Megan Carter-Davies and The World Orienteering Championships 2023

It's the week we've all been waiting for! Not only has the World Orienteering Championship 2023 finally started, but we also had the pleasure of presenting those hard earned awards to our winners of The Big League!

Springwell School in Hounslow made an incredible effort towards increasing their outdoor learning, resulting in a fantastic final overall score of 496 in The Big League 2023. Each category of the competition from distance covered to percentage of pupils active garnered its own award. Springwell's pupils racked up an amazing set of scores, winning every single category!

We were delighted to present a huge range of awards to the school for their hard work to incorporate more outdoor learning into their curriculum. Certificates, a signed GB t-shirt and the very first engraving on our brand new trophy were just some of the awards, all generously donated by British Orienteering and The British Schools Orienteering Association who supported The Big League 2023.

However, definitely the most exciting prize of all, was an inspiring message from Team GB athlete Megan Carter-Davies. Megan is currently competing in the World Orienteering Championships, which kicked off on 11th July - the same day we were proud to award the school.

The World Orienteering Championships, or WOC for short, is an annual orienteering event organised by the International Orienteering Federation. The first World Championships was held in Fiskars, Finland in 1966, and has grown massively over the years. Team GB has won a total of 15 medals throughout their participation in WOC. Megan Carter-Davies is responsible for one of these gold medals in the 2022 Sprint Course.

Hailing from Wales, Carter-Davies is the first female in the GB Team to be awarded a gold medal for her incredible athleticism. All of this made her message to Springwell School even more special. Megan congratulated the school for their incredibly hard work and dedication to using The Outdoor Classroom which utilises the fundamentals of orienteering to increase physical activity and support outdoor learning in schools across the UK.

She showed the school a sneak peek at Team GBs current work in Italy as they prepared for the World Orienteering Championships in the weeks running up to the competition. The athlete finished her video with an inspiring message: 'If you continue your hard work, one day you could be here, travelling across the world and competing in global competitions.'

The children at Springwell were in awe at Megan's message and her work. Thanks to the commencement of The World Orienteering Championships on the day of our visit, we were also able to show the children real-time footage of Megan and other world renowned athletes currently competing in the event. A truly special day for all of us.

The Big League is entirely free to participate and held annually by us here at The Outdoor Classroom. We also host other inter-school competitions throughout the year to boost children's productivity, confidence and development. If you'd like to learn more about how you can get involved, you can arrange a chat with our CEO and Founder, Josh Jenner, or take advantage of our free trial to experience the positive impact outdoor learning is bringing to schools and their pupils.