Pupils at Brook Street Primary School, Carlisle reconnect with nature

Students at Carlisle's Brook Street Primary School took on mother nature, connecting as a team to tackle mountains, lakes, wintery weather and dark skies at the Outward Bound Trust Howton.

The pupils from the local school took part in the residential to mark Children's mental health week, which took place between Monday, February 6 and Sunday, February 12.

The theme of this year's Children's Mental Health Week is 'Let's Connect', with a focus on the importance of meaningful human connections and their role in developing good mental health.

In the spirit of this year's theme, the students at Brook Street had the opportunity to connect with each other and explore the wilderness on offer in the British Isles, in an experience that was designed to empower pupils and build a culture of support and cooperation in the classroom.

Brook Street Primary School’s Head Teacher, Mr Bursnall said: "Children's mental and physical wellbeing is central to everything we do at Brook Street, and we have instigated an extensive outdoors curriculum to support this.

"Our work with Outward Bound is very much the culmination of this and seen by the children as one of the best experiences of their time at Brook Street."

The students also shared their thoughts on the experience.

James said: "I get outdoors a lot, but not like at Outward Bound, not amongst the mountains. It was really good exercise and got my body and my brain working.

"The scenery was breath-taking, it made me feel amazing. I loved being on the lake and really enjoyed the orienteering, that was a real challenge."

Poppy added: "I loved everything that we did at Outward Bound, but especially the ghyll scrambling, I can still remember that now.

"I felt excited, out of breath, exhilarated. It was a totally new experience for me. The whole week was awe-inspiring."