Outdoor Learning
Growing Courageous, Curious Girls: How our Explorers Programme Brings Learning to Life
Sheffield is a city shaped by its hills, woodlands and green spaces. It is a place where families walk, climb, cycle and explore together, and where children grow up with nature on their doorstep. For pupils at Sheffield Girls’, our Explorers programme takes full advantage of this outdoor spirit, weaving the principles of Forest School into an approach designed especially for young learners from Reception to Year 4.
From seasonal discovery in Reception to bushcraft, knot-tying and orienteering in Year 4, Explorers gives every girl the chance to grow in confidence, curiosity and independence as they enjoy the fresh air and get their hands dirty.
Where Forest School meets Girls of Steel
Nationally, Forest School encourages child-led exploration, meaningful risk-taking and a deep connection with the natural world. Explorers builds on this framework but goes further, linking outdoor learning directly to our values of courage, positivity and kindness, and to the character strengths celebrated in our Girls of Steel programme.
Every session is intentionally designed to help girls:
- Take safe, supported risks
- Trust their judgement
- Work as a team
- Express ideas with confidence
- Develop resilience and independence
Skills that matter in any classroom, and even more so in life.
Outdoor learning, shaped for every stage
Early Explorers: Reception
Our youngest pupils experience outdoor learning every week, tracking the rhythm of the seasons as they explore autumn leaves, notice winter changes, plant in spring and investigate minibeasts in summer. This hands-on experience nurtures early scientific thinking and encourages a natural sense of wonder.
Nature Explorers: Years 1–2
In Key Stage 1, girls move into imaginative, sensory-rich activities rooted in storytelling and creativity. Through foraging, potion-making, crafting fairy crowns and using real tools to create tree cookies and wands, they build fine motor skills and self-belief, all within a world of play and possibility.
Wild Explorers: Years 3–4
As they grow, so does the challenge. Girls learn key knots using paracord, build shelters, navigate using maps, work with tools such as peelers and sheath knives, and take part in bushcraft activities. These sessions develop practical problem-solving, leadership and teamwork, alongside a clear understanding of safety and responsibility.
There’s also the opportunity for campfire celebrations; moments of pride, community and joy.
A programme uniquely crafted to support girls to learn
Our programme nurtures collaboration, communication and creativity. We know that girls thrive when given the space to lead, plan and evaluate their own ideas. Explorers encourages them to take initiative, voice opinions and handle challenges independently.
A safe place to take brave risks
Whether using a palm drill, tying a bowline or following a compass point, girls learn that they are capable and trusted. This builds courage, one of our core values, and transforms risk-taking into a positive, empowering experience.
Learning linked to STEM from the start
From investigating natural changes to understanding forces and structures in shelter-building, STEM thinking is woven throughout. Girls observe, question, test and refine, developing habits that support future success in science and technology.
Sheffield’s Outdoor City as a classroom
Our city identity inspires our programme. Sheffield’s green setting provides the ideal backdrop for girls to feel connected to nature, even as they grow up in an urban environment. Explorers helps them appreciate and care for the world around them.
A foundation for future leadership
The teamwork, resilience and problem-solving at the heart of Explorers feed directly into the leadership opportunities offered across our Junior School. These early experiences spark confidence that lasts well beyond Year 4.
A joyful part of childhood at Sheffield Girls’
Explorers is more than a set of outdoor activities. It is a thoughtfully crafted curriculum that gives girls time to think, space to move and the freedom to try, fail, try again, and succeed.
It is where muddy hands, imagination and determination come together. Where friendship grows around a fire pit. Where girls discover that courage feels a lot like climbing into a den you built yourself.
