GetOutside Day

 

I hope you have something planned for today!

Between 2018 and 2020 I worked as a GetOutside Champion for the Ordnance Survey: part of a team of people in various locations around the country encouraging people to get outside in different ways. Some of them were athletes, bloggers, Instagrammers, runners, paralympians and TV personalities. I was just a geography teacher using my blogging and role to encourage fieldwork and other outdoor activities in the curriculum. We added a Fieldwork Week to my Presidential year, with thanks to Paula Richardson for her efforts there, and expanded it to a Fieldwork Fortnight last year.

There is plenty of advice on the Ordnance Survey's page for this day when people are encouraged to spend time outdoors.

And don't forget to follow the Countryside Code.

GetOutside Champions - the end of the adventure

Today is my last day as an OS GetOutside Champion. 

I have loved every minute of my time working with the OS over the last two and a bit years, to promote outdoor activity and particularly within the education community. I've enjoyed conversations with the public prompted by my branded gear and equipment, and at various events. I've contributed blog posts and other information to OS websites and blogs. I've been able to offer discounts on OS Maps to hundreds of people, and spoken about the benefits of OS Maps and digital products such as Digimap for Schools and Data Nation. I helped promote the programme at various national and local events, and found myself in the local press several times.

One of the highlights was seeing myself in the pages of the 2nd OS Puzzle Book, this time a trail through the UK, with my thoughts on the East of England.
It's still available from all good book shops, and supermarkets...


A new group of OS Champions has been recruited, and they will meet for the first time next month to start their adventure.

I wish the next generation of GetOutside Champions all the best for their time 'in office' and 'in orange'.

I've made lots of new friends and contacts and will continue to engage on social media, and follow their adventures, and also to GetOutside of course.

The new Champions are in for a great time (and some free swag - I wear my Stance socks almost every day for example)

But for now, it's time to hang up my jacket... 

National GetOutside Day

Today is National GetOutside Day. 

The weather has not been ideal here in Norfolk today, but have managed to get out between the showers and hoping the rain clears later for a photography trip to a nearby linseed field.

National Map Reading Week

It's a pity that it's during the school holidays as we normally do a big push on this at school, and it's sometimes been later in the year.

It's National Map Reading Week, so try to get out there this week with an OS Map and try the downloadable guides.



Perhaps this is the week to do a trial of the OS Maps app - it's excellent...

Merits available to all KEJ pupils who send a picture of them outside with an OS Map.

I want to GetOutside like Common People...

Tomorrow is the Ordnance Survey GetOutside Day and I am going to get outside - of course.

Some of my fellow Champions are leading walks and helping out with other events as well around the country.
I have decided to try to visit as many of the Commons in Norfolk as I can within the day, and walk around or across them. Some are quite small, and others are larger. I shall start with the one in my village, and then plot a course around Breckland and see where I end up... Follow the progress on my Twitter feed tomorrow. I shall be using the OS Maps app to help locate and plot a route between them.

This is to tie in with the end of Norfolk Commons Week.
This is organised by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, of which I am a member and have supported their work for many years. Back in the day, I used to teach about common lands, and the rights of commoners, to include pannage and turbary. This was part of the 'A' level Geography spec at the time.

Don't forget the photo competition which are running within King's Ely for pupils from years 3-9.

GetOutside Day Competition Poster - for printing the logo if required

Ordnance Survey GO Comp by Alan Parkinson on Scribd

GetOutside Day competition

Win prizes... open to King's Ely students in Years 3-9

OS GetOutside Champions

You can take a first look at the new OS Champions Website here.
It will give you information about all the people who are going to be working with me over the next year or more to encourage more exploration of the UK, with all the additional benefits that being outside brings.
Here's me and my fellow Champions based in the East of England.
We each have a page where we will be posting what we get up to over the course of the year.