Outdoor learning puts LOGS pupils at natural advantage

Hands up – who wants to go wild at school? Well, Lewes Old Grammar School’s junior pupils have the headteacher’s permission to do just that.

LOGS’ Morley House students will abandon their desks for one day a week next term to visit an outdoor classroom at Plumpton College.

Run by Forest School – the learning movement that aims to reconnect a whole generation of youngsters with the natural world – pupils will be taught handy survival skills, including how to light a fire with nothing but two sticks. The real education, however, will be going on at a much deeper level, said Forest School Manager Lynn Clark.

“A recent study showed children only play outdoors for an average of five hours per week. It’s sad how many have never done ordinary outdoor things like jumping in a puddle or blackberry picking. It’s having a negative impact on our children’s learning and development.

“Here we allow them to explore and discover the wonders of nature. It boosts their emotional intelligence – their self-confidence, communication skills and even spatial awareness.”

A report last year from Natural England showed outdoor learning was not only a hit with pupils – whose social skills, behaviour and engagement with lessons all dramatically improved – but with teachers, too.

“The study showed the teachers’ wellbeing and happiness improved because it’s such an engaging environment to teach pupils in!” said Lynn.

Children from Reception through to Year 6 at Morley House will take part in the outdoor learning programme at Plumpton, making LOGS the first in the area to sign up an entire school. Last year, more than 500 pupils from the state and private sectors took part in activities at the site, which includes a unique opportunity to join archaeologists in unearthing a Roman villa.

While all learning is individual and ‘child-led’, Key Stage science, biology, botany, anatomy, geography, D&T, history, maths, literacy and IT can link to the programme.

Younger children are encouraged to observe, explore and learn about the natural environment and our impact on it, while older years also acquire bushcraft and tool work skills. In doing so, they will learn important lessons in how to evaluate and moderate risk, said Lynn.

LOGS headteacher Robert Blewitt said: “The senior school already has a well-developed programme of activities that take students out of the academic environment and into situations where they have to work as a team, be inquisitive about the world around them and act on their own initiative. We wanted Junior School pupils to also benefit from that kind of learning in a safe environment appropriate for their age. The Forest School is the perfect partnership for that.”

Parents have enthusiastically welcomed the addition of Forest School to the curriculum at Morley House.

Candy Williams, whose daughter Evie is in Reception, said: “We’re really excited about the new Forest School initiative. I think it’s something that’s been missing from the school curriculum for a long time. Having the opportunity to get out and stuck into nature, learning how to work together as a team, getting fresh air, I think will fill all the children with confidence.”

Her husband Andy added: “Anything that can help young children reconnect with their local environment is a very positive thing – it’s something I wish had had the opportunity to do when I was at school.”

The last word goes to the pupils themselves.

Finn and Skyler, two pupils at Morley House who took part in a recent trial visit to Forest School, said:  “We all want to go again because it was really good fun. More people are going to know about the forest and how the environment works – they’ll know that it’s not OK to cut down trees, and that we have to protect habitats.”

For more on the Forest School programme, click here.

To read the Natural England report, click here.

— end —                    25 May 2017