This article first appeared in School Travel Organiser Magazine
School trips can be a chance for students to explore new environments, but this summer adventure for Pyrland School students turned out to be something they will never forget.
As part of their end-of-term enrichment week, 15 students from Years 7, 8, and 9 at Pyrland School in Taunton took part in a mission to re-wild planet Earth following the “climate change apocalypse”. The location? A classified 5000 acre site known as ‘The Bioasis’, located somewhere in the south west of England.
Teacher Sophie Roberts joined her students on their mission. She said: “We knew it was going to be a different kind of trip when we arrived at the car park, had to form teams and decipher coded information before trekking to reach our wilderness basecamp.”
Resilience, leadership and teamwork
Guided by their mission leaders, the group spent five days living ‘off-grid’ at Bioasis by learning bushcraft, essential survival skills and engaging in hands-on environmental and conservation work. Throughout the mission students had to undertake creative adventure challenges involving canoeing, navigation and archery.
Activities were hands-on and included archery, canoeing and navigation.
“The team at The Bioasis (who are all experts in their field), didn’t just lead – they let the students take on responsibilities, from using radios to talk to mission control, to navigating the terrain,” explained Sophie. “They created a balance of leadership and letting students step up, giving them space to take charge while providing guidance when needed.”
At the beginning of the trip the students didn’t know each other at all. Sophie said “We had a mix across ages, year-groups, backgrounds, genders and personalities. But by the end of it they were a solid neat team. It was amazing to witness the quieter ones at school come out of their shells and shine.
“I saw a lot of qualities in the students that week that I’d never seen at school. The change I saw in the students’ characters, confidence and resilience, as individuals and as a team was significant from the beginning to the end of the trip.”
Sophie Roberts, teacher at Pyrland School.
A living, breathing classroom
And while fun adventures are great, the thing which sets an experience down at The Bioasis apart is ‘the why’ behind each and every element and activity.
From canoe expeditions along the estuary while collecting rubbish and testing the water quality, to setting up wildlife cameras to track and monitor the numbers and behaviours of local species.
Pyrland School students helped to clean up the estuary.
Sophie added: “The students were totally captivated by the leaders as they shared their passion and knowledge on topics from river pollution, human evolution and hunting, to the importance of biodiversity, land management and re-wilding.”
There is a rich and diverse landscapes of ancient woodland, wildflower meadows, flowing estuary and saltmarshes. Sophie said: “The Bioasis is a living, breathing classroom, brought to life in creative and dynamic ways by the team that work there. I’ve never seen the students happier or more engaged.
“We hiked to the estuary for a canoe journey and a much needed cool down in the river. Highlights were our supply drop of doughnuts and hot chocolate and a race to the bridge involving lots of splashing! We then checked our camera traps and made bracelets out of nettles.”
Students took part in a canoe expedition following a hike.
An off-grid phone free experience
We don’t have to look very far to see the unprecedented impact mobile phones are having on our younger generations – there is an arguable correlation with our current mental health crisis. This is why The Bioasis is a strictly phone, mirror and wifi free experience. Communication is via Push-To-Talk radios, with no light or noise pollution other than the sounds of the forest at night and the odd glow worm. The result?
Adrian, founder & director of The Bioasis said: “We see students having much more presence and forming quicker, deeper, connections with each other, as well as bringing more awareness and focus to what they’re doing – without the constant pull and distraction of mobile phones.”
From howling at the moon to evolution and ecosystems
The entire team worked tirelessly to ensure the students had a rich, educational experience that went beyond the usual. Teacher, Sophie explained: “Whether it was being lucky in witnessing a meteor, howling at the moon under the stars, or discussing evolution and ecosystems, the team created a space where students could fully engage with the world around them.”
The Bioasis is 1,200 acres of coastline, salt marshes, woodland and rivers.
“We had a wonderful talk about prehistory, how we have evolved and the importance of interdependence within ecosystems,” added Sophie. “Checking our small mammal traps, we discovered that we had managed to catch a bank vole, before releasing it carefully back into the hedgerow.”
This was followed by teaching the students how to use bow saws and other tools, before removing invasive species of rhododendron and laurel, understanding the importance of this for allowing local biodiversity to flourish.
A model for future trips
The Bioasis programme blends practical skills with environmental education, offering students a chance to learn in a dynamic, fun and hands-on way.
The Bioasis has a range of mission-based school trips and expeditions, ranging from the Bioasis 5 mission, which Pyrland School took part in, to a specialist biology and environmental science mission. There is also a ten day ‘Bioasis Extreme’ mission, which involves a four day wilderness trek, including a night-time crossing of an ‘industrialist’ town.
Visit www.thebioasis.com for more details.