Outdoor Learning

We are delighted that every child in school will be participating in Outdoor Learning. Each class has a 6 week block where one afternoon per week, they will be learning outdoors with Michelle Stokes, from Minibeasts Woodland Explorers. The sessions will be tailored to the year group and will often involve cooking a snack on an open fire.

This is a wonderful enrichment opportunity for the children where they will develop a wide range of skills, including; problem solving, personal and social development and communication. Being outdoors in our natural woodland is a brilliant way to spark their curiosity and allow them to explore in a safe environment.

Minibeasts Woodland Explorers aim to produce a learning environment that covers all areas of development in the great outdoors.

INTENT:

Outdoor Learning aims to promote the holistic development of all involved, fostering resilient, confident, independent and creative learners. This compliments our wider school values. By allowing pupils to instigate, investigate, test and be curious about the world around them, we allow all children to participate and experience success which echoes the school’s vision of ‘Every child will experience success in every lesson’. Outdoor Learning plays a key part in success being experienced in every lesson as the transferable skills and cross curricular links are endless: the development has no age limit – resilience, confidence and independence to name a few of the character traits which are developed in Outdoor learning from EYFS all the way through to Year 6.

IMPLEMENTATION:

The children will have access to many different activities and will be encouraged to become independent learners who are happy to explore their own ideas and interests but also have the confidence try out new ideas (some of which will work, others may not!).
Activities include:

• Bug hunts / studying the wildlife
• Creating habitats
• Den / shelter building
• Whittling
• Tool use
• Fire lighting and cooking on an open fire
• Sensory activities
• Woodland crafts including wool, clay and other natural objects
• Listening to stories and using these ideas in play

IMPACT:

During Outdoor Learning, children learn to be respectful to our natural environment and know they have ownership over the place they live and play in.

We measure the impact of Outdoor Learning through photographic evidence and through listening to our children as they talk about their learning. We will also look at the children’s resilience both during the Outdoor Learning sessions and back in the classroom and the children’s willingness to try out new ideas individually and with their peers.