Bedales > Departments > Outdoor Work

'Health, happiness, space and freedom for growth - the child needs these just as the plant needs air.' John Badley

The influence of natural surroundings in providing a healthy and balanced upbringing has always been recognised at Bedales. Staff and students manage about half of the school estate within a project known as Outdoor Work.

The aim of the scheme is to involve students as actively as possible in the practical management of land, through, for example, tree planting, gardening, livestock husbandry and organic farming.

A thriving cottage industry, seeking each year to fund its own activities, has developed with students participating in managerial decisions. Students learn bread making, blacksmithing, spinning and weaving and are actively involved on the school farm, tending our flock of Jacob sheep, geese and chickens and working the heavy horse.

As well as these activities, students and staff can become involved in the construction of traditional buildings. With the re-building of the Sotherington Barn in 1980 and Bonham’s Barn in 1983, a precedent was established which continues today.