Cliffe House is the perfect antidote to the cotton wool culture.
Volume and excitement levels rise the moment children step over the threshold of the imposing Victorian mansion, many of them clutching suitcases and away from home for the first time.
They may only be staying for a day or two but for many, Shepley’s Cliffe House will provide memories to last a lifetime. Some of their parents and grandparents still talk fondly of the time they spent here as youngsters.
The stately pile, surrounded by six acres of land on the main A629 Sheffield road, was originally built by the Senior family, who set up the local Sovereign brewery. Some time in the 1940s it was handed over to Dewsbury Council who gave thousands of town-dwelling youngsters an unforgettable two-week residential break. To prevent them becoming homesick, parents were allowed to visit at the weekend.
Kirklees Council has managed to hang on to the magnificent building through difficult times when other local authorities sold off their residential centres, and describe it as “the jewel in the crown.”
Cliffe House and Kirklees are now leading the way in the government-supported move to get schoolchildren out of doors and reconnecting with the natural world.
Every year between 5,000 and 6,000 children from all over Kirklees arrive at the centre for a one or two-day educational stay. They leave having learned a lot about the environment - and themselves.
The 16 staff, many of them part-time, create a home-from-home atmosphere where children leave the constraints of the classroom behind and start to discover the natural world around them. The sense of informality is heightened by the three friendly “canine assistants” Oscar, Ralph and Bertie - pets of staff members - and some kids’ first contact up-close with animals.
Rosie Taylor took over as head of the centre last September, having worked there for 18 years. She said: “We have a passionate team of teachers and we encourage the children to explore, investigate and learn through hands-on experience, which is great fun and therefore memorable. We never have any behaviour problems.
“The children are encouraged, under guidance, to manage their own risk and that of their peers which is a great lesson for adulthood and one which can only come through real experience."
Children learn English, maths and science through their own explorations around the grounds and more than 40 organised activities, including storytelling in the woods, collecting and classifying insects and plants, discovering shapes in nature, pond studies, bushcraft, rock trails and team-building exercises
They learn to manage their and their fellow pupils’ risk in the big-scale adventure playground or around the camp fire.
Rosie said: “We are not preaching. If children learn through hands-on experience, they remember it for longer. Take children who are reluctant learners in the classroom outside and they become enthusiastic.”
Teacher Catherine Heppenstall added: “Children are the most natural explorers in the world and they’re stimulated by our natural environment.”
At a time when Ofsted is marking schools down for not including enough outdoor activity in their timetables, and increasing evidence that children who spend more time outdoors are healthier, more alert and have better social skills, Cliffe House is at the forefront of a quiet education revolution to get youngsters out of the classroom and into the Great Outdoors. All the more relevant as Darwin has also been added to the National Curriculum.
Last month the centre, in conjunction with Kirklees Learning Service, ran its first one-day “I’m a Kid, Get Me Out of Here” conference to train 50 teachers, assistants and youth workers how to teach maths, literacy and science outdoors in a way that enthuses pupils about the subjects. It sold out within days. The centre also ran a highly successful taster day for trainee teachers at Huddersfield University.
According to Catherine, many younger teachers haven’t experienced outdoor “free-range” childhoods themselves, which makes them wary of taking children outside: “My generation used to spend a lot of time playing outside, making contact with the seasons and understanding the impact that the weather systems have on our lives – that’s something that’s being lost today.
“A lot of schools run an outdoor week, but then the rest of the year the children are inside the classroom. We want to challenge that and say: ‘Why not get children and teachers outdoors all year round?’”
Cliffe House now plans to build on last month’s success and run a series of these one-day courses for teachers, along with a widening range of activities for schools and the public.
With annual running costs of £420,000 and Kirklees Council withdrawing its partial financial support next April, Rosie and her team are focussing on what they do best. Places for schoolchildren are already almost fully booked for 2014/15 and they are anticipating a big take-up for their teacher training courses.
She said: “Many schools have a great deal of potential for using their grounds as a learning resource, but the educators may just need some ideas, encouragement and support to plan the use of the outdoors in their teaching.
“We are very positive about the future. Cliffe House is a very special place with passionate people and we are at the leading edge of delivering outdoor education.”
The centre also has a number of activities open to the public during half term at the end of this month. For more information visit www.kirklees.gov.uk/cliffehouse or ring 01484 221000 and ask for Cliffe House.
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