The IOL Round Table brings together representatives of all the IOL's regional, national and sector specialist groups.
Aims of the IOL Round Table
- To improve communication between the IOL Groups, the IOL Staff Team and the IOL Trustees
- To inform and share between all the IOL Groups
- To inform the IOL of the priorities / issues of Members and develop the work of the IOL
Round Table Members
Jo Barnett FIOL
Hi, I am Jo Barnett, the CEO of the Institute for Outdoor Learning.
I am committed to outdoor learning. In my career I have progressed through delivery to management, then to leadership and advocacy – deliberately within the context and breadth of outdoor learning,
I love being outdoors, and I know I am a beneficiary of outdoor learning. My interest in adventurous activities began at college with hillwalking and at University in Sheffield I became a bit of an obsessive rock climber, before enjoying open canoeing +/- the family, cycling and horse riding and now I am returning to climbing – and then there’s gardening! To be honest I just enjoy being out of doors, and for me it balances the stresses of everyday life.
I have an academic background in earth sciences and political ecology. My career began with teaching Geography and Integrated Humanities in a Community High School in Derbyshire, then progressing to the role of Advisory Teacher for Nottinghamshire County Council at Hagg Farm Environmental Education Centre on the Snake Pass. From there I was appointed as Centre Director for the Field Studies Council at Grange over Sands in Cumbria, before returning to a Local Authority provision as Head of Centre of High Borrans Outdoor Education Centre, near Windermere.
In 2016, I took the role of Manager for Outdoor Education for Telford & Wrekin Council, with the brief to create a coordinated service model from schools, parks, the Shropshire hills to Arthog Outdoor Education Centre on the coast in mid-Wales. In 2022, I reduced my hours to allow me to accept the post of CEO of the IOL and from the 1st of October 2023 I will be focusing entirely on the IOL role.
I have a many years of peer association voluntary work, which began with the Northern Region of the IOL, right back in the early 2000s, I went on to be the Chair of the Region. I have held several roles with Association of Heads of Outdoor Educations Centres, including national Chair 2007-09. I am a founding Trustee of the Friends of High Borrans, and currently the Membership Secretary for the Outdoor Education Advisors Panel.
A key area of interest and focus for me at the moment is promoting sustainable practice in/through outdoor education and also applicable to other educational settings. I have an MA in Management Learning and Leadership which led to an interest in the ethical management of personal motivation at work.
Over my time, I have learnt that high quality outdoor learning requires teamwork, optimism and persistence. I am thankful to those around me, through my time, who delivered on those qualities. I will do my best in the IOL CEO role by way of return.
Richard Retallick FIOL
I started as Business and Operations Manager for the Institute for Outdoor Learning in 2022. I have been involved in the outdoor learning industry for a long time, starting out as an instructor and then moving into outdoor centre management. I am keenly aware of the constraints that we all work under and how our voice is small and indistinct. If I do my job well, I can help create a fertile bed for all that amazing outdoor learning that happens to really grow and flourish.
Andy Robinson
I was privileged to serve the IOL as Chief Executive for 12 years and was co-opted as a Trustee following my retirement from the role in 2021. I still support IOL’s work at Westminster and as the chair of the IOL Employers Group.
My back ground is in accountancy, learning and development and professional services management and leadership. I am passionate about enabling all to benefit from engaging with the natural environment and especially those children and young people who have less opportunities than most.
As a trustee for the Peak District National Park Foundation I recognise the challenges associated with our beautiful national parks and am committed to making them both accessible and sustainable.
Anna Thompson FIOL
Anna is the Education and Learning Manager for Nene Park Trust in Cambridgeshire. She is a qualified teacher and has over 20 years experience working in Field Studies and Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning. Anna is passionate in her belief that (almost) all of the curriculum can be taught outdoors, and has developed teaching programmes delivering subjects such as maths, art and literacy in an outdoor environment. Today Anna leads a team who deliver outdoor learning experiences for EYFS to A level, as well as delivering training courses for teachers who are keen to take their teaching outdoors.
Dawn Thomas FIOL
Dawn Thomas is the founder and CEO of Nature Days, an outdoor learning, consultancy and training provider. She has a degree in Environmental Biology, MSc in Environmental Impact Assessment and is a qualified secondary science teacher with over 25 years of teaching experience. For nearly 20 years she has worked with over 200 different schools supporting the embedding of outdoor learning into the curriculum through staff training, creation of teaching resources, talks and presentations.
Dawn is also the chair of the Institute for Outdoor Learning (IOL) Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning (CBOL) and Field Studies Professional Practice Group and IOL Cymru South.
Dr Dave Harvey SFIOL
Dr Dave Harvey has worked in the outdoor learning sector for over 30 years and now runs his own business, Dave Harvey Outdoor Learning, a consultancy focused on research, training, and sector development. Dave is a Leading Practitioner of the IOL and is the chair of the North West Region. He recently led the High Quality Outdoor Learning 2025 project, is a regular webinar and workshop provider for IOL, and a frequent contributor to Horizons.
Mike King FIOL
I was appointed as an IOL Trustee in Feb 2010 and had the privilege of supporting IOL as the Chair of the Trustee Board. I started working in the outdoors when I was a 16yrs old apprentice and now 30 years later I have the privilege of continuing to enable people to engage with the outdoor environment. Through this journey in the outdoors I have overseen the development of Releasing Potential which is an education charity that comprises of an Independent Special School, Academic Institute and Forest Schools amongst its interests. I look forward to helping to develop relationships that support a positive interaction with the outdoors for the whole of society.
Roger Hiley SFIOL
I have been involved in leading and coaching for very nearly 30 years; of which a lot of this has been through an involvement at the Riverside Centre in Oxford. Since 2010 I have been lucky enough to manage the team, which is now called the Riverside Outdoor Therapeutic Team. The team operate as social pedagogues, using the outdoors as a medium for change with children, young people and families who have an involvement with Children’s Social Care in Oxfordshire.
I completed my Master’s in Outdoor Education at University of Worcester in 2021 and I am now back as a part-student again, this time at Oxford Brookes University. I am studying for a PhD, where I am examining how the outdoors in England is being used in a therapeutic way with children, young people and families who have an involvement with Children’s Social Care.
I am a Leading Practitioner, joint rep for this community and an Accredited Practitioner coach/ assessor.
Dr Sara Collins FIOL
Nature Premium Campaign Co-Founder and Lead
I’m a self-employed biologist, Accredited Practitioner of the Institute for Outdoor Learning and Forest School Practitioner. While working in schools I have realised that children today do not explore the natural world as I did when I was their age. They don’t have simple experiences that would open up a world of beauty and awe or would inspire green career choices. During Lockdown 1 it became apparent that there is an inequity of access to nature for some children in addition to the lack of experiences that the majority of children miss out on. The Nature Premium is a simple idea that could transform a generation and help children grow up greener.
David Watts
David Watts is the Director of Outdoor Learning at UK Youth and Chair of the IOL’s ‘Outdoor Learning Youth Work Sector Specialist Group’. He leads UK Youth’s national strategy for outdoor learning youth work and is responsible for the UK Youth social enterprise ‘Avon Tyrrell outdoor centre’.
With a strong commitment to equity, David champions equitable access to outdoor experiential learning for all young people—supporting personal, social, and educational development, life skills, and physical literacy.
A passionate advocate for the power of nature, David recharges through solo mountain hikes and cross-country skiing adventures.
Dr Kaye Richards
Dr Kaye Richards, is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Chartered Psychologist of the British Psychological Society, and co-lead of the Institute for Health Research (IHR) Green Spaces Research Group at Liverpool John Moores University. She is also a qualified Teacher of Outdoor Education and has both researched and taught in Higher Education across diverse areas of outdoor learning, outdoor and adventure therapy, outdoor leadership and delivering Mountain Training qualifications, mental health and wellbeing, positive psychology, and counselling and psychotherapy. She has had national research roles for professional bodies, including facilitating national strategic research developments of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, and being the launching editor of the academic Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning of The Institute for Outdoor Learning. She has published across all these interdisciplinary areas and has contributed to both UK and international developments in outdoor and adventure therapy. Recent publications include, a national Statement of Good Practice on Outdoor Therapy (2nd Edition, 2023), Sustainability Indicators when utilising Nature for Mental Health (2023) and Exploring Common Practice Elements towards an International Position Statement in Adventure Therapy (2023). She is also a Gestalt Psychotherapist Advanced Trainee and Fellow of the RSA - Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce – awarded for her contributions to developments of outdoor therapy, and the outdoors and mental health.
In her free time, she can normally be found happily roaming the hills in the North of England and riding a road or mountain bike up and down hills in all weathers.
Clive Atkins SFIOL
Clive has spent his entire professional life in Outdoor Education, initially as a teacher but for the past 30+ years also as an adviser to several local authorities.
He retains a passion for teaching and Outdoor Learning, having initially trained in both physical education and youth work. His ‘mission’ in recent years has been to promote engagement by reducing the bureaucracy around school trips and simultaneously enhancing safety. With this in mind, he developed the EVOLVE software which is now used by many schools to manage educational visits. Clive is a lead member of the Adviser Hub, and the Outdoor Education Adviser Network.
Clive is an LPIOL, Chartered Member of IOSH and a former AALA Inspector. He was a member of the British slalom kayak team back in the 1980s, and former National Coach to both the GB Senior and Youth teams.
David Armstrong FIOL
David has been committed to outdoor learning throughout his career, first as secondary phase teacher of geography, physical education, and outdoor education in Nottinghamshire. Following this he has worked for a number of LAs as a practitioner, manager, and adviser for outdoor education and educational visits. This included the role of Deputy Head of Service for Nottinghamshire County Council’s Environmental Education Support Service. His current full-time role is Outdoor Education and Educational Visits Adviser for Barnsley LA in South Yorkshire.
He has been a member of Mountain Training England’s National Council for a number of years. He is now able to support the work of the Institute as the IOL representative on the MTE National Council and aims to maintain a close relationship between the two organisations.
He has actively contributed to the development of Department for Education advice, guidance, and training on educational visits, and to the development and implementation of training and professional accreditation for outdoor education advisers nationally and regionally. He has organised and delivered a range of nationally recognised training and assessment courses in the fields of outdoor and adventure education, and educational visits. He has experience of developing and implementing local training and assessment schemes for LAs, schools and other educational settings, and fellow professionals. He has also organised and led in-person international collaborative work focussed on outdoor education with fellow professionals from a number of European countries.
David is a Chartered Member of the Institution for Occupational Safety and Health and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He has been a member of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors since its inception and holds the Mountaineering Instructors Certificate. He is a Council for Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge Assessor, and a member of the British Association of Snowsport Instructors. He holds several additional activity-specific qualifications and memberships relevant to this field. He is an active member of the national Outdoor Education Advisers Network and the Adviser Hub and welcomes the opportunity to contribute further to the work of the IOL through membership of the Round Table.
- More coming soon...