Why go?

The Outlook Programme is designed with 'learning through challenge' at its core. Being overseas, away from the familiarities and comforts of home, presents a range of authentic challenges that teams then work together and individually to overcome.

With any real life scenario, things don't always go to plan, and it can be hard work - but that really is the point! It's only through experiencing challenges and some adversity in our lives that we build the tools and resilience needed to succeed.

The effects of the pandemic will be felt by students up and down the country for many years, to come. It's what schools do next that will really make the difference. Walsall Academy's Jon Clarke believes that getting out into the natural world is the best cure, and embedding expeditions into the school's culture is the key to creating a generation of young people that are resilient and equipped with the tools to tackle life's challenges.

But of course, after much adjusting and adapting post-pandemic, the country finds itself in another a crisis - one centered around the increasing cost-of-living. Outlook Expeditions Managing Director, Simon Adams, recently met up with Jon to chat about the future of school expeditions, and why during a cost-of-living crisis, lowering the bar shouldn't be the answer; "Are we not disadvantaging children more by not offering them the opportunities?"