorrow.

“The world of outdoor learning and nature connection is vital in creative thinking and the investigative work involved in fieldwork creates critical thinkers who can work in teams and individually.

“With green jobs on the rise at a rate much higher than workers with green skills, (World Economic Forum, Feb 2024), the future work force needs the stimulation, engagement and support to fulfil these roles, and the new Welsh curriculum is committed to delivering on this.

“Field Studies Council is a key partner of choice for this commitment - our school and university courses, as well as our online biodiversity department, are delivering expert courses and resources around biodiversity and environmental learning.”

The charity is also working with WJEC to help build teacher-confidence in delivering fieldwork for the new GCSE.

For more information, visit www.field-studies-council.org.