Outdoor Learning
Outdoor Learning at Hoole
Our extensive and rich school grounds are put to good use to enrich learning for pupils of all ages. Our forest and allotment are hives of activity and engagement throughout the school week.
Our School Forest
We are very lucky to have fantastic woodland within our school grounds, which offers our children inspirational and exciting learning opportunities.
ALL children from EYFS through to Year 6 benefit from the chance to take their learning outside of the classroom. Our walls become trees, our chairs become logs and there is no ceiling! The sky is the limit!
Outdoor learning sessions link innovatively to children’s learning within the classroom to extend knowledge and build key skills.
Outdoor learning, including Forest Schools, is a growing movement in the UK which is proven to raise children’s motor skills, self-esteem, cooperative and social skills and also to enable children to take risks in a safe environment. During sessions, children collaborate and work together to problem solve and complete challenges set. Outdoor learning focuses on building resilience, resourcefulness and team working skills, as well as an appreciation for the natural world.
In line with our aim for pupils to become responsible citizens who contribute to the world around them, we link with local and national partners to enrich learning. An example of this is our work with the Woodland Trust.
We were awarded Gold in The Woodland Trust Green Tree initiative. The school received an official plaque, marking our school joining the network of 12,000 schools taking action to help the environment in conjunction with the Woodland Trust Green Tree Scheme.
The Green Tree initiative encourages outdoor learning and inspires pupils to discover trees, wildlife and the natural world. Through the award, children can take part in fun, practical projects while helping the environment and improving the school grounds.
Feedback from the children is incredibly positive and the enthusiasm and excitement outdoor learning in the forest creates is highly contagious! During the sessions, our children embrace learning outside the classroom. Typical activities include making dens, learning how to cook on a campfire, make woodland craft items, using tools safely, caring for our environment, identifying different flora and fauna and a lot more besides! Rain or shine, there are always lots of smiles in the woods!
The quality of our outdoor learning has also been externally validated and commended. We currently hold the Gold Level of the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Mark.
The LOtC Mark is awarded by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, the UK-wide charity that champions all learning that happens beyond the classroom. Their work supports educators, schools and organisations who are dedicated to ensuring more children and young people have opportunities for life-changing learning experiences beyond the classroom, whether these happen indoors or outdoors, close to home or far away.
Providing students with more opportunities to access high-quality learning beyond the classroom experiences can open their eyes to the world around them and allows them to develop into well-rounded citizens. The many benefits of LOtC are now well-evidenced and include improving academic attainment, physical health, emotional well-being, self-esteem, and resilience.
We are very proud to be one of few schools nationally to hold this prestigious award at Gold level!
Outdoor Learning in the PATCH
The PATCH (Pupil Allotment Together with the Community of Hoole) is a large garden area with raised beds and a large greenhouse, situated next to our extensive forest.
The PATCH is an outdoor classroom that allows children to grow, tend, and sometimes eat their own produce.
Over the last few years, teachers have taken advantage of our impressive raised beds and greenhouse, and introduced the children to hands on experiences, from planning through to germination and maintenance, culminating in the immense satisfaction gained from harvesting produce.
Various experts and enthusiasts, from our local community, have supported our efforts and we value our links with friends, including the Hoole Allotments and Gardens Association.
Our efforts have been recognised beyond school. We won a Royal Horticultural Society award in conjunction with the RHS Campaign for School Gardening. The award recognises the effort invested by the school to make the school grounds an attractive and safe environment, inhabited by an array of plants, insects and wildlife.
We are delighted to receive this award as it highlights the hard work pupils and volunteers have done over recent years in the school grounds.
However, we are not stopping there and we still have exciting plans to continue to enrich to array of outdoor learning opportunities our pupils access. Watch this space!
