Archived decisions
Hampshire County Council
Recreation and Heritage Policy Review Committee Item 7
10 July 2003
The Hampshire Outdoor Service - partnership recognition
Report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage and Chief Education Officer
Contact: Stuart Nundy Ext: 5015
1. Purpose
1.1 The purpose of this report is to describe the outcomes of recent collaborative working between the Outdoor Education Unit (Education Department) and the Outdoor Activities Service (Recreation and Heritage Department), and to identify the desirability of formalising this relationship in order to enable the development of a cohesive approach to marketing outdoor learning to schools, the youth service and others.
2. Background
2.1 For many years Hampshire County Council has supported and encouraged learning in, about and for the environment amongst young people both in and out of school time. The benefits of outdoor education as a means of developing key skills, building confidence and self esteem, providing motivation, dealing with challenging behaviour, addressing specific curriculum requirements and raising achievement are well rehearsed and understood within the County Council.
2.2 This support has manifested itself across two key areas. Within the Education Department, the Inspector for Outdoor Education and the Outdoor Education Unit has responsibility for the regulatory and guidance structure which guides schools and youth groups to safe working and good risk management in the outdoors. In addition, the unit co-ordinates all of the off-site leader training for teachers and youth workers wishing to lead groups into the outdoors, provides curriculum support to schools working in the outdoors, and provides liaison for those centres at Minstead, Stubbington, Sparsholt and Bramley Frith that are funded via the LEA
2.3 Within the Recreation and Heritage Department, the Outdoor Activities Officer and the Outdoor Activities Service, as part of the Arts, Sport and Community Division, manage and maintain the four outdoor centres at Calshot, Tile Barn, Beaulieu and Wales. In addition, the Outdoor Activities Officer administers the current partnership funding scheme for the four charitable trust centres of Avon Tyrell (Ringwood) , The Countryside Education Trust (Beaulieu), QE II Silver Jubilee Activity Centre (Bursleden) and the Gilbert White Field Centre (Selborne).
2.4 In essence, the education department provides the Health and Safety framework for young people within which the Recreation and Heritage Department delivers it's outdoor learning provision.
2.5 This collaboration was identified as a critical element of the Outdoor Activities Service Strategy 2002 - 2005, which noted the requirement to "build cross cutting links between the Outdoor Activity Service and Outdoor Education Service" as a key action. The strategy was approved by PRC in April 2002.
3. Current working
3.1 Over the past two years the Inspector for Outdoor Education and the Outdoor Activities Officer have worked together on many aspects of outdoor education provision within Hampshire.
3.2 Concrete manifestations of this collaborative approach are readily identifiable in several key areas. For example:
· The Trailblazer project, delivering a structure for outdoor accreditation and increasing resources for outdoor learning delivery, is jointly funded and managed by both departments, utilises resources from both departments and seeks to deliver corporately focused outcomes relevant to both departments and the County Council as a whole.
· Leader training is increasingly carried out in partnership. Mountain leader training is co-ordinated by the Outdoor Education Unit, led by Outdoor Centre staff and utilises the Hampshire Mountain Centre in Wales.
· `Out There', the newsletter of the outdoor activity service, is jointly edited and produced by both units and distributed to schools, youth groups, members and others.
· The Summer Activities Programme for young people, funded by DfES (via the New Opportunities Fund) is jointly planned and managed.
3.3 Strategic planning for outdoor activities and learning is carried out collaboratively. The current applications to the New Opportunities Fund for capital developments at Tile Barn, Minstead and the potential `northern' centre have been developed jointly. The recently produced new edition of the off-site regulations and Guidance to schools was produced by the Outdoor Education Unit in collaboration with Recreation and Heritage colleagues. In preparation is the concept of a broader `Hampshire Forum' for outdoor learning, an umbrella group fronted by the Outdoor Activities Service and the Outdoor Education Unit, encompassing all other Hampshire providers - the LEA centres, the Southampton and Portsmouth centres, and the trust centres such as the Privett Centre.
4. The partnership
4.1 The degree and nature of the partnership has reached a point where this type of cross departmental working is more usefully described by specific terms. The term being generically applied to this is 'The Hampshire Outdoor Service' - a partnership of the Outdoor Education Unit and the Outdoor Activities Service. It is a way of expressing to our colleagues in schools, the youth service and elsewhere, the totality of support and provision that Hampshire County Council has in place for those seeking to work safely and positively with young people in the outdoors - one coherent Hampshire County Council `brand'.
4.2 However, it permits the two groups to maintain their own responsibilities and internal structures. Whilst encouraging a shared vision, it maintains the crucially important division between 'safety regulation' and 'provision and delivery' which is necessary to ensure that the highest levels of risk management and quality control are maintained when working with young people.
4.3 The adoption of 'Hampshire Outdoor Service' as an umbrella identity will permit:
· A clarity of vision for outdoor learning in Hampshire.
· A pathway for the rational identification of current and future needs and development.
· A closer fit between training requirements and provision.
· The more efficient development and management of projects to meet corporate and cross cutting objectives, particularly with regard to young people.
· An opportunity to market the benefits of and opportunities for outdoor learning in a more efficient and coherent manner.
· A united HCC approach to national bodies and government agencies - eg. DfES, DCMS, New Opportunities Fund, etc.
The 'Hampshire Outdoor Service' may be illustrated graphically as follows.
5. Conclusions
5.1 Many positive outcomes have emerged from recent collaborative working between the Outdoor Education Unit and the Outdoor Activities Service over the past two years. This process will continue to the mutual benefit of both services, their departments and the County Council corporatively.
5.2 The need now is to formalise this relationship for the sake of clarity when presenting these outcomes, and to assist in the further development of new projects as we seek to encourage schools and youth groups to fully engage with the power of outdoor learning.
6. Recommendations
1. That Members support and encourage the increased collaboration between outdoor services within Education, Recreation and Heritage and other County Council departments.
2. That Members support the use of the term 'Hampshire Outdoor Service' to encompass the processes and structures currently being put in place and designed to lead to greater development of outdoor learning opportunities in Hampshire, whilst recognising the requirement to ensure an appropriate distance between 'regulation' and 'provision/delivery' - a new Hampshire County Council `brand'.
3. That Members submit this report and their support to the Executive Member (Recreation and Heritage) for his consideration.
Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers
The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.
NB the list excludes:
1. Published works
2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.
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