The School Grounds Project

The children are seen here wearing the new waterproof outfits which have kindly been donated to school by Regatta. We would like to say a huge thank you. They will keep the children dry when they are working on the school grounds project.

Year 4 are making good use of the outdoor classroom. They can be seen here doing Art with Miss Fenton.

Look how hard these children are working. They are looking at pop art.

Thank you for all your contributions to our School Grounds Day. Lots of items were kindly donated and have really helped kick start our growing beds. Each class has their own growing area and it is envisaged that children will learn more about the outdoors and where our food comes from and how it is grown, whilst caring for and nuturing their own flowers, fruit and vegetables. If you are interested in working with your child’s class, please contact the class teacher direct or see Mr Moulton on Fridays. If you have any spare time in the week where you could volunteer a couple of hours to weed or plant then please contact school.

Donated items for our Garden Centre

Do you remember when our field looked this this?

We have a vision for developing our school grounds. The ethos behind developing an area of the school grounds was that of instilling in children the sense of amazingness of the outdoors and the world around them.

We believe that every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances.

These, often the most memorable learning experiences, help us to make sense of the world around us by making links between feelings and learning. They stay with us into adulthood and affect our behaviour, lifestyle and work. They influence our values and the decisions we make. They allow us to transfer learning experienced outside to the classroom and vice versa.

Learning outside the classroom is about raising achievement through an organised, powerful approach to learning in which direct experience is of prime importance. This is not only about what we learn but importantly how and where we learn.

What we learn

As we are all aware, education is more than the acquisition of knowledge. Improving young people’s understanding, skills, values and personal development can significantly enhance learning and achievement. Learning outside the classroom is not an end in itself, rather, we see it as a vehicle to develop the capacity to learn. It provides a framework for learning that uses surroundings and communities outside the classroom.

This enables young people to construct their own learning and live successfully in the world that surrounds them.

There is strong evidence that good quality learning outside the classroom adds much value to classroom learning. It can lead to a deeper understanding of the concepts that span traditional subject boundaries and which are frequently difficult to teach effectively using classroom methods alone. It provides a context for learning in many areas: general and subject based knowledge; thinking and problem-solving skills; life skills such as co-operation and interpersonal communication.

How we learn

Much has been learnt in recent years about how the brain works and the different ways in which we prefer to learn. Research suggests the need to re-engage learners with the world as they actually experience it. This is often called ‘experiential’ or ‘authentic’ learning.

In recent years teachers1 have been exploring ‘learning how to learn’ in order to raise achievement. What we see, hear, taste, touch, smell and do gives us six main ‘pathways to learning’. Young people are intensely curious and should be given the opportunity to explore the world around them.

The potential for learning is maximised if we use the powerful combination of physical, visual and naturalistic ways of learning as well as our linguistic and mathematical intelligence.

It is clear that to be successful and meaningful, better provision needs to be made for learning through experience in the world outside the classroom.

These are powerpoint presentations of staff meeting that took place last year. Governors, children and staff all discussed our school’s commitment to developing the outdoor environment.

Outdoor Learning at Barton Clough Primary School

P Earl

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