Dear ISB Community,
Outdoor/Environmental Education Campus
On Tuesday last week, the Board of Trustees approved a proposal from the school administration to acquire a plot of land within a three hour driving distance from ISB to develop an outdoor/environmental education campus.
The administration will next work with the Business Committee of the Board on a more specific proposal that will include land & facility details in addition to appropriate due diligence for cost, legality, and safety. The Board of Trustees will be asked to give final approval to the specifics later this school year.
The leadership team conducted a visioning exercise two years ago and determined that outdoor education skills, social/emotional competencies, and character development represented the most significant learning gaps in the ISB experience. While we have some outdoor and environmental education opportunities for our students, these are largely optional with something of a reliance on third party providers.
Our leadership team included the study of outdoor education in the school’s Strategic Learning Plan, reviewed research (see some links at the end of this message), and made visits last year to view outdoor education programs and facilities at three schools in Australia (Geelong Grammar School – Timbertop Campus, Methodist Ladies College Melbourne – Banksia Campus, and Lauriston Girls’ School – Howqua Campus).
Elliott Bowyer has been hired to direct ISB’s outdoor education program starting August 2016. Elliott is currently the Director of Outdoor Education at the Western Academy Beijing (WAB) and was instrumental in setting up the hugely successful WAB Wild outdoor education campus. Mr. Bowyer has also worked in the outdoor education field at other international schools and in his native New Zealand.
In 2015, Mr. Bowyer accompanied ISB personnel on a review of potential areas to assess suitability for an outdoor education campus. Four locations in particular were examined in detail – Kanchanaburi, Chon Buri, Khao Yai and Kaeng Krachan. We will be continuing our search for the most appropriate location in the coming months.
Initially, the outdoor/environmental curriculum will be geared toward middle school and upper elementary age children. In the HS, IB sciences and other subjects will use the facility for field studies and one or two GCW activities will probably take place there. Other potential uses include “writers in residence”, the Duke of Edinburgh Award program, Boy & Girl Scouts, geography field trips, community service, Green Panthers, summer camps, sports team retreats and many more.
Given our commitment to providing more authentic learning experiences, students will also be involved in the design process.
As we make progress we will communicate further with the ISB community on this exciting new development. If anyone has any questions or concerns, please contact me.
Sincerely,
Dr. Andrew Davies
andrewd@isb.ac.th
Research LInks to Learning
https://www.englishoutdoorcouncil.org/Values_and_benefits.htm
https://www.englishoutdoorcouncil.org/research.in.outdoor.learning.html
https://www.outdoor-learning.org/Default.aspx?tabid=213
https://www.academia.edu/288162/A_Review_of_Research_on_Outdoor_Learning