The Outdoor Programme is for young people from the high schools at Holy Cross High School and Calderside Academy, delivered in partnership with the Pathfinders at Calderside Academy, Terminal One Youth Centre and The Givit programme.
The programme is designed to work with young people who are non-attenders or who are having difficulties in school, home life or in the community and would not normally have the opportunity to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards or educational outdoor activities.
The outdoor programme presents young people with new experiences and broadened horizons, taking them to places in Scotland they may never otherwise visit and trying things they may never have done before, such as hillwalking, building a safe campfire, toasting smores and navigating.
Young people develop skills in leadership, time keeping and self-motivation, map reading, navigation and camping skills. One young person began the programme having not attended school for 18 months and quickly became incredibly reliable, arriving at 9:00am every Thursday for the programme. Another showed excellent leadership qualities and took it upon themselves to help others in the group.
There is a pathway and journey for young people on the programme. On completion of the Bronze award, they have choice to move on to the silver award outside of school with the support of staff team they have already worked and established a relationship with.
Achievements over the 18 months so far include:
- 2 young people completed the full Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award
- 4 young people completed section awards
We also have 3 young people who will embark on their Bronze expedition to complete their awards