‘Release them into the wild, but how far can they go?’ Improving social and emotional mental health through teaching bushcraft skills to children with special educational needs and disability: a preliminary case series evaluation study

Previous research indicates that outdoor activity and learning programmes are a beneficial educational approach, but studies have neglected to consider how well this approach may address the social, emotional and mental health needs of children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). In this study, seven Key-Stage 3 children with SEND (aged 11 to 14) from a special educational needs provision within a mainstream school attended a five-week ‘bushcraft’ programme. Standardised psychometric measures of self-concept were completed by children before and after the intervention, and teachers rated pupils’ stress levels before and after. Results indicate that the programme was associated with a range of mental health, social and emotional benefits, suggesting that teaching bushcraft skills to this group is an acceptable, feasible and effective intervention leading to improvements in social and emotional function and mental health in children with SEND. Directions for future programme development and evaluation are considered.