John Muir Programme (Discovery Award)

The John Muir Award encourages people of all backgrounds to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places.

The Award is inclusive, accessible and non-competitive, though should challenge each participant.  It encourages awareness and responsibility for the natural environment through a structured yet adaptable scheme, in a spirit of fun, adventure and exploration.

Award Criteria

To achieve a John Muir Award, each participant must:

Meet the four Challenges
Complete the required time commitment
Show enthusiasm and commitment towards their involvement
Have an awareness of John Muir
Understand what the John Muir Award is and why they are participating

The John Muir program is and environmental award scheme designed to be as flexible as possible to allow for self-learning and discovery no matter what age or ability (although it is best suited to upper key stage 2 and above) and focuses on wild places.

It focuses around 4 challenges:

DISCOVER a wild place (Discover Avon Tyrrell and realise its value as an outdoor space)
EXPLORE it (Explore the site in a range of ways which include various activities and navigation exercises.)
Do something to CONSERVE it (Learn how to protect and conserve the site through recycling, surveying wildlife or removing invasive species.)
SHARE your experience (Share your experiences through conversations, poems, pictures, reflection games and presentations.)

These criteria have to be met in order to earn the award.

Duration: Discovery Award – four days/25+ hours minimum time commitment

Delivery: To be delivered on site at Avon Tyrrell and off site independently.

Pre residential work (delivered by youth workers/ teachers) – 4hrs

Intro to John Muir award – 2 hrs

Session aim to introduce the John Muir award
Start planning for the trip away
Understand what needs to be completed to achieve the award

Biodiversity, New Forest National Park, Outside access and country code, Areas of outstanding natural beauty, - 2hrs

These sessions are approx. 30-45 mins long and can be delivered as one training session or as a series of shorter sessions

Below is a sample 2-night programme, however our Princes Trust packages can be extremely flexible.

Day 1

Arrive and settle in
Intro to the residential
Night Walk

Day 2

Activities
New Forest Walk
Campfire

Day 3

Community Site Project
Review
Depart

Intro to the residential/ campfire

Aims of residential including John Muir four challenges and how they will be achieved
Discover a wild place – New forest walk, Night walk and project work
Explore – Off site navigation
Conserve – Community Project work
Share – Review and start to think about way you can share your experience
Presentation on Heathlands and importance on national diversity

Forest walk

Half-day navigation off site around New Forest
Bringing in all that was learnt in pre-residential sessions re biodiversity and country code etc
Documenting fauna and flora found in the habitat

Site Project

Based in heathland area
Using data collected on forest walk clear flora which does not belong in the heathland and create habitats for the various animals who live here.

Review

The program ends with the sharing activity where everyone reflects on the program and thinks about what they can do to share their experiences further i.e. School assembly, fundraising, posters etc.

Get in Touch

School Packages

Get the best deal on your school residentials with our all inclusive activity packages. With different tiers focusing on environment, discovery and adventure you can create the package that fits your aims and objectives.

See our Packages

Teachers Resources

We understand that you need to come prepared for your visit so we have made it as easy as possible for you, giving you all the necessary resources, risk assessments and forms all in one place.

See our resources files

Version:	1.1.11
Build:	true
Time:	2023-05-19 09:40

John Muir Award - Team Residential

John Muir Programme (Discovery Award)