A bill to support children’s mental health by increasing the amount of time they spend outdoors during the school day has been presented to parliament.
South Devon MP Caroline Voaden introduced her Ten-Minute Rule Bill in the Commons, calling, among other things, for primary and secondary schools to provide a minimum of one lesson outside each week on top of 30 minutes a day outdoors.
Last year, a study by the Raising the Nation Play Commission found the amount of time children spend outside has declined by 50% within a generation. Among those in the most deprived parts of the country, 18% of children never visit the natural environment or spend meaningful time outdoors.
Drawing on her own experience and inspiring practice at schools in South Devon, Ms Voaden argued that this unprecedented loss of outdoor experiences means children are missing opportunities to build confidence and resilience, learn new skills and create a connection with nature.
The bill’s presentation comes a week after the Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said we are ‘facing a crisis’ in young people’s mental health, with roughly one in 10 children being referred to mental health treatment in England in the 12 months to March 2025 – almost double the number recorded in 2018/19.
Yet there is one therapy, says Voaden, that is quick, easy and cost-free and that is nature. Schools in South Devon all comment on the improved wellbeing of their pupils after experiencing outdoor education.
Liam Fielding, Headteacher at Blackawton and East Allington Primary Schools, says: “Outdoor education in all its forms plays a vital role in supporting the wellbeing of our children, which in turn supports their readiness to learn. We know that children who are physically active, emotionally regulated and connected to the natural world are often better able to engage with learning back in the classroom.”
The Labour government has still not published its promised Access To Nature Green Paper, and has cut funding by deciding not to renew the Generation Green programme. Introduced after the pandemic, this programme provided outdoor residential experiences to more than 26,000 pupils from the most disadvantaged communities.
South Devon MP Caroline Voaden says:
“Reintroducing regular outdoor education into the school day could be genuinely transformational. It is no coincidence that mental health referrals for children have skyrocketed while their time outside has declined. But while I am proud to present this bill, it should be seen as the start of a wider conversation.
Access to nature and unstructured play is so thoroughly missing from young people’s lives that one bill is not enough to turn the tide. As the recent devastating figures on youth mental health make painfully clear, we urgently need to prioritise getting our children outside more, to benefit from the healing effect of being in nature.”
