MP Activities, run by Mark Parry, is proud to be the Outdoor Learning and Forest School provider for Ryecroft Primary Academy. Mark is a former primary school teacher in both mainstream and special education. He is a qualified nurture group, forest school practitioner, therapeutic forest school practitioner, mental health first aider, counsellor, bush craft instructor, outdoor first aider and lots more. He also has experience in, amongst other things, engineering, blacksmithing, horticulture, foraging and tracking and is able to use this knowledge in his sessions.

Mark is passionate about using the outdoors to educate children and support their development and well-being. He aims to enthuse and stimulate learners in a fun and engaging way to support what is being taught in the classroom, including the National Curriculum. He adapts his practice to meet the needs of the children he works with, and creates a safe space from children to make mistakes, build resilience, manage their frustrations and communicate more effectively. Outdoor Learning enables children to develop skills that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives, such as teamwork, tenaciousness, perseverance and risk management as well as developing practical knowledge and understanding, for example tool use, cooking, crafts, science, maths, history, English and other curricular and non-curricular areas.

Please see below for examples of what Mark has done with us here at Ryecroft.

Follow him on Facebook at MP Activities – Outdoor Learning.

Recreating the Up Helly Ah fire festival with Year 4 as part of the Viking topic.

Raft building with Year 6. The children learnt lashings and knots, worked as a team and used tools safely to create mini rafts. We tested them on a mini river!

As part of their plants and growing topic, Year 3 used some harvested rhubarb to make a rhubarb crumble on the fire, accompanied by no egg custard and rhubarb cordial! This went down a treat with the children, where they were engaged in the whole process – from plant to plate!