Kingswood provides residential trips for primary and secondary schools, youth and uniformed groups. It is also the largest programme provider for the National Citizen Service, which includes a week residential experience.
About the study
The survey included views from 406 people from schools, including teachers, educational visit co-ordinators and others responsible for booking residential trips. There were 31 multiple choice questions and six open-ended questions, which revealed respondents’ perspectives of residential trips, such as the benefits for children, activities they would book, and the effect of lockdown on social development.
The locations of the survey respondents covered north to south, with 30 per cent of teachers located in some of the country’s more deprived regions including Yorkshire & Humber, the West Midlands, Wales and the North West. In addition, 40 per cent of respondents were in London and the South East, with the remainder located in the North East, East Midlands, East of England or South West.
Key findings
Across the regions, 88 per cent of respondents either “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that children have had too much time in front of a screen because of the pandemic and 66 per cent “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that children have lost part of their childhood because of the pandemic. As one respondent said: “Some children have benefitted from time with family, but have, due to necessity, used online learning and screens so much over the last year. They have returned to school with less resilience with other children and seem to have gone backwards.”
It is not surprising that 85 per cent of respondents agreed that being active outdoors is important for a child’s development, with 79.5 per cent agreeing that residential trips are beneficial to children.
When asked what kinds of experiences they would like to book, respondents’ answers included team building, climbing, zip wire, sports and adventure.
In response to the open-ended question: “How much do you think the wellbeing and mental health of your pupils has been affected by the pandemic?”, most responses poignantly indicated that children had been adversely affected by the pandemic, including:
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“Missing out of valuable socialisation between peers has had an impact on their relationships and ability to resolve friendship disputes.”
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“Many children have come back to school more cautious and worried than before. They are less resilient and able to try things independently.”
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“Our children rely on us for culture capital and we were not able to provide this during lockdown. Also, engagement with other children and different adults is essential.”
Some responses provided mixed observations, such as:
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“Some pupils have not been affected [by the pandemic] at all as we are in a rural area where they have had lots of opportunity to get outside and would do that anyway. However, some have become very anxious and risk averse and have had increased use of IT and less exercise, and fewer opportunities to develop good social skills and resilience.”
While a few responded with positive comments including:
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“Children have been able to bounce back well” and “Many have had very good positive experiences with their families.”
In response to being asked what the most significant benefit of residential trips are, confidence and wellbeing was ranked top and 75 per cent “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that the resumption of school residential trips would have a positive impact on the mental health and wellbeing of pupils.
Conclusions
The overarching picture the survey research results painted is one that widely recognises the value and importance of being outdoors, teamwork and activities as part of a child’s social development to reinforce emotional wellbeing. There is a generation of children whose confidence and ability to be independent has been negatively affected by lockdown and teachers are now embracing the opportunity for children to actively try new things in new environments.
The survey has helped Kingswood to continue to design bespoke programmes for school children to give them back a crucial part of their childhood which is centred around playing and interacting outdoors, in turn raising energy levels and emotional spirits.
Kingswood is committed to supporting the generation that lockdown left behind, by aligning its expertise in designing outcome-based experiential learning with teachers’ perspectives on the effects of the pandemic on social development and learning.
