For teachers interested in introducing the sport of orienteering to students as part of their Outdoor Learning and Adventurous Activities programme, the club can offer plenty of advice and support.
Maps
Please do read the British Schools Orienteering Association (BSOA) guide to schools mapping before enquiring further as this has all the information you may need.
www.BSOA.org
Most Shropshire schools are already mapped and minor updates to existing files can normally be done rapidly for nominal cost. Many schools also have staff that have taken the British Orienteering basic TO1 course to enable them to deliver basic activities on their school site.
Permanent Orienteering Courses (POCs)
Schools often progress rapidly from their own site to one of these facilities, ideal training before a schools competition. The full list of local permanent orienteering courses (POCs), access and contacts details is on our “any-time orienteering” page.
Coaching
Club events always offer FREE coaching on request and schools are encouraged to enable their pupils and interested parents to access these. Wrekin is a ‘Clubmarked’ sports club and as such stages a significant number of small events, ideal for beginners.
Some of the club coaches are also available during school term time to deliver high quality coached sessions on school sites or at a local POC (normal schools sports coaching rates apply).
Summer series
Wrekin Summer Series events usually on take place on Saturday mornings or Tuesday evenings between around April to August and are an ideal way for pupils and teachers to try orienteering. We already have local schools attending most weeks so you can share ideas and experiences with them. More details can be found on our “future events” page.
Kit hire
We have a basic set of flags and pin punches that can be hired in by schools on a collect and return basis.
Progression
Typical progression for schools and colleges that form links to the club sees pupils progressing rapidly from the schools pyramid / county schools games / local events / regional schools champs / regional events / national events.
As orienteering is an ‘open’ sport it is possible to access all levels of competition and many club juniors do compete regularly in their age group in the regional club league as part of the whole club team, as well as taking part in the major orienteering events that are often staged in the region. There are also established national school competitions that schools’ teams can take part in without having to jump through multiple tiers in order to ‘qualify’. In orienteering, you just ‘do it’, and if being a relative novice makes it more of an ‘adventure’, that’s part of the spirit of the sport.
Video clips
As a minority sport in the UK most of the coverage you can access is unfortunately restricted to major international events via the International Orienteering Federation here (requires login) or videos on You Tube. For teachers and schools that are unable to deliver their pupils to a competitive event on proper terrain, this is the best way to show the sport properly, in action. A listing of the best clips to show to various age-groups is available on request. Also (for re-enforcement / review) all of the basic coached activities are covered by a British Orienteering produced DVD.
You can even upload your school map into the digital world to try virtual orienteering and compete against anyone in the world online! (But we’d prefer to see you on a Tuesday evening racing around in the beautiful Shropshire countryside)
For more information and advice please contact our schools liaison officer via the Contact Us page (select “Schools Liaison” from the drop-down).