Stories

Just a mile or two from the bustle of Broad Street, Edgbaston Reservoir is a watery haven, hidden away from busy roads, and surrounded by trees. Joggers and dog walkers are out in force on this fresh March morning, and there is a slight breeze rippling the water.

On the bank, an excited group of boys are milling around piles of logs, plastic barrels and oars. Their task is to construct rafts, float them on the water, and race them across the reservoir.

Boys work together to tie secure knots

A recent OFSTED report concludes that the key to improving a child’s performance in the classroom is to take them out of it. Apparently, fresh air, new, stimulating surroundings and challenging activities can help boost children’s self esteem, team working skills and concentration, and that all means better grades.

A new initiative

Edgbaston Watersports thinks it's ahead of the game when it comes to helping children develop. The centre believes its outdoor adventure courses for young teenage boys can help improve performance in the classroom.

They hope to gain official recognition as an accredited Centre for Learning Outside the Classroom later this year, as part of a new government initiative. So, does building a raft from barrels and rope, and splashing about in freezing cold water count as an education?

Will the raft float?

The centre runs a variety of land and water based activities, including fencing, archery, climbing, kayaking and sailing. The raft building exercise, however, seems to really bring these shy teenagers out of themselves, and encourage them to collaborate.

Slipping through the net

With the help of trained instructors, the boys from Cockshut Hill Technology College, Bishop Walsh Catholic School and Ninestiles Community Technology College, who coordinated the project, practice knots to hold the rafts together securely, and test out the finished structures before launching them.

Already an hour into the morning’s activities, their attention levels don't seem to have dropped, so why were these boys picked out by their schools to be sent on a course for underachievers?

The raft is ready to launch

The official literature which accompanied the Lottery funding the course receives defines underachieving pupils as those who "do not have the self esteem or confidence to participate in traditional PE activities currently offered by schools." These pupils tend to have limited communication skills and encounter difficulties when working in groups.

Impressionable

That's the official line, but what does it mean in practice? Jake Oliver, Chief Instructor at the Edgbaston Watersports, explains: “They're just normal kids, the ones that slip through the net. Schools have focused on the high achievers and the really low achievers for such a long time, that the middle band has been totally neglected. They are the ones who get ignored, they're really impressionable and they need guidance.”

The instructors assigned to each group of boys are used to working with people of all ages, levels of capability and concentration. They liaise closely with teachers to create courses tailored specifically to each child's needs.

The raft makes its way across the water

Although this is the first time these boys will go out on the water together, they have been visiting the centre over the winter, gradually building up skills and self esteem.

Taking to the water

Jake says feedback from schools has been overwhelmingly positive, “Teachers tell us that they can’t believe the difference in the kids. They have that ability to voice their own opinion in a classroom environment, because they’ve built up their confidence here, and that makes such a difference.”

Once the final knots have been tightened, the rafts are lowered into the water, and the boys clamber on, oars in hand. One team rows in unison, egged on by their mentor, reaches the buoy and returns to shore. The other is not so speedy, and by the end of the race two boys are swimming behind the raft, propelling it along with their back legs.

A trained instructor encourages the boys

By the time they’ve all climbed out of the water, it doesn’t seem to matter who won the race. The important thing is that they have made the rafts themselves, and taken to the water on their own. Edgbaston Watersports believes that this will give them the confidence to achieve their full potential in class, and they hope to extend the course to girls in the future.