13/09/2024

Anna Thompson, Education and Learning Manager 

The autumn term is here, the kids have gone back to school, and overnight the atmosphere in Ferry Meadows has changed.  During the summer holidays our play areas, meadows and woodlands were full of families and children enjoying themselves outdoors.  Now the adults are back at work and the children are at their lessons.  But why does going back to school have to mean going back to the classroom?  Studies have shown that giving young people an opportunity to spend time outdoors during a school day increases their wellbeing, their concentration, and even their academic achievement, yet in most cases the only time they get out doors is for PE lessons (usually only in the summer term) and break times (if it isn’t raining!)

So why do teachers not take their lessons outside?  From my conversations with teachers, the answer is usually that they simply don’t know how.

 Schools have always been based around the traditional classroom environment and Teacher Training follows this model.  Teaching outdoors requires a different approach, but with a bit of imagination almost any area of the curriculum can be delivered out of the classroom.

Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning is exactly what it suggests, the practice of delivering the Curriculum outdoors.  Not simply by taking books and pens outside, but by using the outdoors as a location and a resource for teaching and learning.  It has been going on under different guises for decades in a small way, practiced by enthusiastic teachers in supportive schools across the country, but since the pandemic more teachers and school leaders have become aware of the benefits of outdoor learning and CBOL is moving into the mainstream.

Here at Nene Park Trust we offer a wide variety of Curriculum Based Outdoor Learning opportunities, where teachers can book a visit for their students led by our highly experienced staff.  On any day visitors to Ferry Meadows may encounter children developing their literacy skills by going on a poetry trail, using their knowledge of angles to calculate the height of a tree, or building confidence with coordinates by going on a treasure hunt.   We love welcoming schools to the park but we don’t want to stop there!  One outdoor learning experience is great, but even better is if teachers can be supported to develop the skills they need to lead their own outdoor learning sessions back at school, so their children can benefit from outdoor learning every week…or every day!

So with that in mind, here are my top tips for taking learning outdoors:

1.  Go paperless – outdoor learning requires a different style of activity to indoors.  It is all about using the environment as your teaching resource, rather than using your usual classroom equipment.  Challenge yourself to plan one outdoor activity that does not rely on children writing things down. Perhaps make pictograms using natural objects, or go on a phonics hunt, looking for examples of objects whose names begin with or contain different sounds.

2.  Choose your location carefully – make sure you check and risk assess your site before you use it, so that you are aware of any potential hazards or distractions.  It will be harder to make yourself heard outdoors, so avoid anywhere where there is a lot of background noise.  Bright sunshine can also make it difficult for learners to focus, so see of you can find a bit of shade to stand in while you are giving instructions, or if sunshine is unavoidable, position your learners with their backs to the sun so they do not have it in their eyes when they are looking at you. 

3.  Set boundaries – It may seem obvious but your classroom has walls, the outside doesn’t!  Be clear with learners where they are allowed to go and where they are not.  If you have no suitable landscape features to use as boundary markers, then you may wish to invest in a few plastic cones!

4.  Manage your expectations – If outdoor learning is new to your learners, it may take them (and you) a little while to get used to the new surroundings and way of working.  Don’t be discouraged if the first few sessions don’t go exactly to plan.  Keep persevering and you will get there!

5.  Learn from others – You don’t have to reinvent the wheel!  There is lots of great advice out there on how to take learning outdoors.  A couple of good websites to look at include the Institute for Outdoor Learning and Council for Learning Outside the Classroom.  And for those who are interested in learning more, look no further than Nene Parks own teacher training offer!

Abandoning the classroom for the outdoors can be daunting at first, but with a few basic skills and a bit of imagination it is something any one can build into their regular teaching practice.  Why not give it a go?