At Cordwalles Junior School, we are fortunate to be able to enrich our curriculum through outdoor learning. Our nature areas, and recently planted copse, provide meaningful learning experiences outside the classroom. As a school, we look for creative ways to integrate a range of practical outdoor activities into lessons, such as using leaves and twigs to inspire storytelling, building bug habitats in science lessons or finding angles in nature within maths lessons. We believe that the diversity of learning experiences supports a child’s progress; furthermore, through these enriching experiences, support children's social, emotional and cognitive development.
Beyond the curriculum, we pride ourselves on taking a child-centred approach to the improvement of our school, maintaining the inclusion of ‘child voice’ on projects such as the construction of the polytunnel and our recent project that is to transform our patio into a ‘mindfulness area’ for the children to plant and play in alternative ways in a quieter section of the playground.
Our school has many planters, and the children relish the opportunity each year to grow their own flowers and vegetables within the school grounds. Ultimately, the children are passionate about ways to help minimise our environmental impact and this aims to be the next focus for our school. Our school has been recognised for its outdoor learning efforts and has been awarded the RHS Level 3 school’s gardening award and the Bronze Award with Eco Schools.
