Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
FIVE STORIES OF OUTDOOR LEARNING FROM
SETTINGS FOR 2-11 YEAR OLDS IN DEVON
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Devon EYDCP (zero14plus) for funding which has enabled this research. Our
sincere thanks also go to those practitioners who opened their settings to our visits and to the staff
and children within them who have helped us in telling us their stories of outdoor learning. Thanks are
also due to parents for giving permission for their children’s outdoor experiences to be videoed and
photographed and therefore adding immeasurably to the vividness of this report. We are also grateful
for the comments on a draft of the report from consultation.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
Executive Summary
This project (Project 3) funded by Devon zero14plus was intended to explore how
different settings in Devon were putting outdoor learning into practice. It built on
surveys of provision (Projects 1 and 2) undertaken in November 2005 and involved
case studies of five settings for children aged between 2 and 11 years:
a childminder – Frances Rogers, Ivybridge, West Devon
a playgroup – Playcentre, Buckfastleigh Primary School
a private nursery – Branscombe Nursery School, East Devon
a foundation stage – Ashleigh Foundation Stage classes, North Devon
and a primary school – Newport Community School, Barnstaple, North Devon.
The research took place between February and March 2006. Three visits were made
to each setting and data collection was mainly through observations, interviews and
focus groups.
In this report, we firstly examine some of the literature about the potential of outdoor
learning and then tell the story of each of the settings we visited and the particular
aspects of practice they embodied. Some of the commonalities of the different
settings can be summarised as follows:
 Belief in the value of outdoor learning
Practitioners spoke of their conviction that outdoor learning offers something
distinct and enriches the curriculum delivered indoors. Children spoke of or
demonstrated their enthusiasm in and for the outdoors.
 Willingness to overcome obstacles
Staff showed commitment to finding ways to solve problems preventing
access for children to the outdoors.
 Involvement of children in planning and use of outdoors
The children were actively involved in deciding aspects of their outdoor
experience, thereby contributing to their sense of ownership and responsibility.
 Sensitivity to appropriateness of free and structured activity
Staff responded contingently to children’s interest and learning needs. They
allowed ample time for discovery forms of learning, which children valued for
its authenticity.
 The importance of challenge and exploratory learning
An element of risk was regarded as not only acceptable but as a positive force
to create more independent and socially responsible learners.
Children
welcomed the excitement and challenge.
 The contribution to personal and social development
The freedom afforded in an outdoor context seemed to support behavioural,
personal and social development. Children spoke of big personal changes
during residential trips, for example.
 Enjoyment and engagement of the whole child
Benefits identified by staff and children included physical, personal, social and
curricular. Observations often noted the complete absorption of children in
outdoor activities.
The individual stories provide colourful snapshots of the outdoor learning current in
these five settings, and should offer some ideas to stimulate thinking about outdoor
learning.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
Contents
Acknowledgments
Summary
Contents page
1. Introduction
2. Who we are
3. Aims of the research
4. Ethics
5. What we did
6. Who told us their story
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7. Story of the childminder
7.1 Making the most of what you have
7.2. Adult led activity
7.3 Respecting the child’s agenda
7.4 Hunter gatherers
7.5 Challenge and support
7.6 Rough Science
7.7 Risk and independence
7.8 Solutions not problems
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8. Story of the playgroup
8.1 Inside/outside
8.2. Free play
8.3 Supporting pro-social behaviour and learning
8.4 Sensitivity to appropriate intervention
8.5 Organised games
8.6 Horses for courses
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9. Story of the private nursery
9.1 The physical setting
9.2. Policies and planning
9.3 The nature of the outdoor provision
9.4 Involvement
9.5 Child perspectives
9.6 Drawing
9.7 Observation
9.8 Sensory experiences
9.9 Adult perspectives
9.10 Beliefs and behaviour
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10. Story of the foundation stage setting
10.1 The inspiration
10.2 The school, the children and their needs
10.3 One teacher’s vision and motivation
10.4 The journey
10.5 Outdoor provision at Ashleigh
10.6 Community
10.7 Risk
10.8 The use of O.L.E.
10.9 Social opportunities
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
10.10 Accessing the curriculum
10.10 Gross motor skills
10.11 Associated outcomes and benefits for FS
10.12 Wider school benefits
10.13 In transition
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11. Story of the primary school
11.1 Indications of a whole school approach
11.2 Inside/outside
11.3 Children’s involvement
11.4 A process of evolution
11.5 Infrastructure
11.6 Overcoming constraints
11.7 Funding
11.8 The issue of risk
11.9 Valuing outdoors
11.10 The end?
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12. Conclusion and recommendations
13. Dissemination and consultation
14. References
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
1. Introduction
For most of humankind’s existence, learning outdoors was our only choice. In
many ways, it is extraordinary that we have evolved to ‘do learning’ in special
buildings between certain hours with regular breaks from ‘learning’ called
holidays. Yet, the classroom or indoor setting is now so well established as the
usual place for learning that positive government messages and research
evidence about how the outdoors may enable learning appear to be necessary
in order to persuade some practitioners that taking learning outside is
permissible in our performance accountability culture (Gorard, Selwyn & Rees,
2002). Learning outdoors is indeed an expectation in the statutory Curriculum
Guidance for the Foundation stage (QCA, 2000) and the new Consultation
document (DfES, 2006). Schools are also being encouraged to re-introduce
residential trips and outdoor activity experiences for children following a cutback
in such activity after a number of tragedies (Ward, 2004; Press Association,
2005). Nevertheless, this apparently natural context for learning may not feel
‘natural’ for some children and an unproblematic appeal of its characteristics
cannot be taken for granted (Matthews, Taylor, Sherwood, Tucker & Limb,
2000; Davis & Ridge, 1997). However, an acknowledgment that different
learning styles may mean that some learners do not learn best through
traditional teaching methods (DfES, 2003a; Boyle & Bragg, 2006), supports a
move to more creative approaches to teaching and learning. However, on what
grounds can learning outdoors be seen as one of these creative approaches
and how might it best be put into practice? A recent consultation for a
manifesto for outdoor learning (DfES, 2005) seeks to clarify these points and we
consider here some relevant literature.
Physical wellbeing
Despite the fact that, historically, a garden has been a feature of nursery and
primary education (Hetherington, 2001; Steedman, 1990; Drummond, 2000),
this is now set against a prevailing emphasis on literacy and numeracy for
young children (Anning, 1997). This has meant that outdoor spaces in many
settings have been demoted from natural places to learn to tarmaced deserts
for letting off steam between periods of learning (Armitage, 2001). Pellegrini
and Smith (1998) found that insufficient opportunities exist for physical exercise
for children and growing concern about rising levels of childhood obesity (Shell,
2003) also supports a reduction in sedentary forms of learning and an emphasis
on bigger spaces for children to get physical exercise amongst other possible
outcomes .
Emotional and social wellbeing
Out of the classroom, there may be increased opportunities to develop
resilience, friendships and self determination because adult influence is reduced
and children co-operate (Perry, 2001; De Hann and Singer, 2001). Millward
and Whey (1997), for example, found that children enjoyed a variety of outside
environments to support both active and quiet play which allowed them to
socialize with each other. Baldock (2001) and others (Corsaro, 1997) suggest
that children’s independence is fostered by lower levels of adult control often
observed in outdoor contexts. The outdoors also lends itself to an experiential
approach to learning, which Laevers (2000) defines as concerned with
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
children’s minute responses to their context and as underpinned by a relaxed
emotional state.
Different kinds of learning
Experiential learning may also help to reduce children’s misconceptions. More
opportunities to speculate from first hand evidence would give children skills in
gathering evidence and conceptualisation; the beginnings of critical thinking.
On the other hand, adult guidance may be important to support their thinking;
for example, Meadows (1993) describes a child who believed rocks were alive
because they had babies (pebbles)! Corsaro (1997) suggests that the outdoors
supports sustained shared thinking and that relative freedom from adults may
foster independence through challenging adult rules.
One current debate is whether learning outdoors is or should be of the same
kind as that more usually encountered inside; a seamless experience for
children (QCA, 2000). However, Edgington (2002) suggests that the sheer
scale of the outdoors necessarily changes the sort of learning experiences
children may have, for example, greater noise and grosser movements than in
an indoor context can often be accommodated. It could also be argued that
part of the attraction of the outdoors is as a contrasting experience to the
traditional forms of learning, more commonly found in classrooms (Broderick &
Pearce, 2001).
Boys’ underachievement is another aspect which the outdoors may help to
counter (Sandford, Armour & Warmington, 2006). Given their early propensity
for more robust play (Schaffer, 1996), active exploratory learning in larger
spaces may be especially beneficial for boys’ dispositions to learning. Large
spaces, even relatively barren playgrounds, may represent oases of freedom
from predominantly teacher and curriculum led learning to more holistic childled forms of learning, even if they are only accessed for short periods each day
(Armitage, 2001).
Children’s Spaces
Garrick (2004) cites several examples of outdoor projects:
 A project focusing on catering for the needs of birds in the grounds of the
pre-school in Reggio Emilia, Italy built upon the children’s sense of
community and responsibility for their environment and led to problem
solving, design, science activities among other outcomes.
 Forest Schools in Scandinavian countries harness children’s interest in
the outdoors and allow them to explore and challenge themselves.
Fjortoft (2004) found that over time the children created play zones within
the natural setting.
 A return to the provision of school gardens is supported by the Growing
Schools Initiative (DfES, 2002) whereby a sense of wonder and of
community may be coupled with healthy living.
Safety concerns may impede the provision of children’s spaces if too rigid a
definition of risk is applied (Senda, 1992; OFSTED, 2004) since Stephenson
(2003) suggests that an element of challenge is important to maintain children’s
interest. She notes how children start using equipment in the way originally
intended but then explore other ways of interacting with it and eventually use it
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
for social play to further extend its possibilities. This argues for flexible outdoor
resources and spaces.
All these examples share the fact of children’s ownership and involvement in
their use of the space, which suggests that any development of outdoor
provision should start with canvassing children about what they value.
2. Who we are
We are three researchers from the Faculty of Education, University of Plymouth,
who were invited into five settings in Devon.
Kylie Brown, a research assistant, visited the childminder and a playgroup.
Bernie Davis, a senior lecturer in Early Childhood Studies, visited the
Foundation Stage classes in a primary school and a private nursery school.
Sue Waite, a research fellow, visited the primary school to look especially at
provision for 6 to 11 year olds.
3. Aims of the research
The case studies built upon surveys of outdoor provision carried out in
November 2005 and were intended to exemplify and enrich our understanding
of what constitutes ‘good’ practice in outdoor learning environments. Responses
to questionnaires shed light on practitioners’ values and attitudes towards
education outdoors, their current outdoor provision and practice and obstacles
to further development. In consultation with Foundation Stage advisory
teachers and the Play Strategy Group, we identified five settings which
appeared to have some interesting practice in outdoor learning.
We used a pragmatic definition of ‘good practice’ as judged by ‘the enthusiasm
both of the students and teachers involved in the […] way of working; for it to
seem to improve learning; and for changes in practice to feel doable and
sustainable over time’ (Fielding et al, 2005). We did not intend these settings to
be examples of the ‘best’ way to provide for outdoor learning, but their
engagement with outdoor learning made them especially well placed to raise
issues for debate.
The intention is that these settings and the report of the research provide
contextualised exemplars of practice for practitioners to share and develop their
own practice in appropriate ways. Some possible models of funding, organising,
managing and sustaining Forest School programmes and other forms of
outdoor learning are identified.
4. Ethics
The purpose and method of the research were explained in an ethics protocol
sent in advance to the settings and practitioners gave their informed consent for
the studies. Parents also gave consent for their children’s involvement and for
photographs and video footage to be taken. We explained to the children what
we were interested in finding out and made it clear that they were free not to
take part if they wished and to whom the information they provided might go.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
5. What we did
We visited the five settings to observe, carry out interviews and take
photographs and videos to provide rich contextualised information about what
features might be instrumental in creating successful practice. We wanted to
find out as much information from each setting as possible using
documentation, interviews with staff and children and observation. We also
asked children to show us their favourite places outside and take and caption
photographs (Clark and Moss, 2001). To ensure that we got similar kinds of
data from all settings we visited, we broadly followed the following schedule for
our visits.
Table 1. Schedule for visits to settings
Visit 1









Visit 2






Visit 3




Introduce yourself
Draw a map of the setting grounds and note outdoor equipment.
Draw a minimal map of the setting’s indoor facilities
Collect or photocopy any outdoor learning plans, policies (e.g. play,
health and safety, early years, environmental, outdoors) or
documentation that relate to outdoor activities
Observe children and adults during any designated outdoor
sessions
Chat to adults and children expressing interest in outdoor activities
and facilities
Leave a disposable camera so children can take photos of their
favourite outdoor places and activities
Ask practitioner whether the children can sometime during the
project draw a picture of what they like to do outside annotated by
an adult.
Try to capture an aspect of outdoor provision on video.
Observe and note access (times, places and degree of child
choice) to outdoor areas.
Interview practitioners.
Collect disposable camera and have photos developed.
Ask several/a small group of boys/girls to take you on a tour of the
grounds at a time other than outdoor sessions in order for them to
be able to point out their favourite places and activities.
With a digital camera take photos of different outdoor spaces, e.g.
tarmac playground, adventure playground, wooded space,
vegetable garden (to be used in visit 3).
Try to capture an aspect of outdoor provision on video.
Observe and note access (times, places and degree of child
choice) to outdoor areas.
Show small groups of children the photos that you have taken
(during visit 2) with the digital camera and ask them what kinds of
things they like to do in those spaces.
Show small groups of children pictures of the outdoor spaces listed
in the questionnaire and ask them if there are any things they
would like added to their outdoor provision.
Try to capture an aspect of outdoor provision on video.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
6. Who told us their story
The following settings took part and we would like to express our thanks again
to the staff and children in them for the time they spent showing us how outdoor
learning works in their setting:
The childminder – Frances Rogers, Ivybridge, West Devon
The playgroup – Playcentre, Buckfastleigh Primary School
The private nursery – Branscombe Nursery School, East Devon
The foundation stage – Ashleigh Nursery Unit and Reception classes, North
Devon
The primary school – Newport Community School, Barnstaple, North Devon.
Within each setting we obtained a rich picture including adult and children’s
perspectives of outdoor experiences. We thoroughly enjoyed our visits.
Let us now begin with the story of the childminder.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
7. The Story of the Childminder
Frances is a childminder. Her story of outdoor learning is set around her own
home and in the woods nearby and features Lorna, who is three years old and
Finley who is two. Throughout her story, her resources and actions are linked
to the National Standards for Childminding (DfES, 2003b), and it is hoped that
this will help childminders to see how these standards underpin the sorts of
outdoor provision which Frances seeks to provide. Frances offers rich
opportunities for outdoor learning but aims in the future ‘to continue to make
changes to the outdoor setting however small they might be’.
7.1 Making the most of what you have
The outdoor space available in Frances’ garden is limited in size however there
are different areas within this space to maximise its use. The garden is secured
by a large wooden fence and is well maintained conforming to the standard
4.10. Within the garden there is a flower garden, vegetable/fruit patch, bird
feeder, paved area, and Wendy house. Safety is a high priority with the garden
offering no outside play area in which children can be left unsupervised
(standard 6.2). The children are also under the direct supervision of the
childminder at all times (standard 6.3).
There is a lot of equipment Frances would like to have but due to financial
restrictions it becomes a matter of making tunnels out of cardboard boxes rather
than buying tunnels. Funding is an issue if Frances would like to purchase
equipment as she cannot access any form of grant funding to help with these
purchases. So any purchases she would like to make come out of her fees.
Standard 5.1 (Equipment) of the National Standards for Childminding states:
‘The childminder has sufficient, suitable toys and play materials available
for indoor and outdoor play to enable children to develop their emotional,
intellectual, social, creative and physical skills. These are appropriate for
the developmental needs of the children.’
Frances believes that the children get just as much pleasure out of it.
But the planning, work and the effort on your part when they are not
present are greater. Because you can just order a tunnel from a
catalogue and it costs x amount of pounds and you get it and that is all
there is to it. If you are making it out of cardboard boxes you will spend
most of your Saturday going around supermarkets trying to get a
sufficiently large number of boxes in order to do it.
Resources which are freely available in the outdoor environment constitute one
of its major benefits for Frances.
You are limited by the resources that you’ve got around you whereas
when you’re outside the resources are far greater so therefore you can
capitalise on those.
Limitations in the immediate physical environment can be balanced with trips to
outdoor areas and even a very small area adjacent to the home can be
organised to ensure that safety and variety in outdoor activities are achieved.
As Frances found although gathering boxes to develop resources is time
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
consuming, it does offer tremendous flexibility in how they are used for very little
cost.
7.2 Adult led activity - Feed the birds
(20 minutes spent in activity)
The first activity observed was adult-led providing direct supervision. Lorna was
asked by Frances if she would like to feed the birds and Lorna was happy to do
so. Feeding the birds involved Lorna measuring out the bird food and putting it
into containers for her to transport out to the garden. While outside with the bird
feed Lorna was asked to put the food on the bird feeder, after this Lorna
commented on how the bird bath needed more water and that she would like to
fill it.
This activity covered two areas on the Stepping Stones in the Foundation Stage
Curriculum Guidance including:
- Physical Development – using tools and materials
- Personal, social and emotional development – dispositions and attitudes,
and self care.
This is in line with standard 3.7 stating ‘Childminders who are part of an
accredited childminding network understand and use the Early Learning Goals
(from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) in their work with funded 3
and 4 year old children.’
After the birds had been fed and the water had been filled up, Frances directed
Lorna’s attention to the different types of birds and leaves in the garden.
Frances asked Lorna ‘what type of leaf is that?’ and Lorna replied immediately,
‘oak’. Frances commented on the bugs in the leaves and Lorna watched intently
but didn’t say anything. After this Frances had a look at the strawberry plants in
the garden and asked Lorna if she liked strawberries. Upon walking back down
to the paved area, Frances drew attention to a metal ‘insect’ planted in the
garden. Frances asked Lorna if she knew what that was for. Lorna replied that it
meant the plant was poisonous. By encouraging Lorna to point out what is
poisonous, Frances is embedding skills for Lorna to be able to assess her own
risk.
This activity covered two areas on the Stepping stones in the Foundation Stage
Curriculum Guidance including:
- Knowledge and understanding of the world
- Communication, language and literacy
It also covered three areas under the Birth to Three Matters guidance including:
- A competent learner
- A strong child
- A skilful communicator.
Frances’ leading of some activities ensures that certain aspects of the
curriculum guidance can be addressed. By supporting the child’s interaction
with the outdoors, safety issues can be covered so that the child begins to
understand the potential dangers and so share responsibility for their own
safety.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
7.3 Respecting the child’s agenda - Water Trolley
(50 minutes spent in activity)
Frances asked Lorna if she would like to play with the water trolley. Lorna was
enthusiastic and wanted to play with it. Frances filled up the water trolley with
warm water (as it was a bitterly cold day) and asked Lorna if she wanted
bubbles in it. Lorna proceeded to select toys to play with and put them into the
water. The most played with toy by Lorna was the water bottles; she
investigated putting water into different size bottles with different size necks.
There were specific resources available which were designed to go with the
water trolley but Lorna paid more attention to the water bottles.
Lorna would fill up one bottle in the water trolley and then use it to pour into the
other bottles. She tried to fill up one of the bottles with a very small neck
(approximately 1.5cm diameter) using the same technique, however the water
went everywhere and Frances suggested she might need a funnel to fill it.
Frances went to fetch a funnel and gave it to Lorna. Lorna then tried to put it
upside down on top of the bottle; Frances interjected and said that she would
need to put the smaller end of the funnel into the bottle then pour the water in.
At first Lorna poured a lot of water into the funnel which meant it overflowed but,
without any input from Frances, she stopped and then proceeded to slow down
the speed at which she poured the water in. Lorna did not touch the smaller
bottle after she had successfully filled it up. Frances responded contingently to
support the investigation Lorna was focused upon and allowed Lorna to
problem solve.
Frances asked Lorna if she would like to blow some bubbles. Lorna agreed and
they had a straw each which they put into the bottles to blow into them. Lorna
was very wary of this activity and only continued because of Frances’
encouragement to try again. On the third attempt Lorna blew very hard and a lot
of water came up and splashed her face. Lorna was not comfortable with this
but Frances reassured her that she could dry her face and that she was OK.
Frances then made the suggestion that she could use the water in the trolley
instead of the bottles to blow in to. Lorna tried this once but did not appear to be
convinced or comfortable about it and Frances left this activity alone. Sensitivity
to when an activity is not being enjoyed or taken up by children is important.
Lorna then initiated her own play and began filling up one of the water bottles.
Once the bottle was full, she would put the lid on, which often took some time
for her to figure out which way to turn the lid and comment on how the bottle
was ‘really full’ and ‘heavy’. Lorna would then unscrew the cap and empty out
the bottle and start again, each time getting slightly faster at filling up the bottle
and gaining more competence at putting the lid on. Each time she would repeat
the comment about how full the bottle was. Lorna repeated this process a
number of times and it carried on for about 15 minutes. This extended time is an
indication of the engagement that this activity invoked and its potential for
learning (Pascal and Bertram, 2001). After this Lorna then requested to clean
the Wendy house. This was the first child initiated activity of the day.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
Child initiated play? - Washing the Wendy House
It is interesting to note that although this activity was begun by the child, it was not
independent play. Frances went and collected a bucket of warm water and brushes to
clean the exterior of the Wendy house. Although this was an activity Lorna had chosen
herself, she was less satisfied with playing on her own and wanted Frances to help her
constantly. However, she did not request to do any other activity. The communication
between Lorna and Frances was limited during this time; Lorna seemed completely
immersed in this activity, only stopping to remind Frances to continue. This autonomy and
child directed activity is important to develop independence and self-assertion. After 20
minutes in this activity Lorna’s activity came to a halt and she looked at Frances for
direction. Frances suggested they went inside and Lorna agreed.
7.4 Hunter gatherers – a walk in the woods collecting things
Because the outdoor space at the home of the childminder is limited, the
children are often taken out to other areas within the community. Going to the
woodland is a common outing. This use of other outdoor areas is highlighted by
the National Standards for Childminding (DfES, 2003b) as an important aspect
of the physical environment provided by childminders. It is stated in standard 4
that it is necessary for the children to have access to outdoor play: ‘If this is not
available on the premises then arrangements are made for regular excursions
to a local park or playground‘. Frances also commented that she felt it is
important for the children to be able to access the freedom that outdoors
provides that indoors doesn’t provide, especially if you are in a confined
space as we are here. If you had an exceedingly large setting and
certainly there was the ability to run freely and ride bikes and do that sort
of activity indoors then perhaps outdoors isn’t quite as necessary.
The woodland walk covered many aspects recommended by the National
Standards (DfES, 2003b) in Standard 3 ‘Care, Learning and Play’. It states that
it is important that the ‘childminder encourages children to be confident,
independent and to develop their self esteem’ (3.1). This was evident during the
entire woodland walk. Frances was very aware of each opportunity presented
and how to maximise the children’s experiences. Upon arriving at the woods,
the children were given a bucket each and told to collect things that they like so
they can use them later to stick to paper. The children were very enthusiastic
about the prospect as could be seen from the very bouncy and energetic walk
they both adopted. Lorna was particularly enthusiastic and proceeded to half fill
her bucket within minutes, collecting a variety of rocks, stones, leaves and
sticks. Every time Lorna collected something, she would take it over to Frances
to show her.
Frances always responded with very positive language,
commenting on certain aspects of the piece. Finley was less interested in the
given task and appeared happy simply to be out in the woods, only occasionally
collecting items.
7.5 Challenge and support
Further examples of Standard 3.1 occurred when Frances encouraged the
children to balance on fallen logs or rocks, utilising the surroundings around
them. Firstly Frances picked up Lorna and said ‘you can sit on this like you are
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
riding a horse’ and told her to ‘hold on’. Then Finley was placed on the branch
also in the same position. Finley was then encouraged to stand up on the
branch while holding onto Frances. Once Finley had gained his balance
Frances asked him to walk along the branch, which he did successfully before
Frances helped him down. It was then Lorna’s turn; evidently Lorna found it
much easier to balance so Frances added an additional challenge of asking
Lorna to step around another branch and continuing to walk on. Frances
supported her while Lorna was attempting this. Lorna was very nervous at the
challenge but with gentle encouragement from Frances, she completed the
challenge successfully.
Finley noticed a reasonably large exposed rock (30cm in diameter) on the
ground and proceeded to challenge himself by stepping up onto it to try and
balance. Finley found this reasonably challenging but he did accomplish this
activity successfully. Lorna repeated the activity with ease. This is an example
of child-initiated practice that can take place in the outdoors which builds on
experiences introduced by adults. Frances felt the learning opportunities are far
greater outdoors and “allows the children the ability to be able to investigate
things which are far more child-initiated rather than adult-led all the time.”
Further along was a fallen-down tree which both children had a go at walking
along. Lorna attempted it first while Frances held her hand as she walked along.
She did this with confidence. Finley then had a go and repeated the process.
He kept slipping and wobbling but he was not fazed at all and just continued to
get back up and try again. Persistence in difficulty was thereby encouraged.
During my observation of the walk, Frances and the children were in constant
communication about items that they had found and different aspects about the
woodland. 3.3 ‘Care, Learning and Play’ states that the childminder ‘listens to
and values what children say, talks with them about what they are doing and
has high expectations of what they can achieve.’ On numerous occasions the
children were asked to stop and be quiet and listen for sounds. Finley loved this
because it usually meant a train was near which excited him beyond
comprehension and he would become a train (making train noises and
shuffling) for the next few minutes. Lorna is not very confident when it comes to
conversing with strangers and although she would answer questions from me
she was not forthcoming with information. However, Lorna commented in
conversation with Frances that:
‘I have had an adventure today’.
7.6 Rough Science
Frances took the children up to the river. Lorna in particular was interested in
throwing different things into the water and watching the splash and
commenting on whether they ‘sank’ or ‘floated’. Finley also joined in with this
activity. Frances commented to me that ‘Lorna could throw things into the water
all day long; she never tires of it’. They spent 10 minutes doing this activity and
focused on what was sinking and floating and also the noise and splash
particular objects made.
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Frances selected resources (i.e. buckets) ‘and provides activities, play
opportunities and firsthand experiences, which allow children to build on their
natural curiosity as learners, develop their language and mathematical thinking,
use their imagination and develop social relationships’ (3.2). An example of this
occurred approximately 10 minutes into the walk when Finley collected a big
stick (bigger than him!) and Frances encouraged him to think of things he could
do with it. She then borrowed the stick off him and showed him how to drag it
along the ground and to listen to the noise it made and the patterns it drew.
From this point onwards, Finley kept collecting big sticks and using them to drag
along the ground to make noise and patterns for the whole of the walk.
Frances spent the whole walk pointing out what type of leaves the children were
finding, and commenting on other objects of interest i.e. lichen. She also
provided the children with a magnifying glass and prompted certain aspects of
their finds. For example, where a caterpillar had eaten some of the leaf or the
veins of the leaf. She was also prompting the children to think about aspects of
what they are doing. For example:
F: What is making your bucket heavy?
L: The big stones
This example represents another area of good practice regarding the
importance of encouraging ‘children to use their imagination and to ask
questions’ (3.5).
7.7 Risk and independence
Frances noted a piece of glass sticking out on the path, so she got the attention
of Finley and Lorna and explained to them why it is dangerous and picked it up
then wrapped it up so that she could put it in the bin when she got home. This
highlighted again how Frances would encourage their independence by giving
them the skills to assess their own situation.
A further example of the childminder’s commitment to encouraging
independence and safety through getting the children to acknowledge hazards
was when they stopped and stepped up onto a large block of concrete and
looked down into the water. There was about an 8 foot drop. Lorna said she
would like to throw her feather into the water which they did together while
Frances held on to them. Lorna commented how it didn’t make a ‘plop’ like
stones do. Frances also took this as an opportunity to talk about why it is not
safe to go by water without adult supervision. This supports standard 6.15 as
proper arrangements are made so that children are escorted safely to local
parks, playgrounds or the equivalent on a regular basis. In addition to explaining
the dangers to the children, Frances did place ‘reins’ on the children so the
children could investigate the river safely.
7.8 Solutions not problems
So, the main message from the case study of the childminder is that it is the will
to offer opportunities rather than any obstacles which determines whether
outdoor learning will be accessed. Frances’ willingness to plan trips to parks
and woodland and her use of her garden as the setting for a variety of outdoor
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
activities meant that children in her care had many opportunities to experience
different sorts of outdoor learning.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
8. The story from the Playcentre Playgroup
Playcentre playgroup is on school grounds in the town of Buckfastleigh. The
setting offers a secure building with attached outdoor space for the children
separate from the school grounds. The playgroup is able to access the school
grounds provided there are no timetabling clashes. The setting is also shared
with the Out of School Club; as a consequence any changes made within the
setting has to suit the needs of both the children in the playgroup and those in
the out of school club. Staff at the playgroup thought the outdoors offered a
number of advantages:
For the individual it benefits children with behaviour problems as it offers
an open environment and children behave differently because they are
so much freer.
The benefits are that everybody is free more, being explorative and
creating balance using the curriculum. Outdoor learning allows the
curriculum to be seen through a different view.
The community benefits by having happy well rounded little people
outdoors which must surely impact as adults.
(Playgroup staff)
Consideration of benefits they think the outdoors might offer the children in their
care and whether this is currently being fulfilled helps to identify appropriate
activities and resourcing. For example, how outdoor activities relate to those
indoors or whether staff believe there is something distinctive which can only be
experienced or achieved in an outdoor context will affect what provision is
organised. Here we can see that staff believe freedom in the outdoors is
important for behaviour and learning.
8.1 Inside/outside
The Playcentre has adequate space in their outdoor environment. The space is
secure for them to play in the outdoor environment under supervision. 4.11 of
the supporting criteria for ‘Physical Environment’ in the National Standards for
under eights day care (DfES, 2003c) highlights the importance of providing a
safe, secure and adequate space in the outdoor play area.
The children are at the Playcentre from 9am until 11.45am. For the first hour
they have free play indoors where there is a variety of activities set up for the
children to pick and choose amongst. In summer the same activities would be
set up outside so that during good weather, the majority of the session would be
outside. However, it appeared that weather could prove a major barrier for
access to the outdoors and settings may like to consider how this could be
overcome in their particular context.
At the Playcentre, at 10am the children have a snack and after this, it is time to
go outside for free play. The children can go outdoors for 20 minutes but
children decided for themselves whether or not to go out. On one of the
occasions I visited it started raining, but the staff decided to allow the children to
go out anyway. The setting did not provide the children with any waterproofs or
wellies and relied on parents remembering to provide suitable clothes.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
However, the setting was investigating the possibility of raising money to be
able to supply them for all the children. The majority of the children did spend
some time outside. Settings will need to consider whether they have adequate
access to the outdoors and to what extent this is or should be a matter of
children’s choice.
In Standard 5 in the National Standards for under eights day care (DfES, 2003c)
‘Equipment’ states that the ‘registered person ensures that sufficient, suitable
toys and play materials are available to provide stimulating activities and play
opportunities for the children in all areas of play, learning and development.
These are appropriate for the ages and individual development needs of the
children.’ The Playcentre had ensured that the equipment available met these
criteria. The children have access to the following equipment year round to
support their physical development: bikes and tricycles, skipping ropes,
parachute, large sand pit, balls, hoops and balance beam. Some of these were
available for children’s independent access but adults tended to be involved
whether the activity was child or adult-initiated. In addition, Early Learning goals
for handwriting are encouraged by giving the children access to playground
chalks for drawing and mark making.
To develop the children’s ‘knowledge and understanding of the world’ as
highlighted in the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (QCA, 2000),
the Playcentre playgroup incorporates many activities to achieve various early
learning goals throughout the year. For example,
- ‘children are encouraged to explore texture’
- ‘play traditional games’
- ‘encouraged to play imaginary games’
- ‘encouraged to plant flowers and vegetables and then to look after them
i.e. water them and weed them’
- ‘allow access to the conservation garden to explore features of the living
world’.
(Playgroup staff)
During the summer term the children have unlimited access to the outdoor area.
A lot of the activities which usually take place indoors will be taken outdoors i.e.
painting and books. The restriction of this to times of good weather seems a
pity and ways in which the ‘season’ can be extended could be usefully explored.
The playgroup also uses the local community to extend the learning
opportunities for children outside, for example:
We do things providing simple opportunities i.e. going to the beach,
theatre, park, chemist. A few students will also go shopping each week to
get the supplies for the setting each week. This will include writing a
shopping list, handling the money, finding things in the supermarket and
paying for them.
(Playgroup staff)
8.2 Free play
There were three different self-selected free play activities taking place outdoors
during my visits: wheeled toys, the sandpit and hoops. 3.2 of the supporting
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
criteria for ‘Care, Learning and Play’ in the National Standards for under eights
day care (DfES, 2003c) highlights the importance of meeting the individual
child’s needs and therefore ‘the registered person selects resources and
provides activities, play opportunities and first-hand experiences which allow
children to build on their natural curiosity as learners, develop their language
and mathematical thinking, use their imagination and develop social
relationships.’ An example of this can be seen when the children naturally
cooperated in activities with each other as part of their free play. This helps the
children to build social relationships, use their imagination and develop
language. Free play, in particular, may have a special role in developing
learning beyond cognition (Waite and Davis, in press), such as social,
behavioural and personal outcomes.
8.3 Supporting pro-social behaviour and learning - Tricycles
The children loved the tricycles; they were all racing around running into each
other and all laughing with each other. Egg timers were set up so the more
popular tricycles could be shared fairly among children that wanted to go on
them. Using these, they would all have a delegated time each to use the
tricycles. This supports Standard 11 in the National Standards for under eights
day care (DfES, 2003c) highlights the importance for managing children’s
behaviour. The supporting criterion 11.2 sets out how ‘the registered person
creates an environment that encourages good behaviour’. This enabled the
children to monitor equality of access themselves without relying on adults to
arbitrate all the time.
The outdoor area has a ramp between the building and the playground; the
children utilised this as a ‘mountain’ and would take the tricycles up the ramp
and ride them down. Some of the children never tired of this and were there
from beginning to end. In this free play situation the staff would take the
opportunity to encourage learning, for example by pointing out to the children
the wheel marks their tricycles made in the sand. This contingent response of
staff allowed children’s preferred activity to be the site of incidental learning.
It was interesting to observe changes in some of the children between the
indoors and outdoors. For example, one child was observed to be very quiet
and happy to be by herself when she chose to be indoors. However, outdoors
on the tricycles, she became a very different girl; she was loud and involved
with the other children with a huge smile on her face, chasing everyone while on
her tricycle. The smile only slightly disappeared when she had to swap to the
slower tricycle for a while. This suggests that the indoors and outdoors may
access different aspects of a child’s personality and that therefore both may be
needed to provide a holistic education.
8.4 Sensitivity to appropriate intervention – Sandpit and Hoops
One of the boys wanted to play in the sandpit, so Jane, the playgroup
supervisor uncovered it for him so he could do so. None of the other children
joined him at first so Jane continued to play with him in the sandpit. On the
particular occasions I had been there his behaviour had been quite difficult
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
within the classroom as he never wanted to join the others or participate in
things. Outdoors, he appeared to be listening to the staff more and displaying
more involvement in the activity of digging and filling buckets and sand moulds.
After a few minutes in the sandpit, another child joined him. Jane explained to
him using the egg timer how much time he had remaining outdoors before they
had to go back inside. By giving him advanced warning and a means to selfregulate, the adult had afforded an opportunity for the child to develop
autonomy and self-control of his behaviour.
On another occasion, one of the four year old girls asked for the hoops to be
brought out, placed them on the ground and started jumping between them.
When the adult saw this, she decided to get more out and set them up in a
circle. She began showing the children how to step and jump between them in
a circle. There were 6 hoops in a circle and three girls were stepping and
jumping between them. The girls were taking it in turns to be a leader each.
Then Candy, a playgroup assistant demonstrated and explained to the girls that
they could try hopping between the hoops. But Lauren got bored of this activity
and moved back to playing with the tricycles. This activity was short lived as the
other girls soon got bored and moved on. Sometimes adult intervention can
reduce the appeal of a child-initiated game. Armitage (2001) suggests
practitioners need to be very sensitive to the private world of children’s play and
when it is appropriate to intervene. The need for exploration was acknowledged
by staff:
The area needs to be more designed. I would like a covered area of the
walkway so children can go out there at all times. I would also like to
landscape the area including using large tyres for children to climb up
onto. I don’t feel the area is exploratory enough.
(Playgroup staff)
Safety and Science - Investigating the frozen pond
The children were told during registration that small groups would be taken out to
investigate the frozen pond in the environmental area. The children were told that it was
their choice whether they wanted to go out or stay in. At this point, the majority of the
children stated that they wanted to go out and were very enthusiastic about looking at the
icy pond. Only two mentioned that they did not want to go out.
The first group to visit the pond comprised three boys. Before entering the environmental
area, Candy outlined the ground rules of the environmental area, for example that they
needed to be careful because it was icy and slippery. They were asked if they all
understood this. This supports Standard 6 ‘Safety’ which states the importance of the
provider to take ‘positive steps to promote safety within the setting and on outings and
ensures proper precautions are taken to prevent accidents’ (National Standards for under
eights day care, 2001). In the outside area it is imperative that ‘the registered person
ensures that children can play safely outside through a combination of supervision and
protection from hazards’. Furthermore, ‘ponds, drains, pools or any natural water, are
made safe or inaccessible to children. Outdoor water activities are closely supervised at
all times.’
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
Once they entered the pond area, Candy pointed out the frost on the grass and invited the
children to touch it. However, none of the children were interested by this. Candy then
took them on a walk around the pond and pointed out various aspects of the ice, while
asking them questions about it. One boy commented that ‘it looks like glass, doesn’t it?’
and Candy replied ‘it does look like glass; you’re absolutely right’.
Candy also pointed out to the children that ‘the sun is coming down and it’s melting. Look’
and directed their attention to the fact that the leaves on a nearby tree were green. She
explained that the sunlight was touching them and that had defrosted the leaves. The
children were encouraged to break pieces of the ice off and hold it. Candy asked whether
it was hot. They answered with ‘no, it’s cold’. Candy then asked ‘What does it feel like?’
They responded: ‘it feels cold’. It was clear from this exchange that the adult was taking
lead on how the children experienced the outside. It may be worth considering how
questions could be framed to encourage more open responses and also whether there are
alternative ways to direct the children’s attention to noticing things for themselves and
then speculating from their observations.
This might support a deeper level of
engagement and their learning.
The next question asked was ‘What happens when you drop it?’ Candy then proceeded to
drop it and the ice smashed. This intrigued the children and they were very focused on
this part of the activity. They started dropping their ice and stamping it with their feet.
One of the boys brought over a big piece of ice to show me and I asked him if it was
heavy; he replied ‘no’. When I asked him what his favourite part of the pond activity was,
he said ‘crushing the ice under feet’ while making a crushing gesture with his foot. The
attention held by the boys during this activity was very high as they appeared to be
continuously involved with moments of intense concentration (Pascal and Bertram, 2001).
A second group, another three boys, also went out to view the pond and they all showed
great enthusiasm for being outside. However, the other children who had wanted to go out
were no longer interested. Candy commented that ‘they are too involved in their play now’,
which again may point to the importance of allowing child-directed activity outside to
engage interest. A disadvantage of the outside only being available with adult input or for
restricted periods of time may be that opportunities for spontaneous play are reduced. It
may also be that fears about safety constrain the amount of exploration in which children
could engage. It is worth giving some thought to how these tensions can be resolved in
particular contexts.
8.5 Organised games - Parachute play
(15 minutes spent)
Candy got the parachute out for the children to play with after free play. This
supports the National Standards (DfES, 2003c) which states that ‘the registered
person organises resources so that they are readily accessible to children and
deploy staff to support children’s play and learning.’ Candy introduced the
games:
‘We are going to play with the ball, ok? The idea is the ball stays on the
parachute. It can’t fall on the floor ok? If it comes near you we need to shake it
up’. Candy threw the ball onto the parachute and everyone started jumping and
shaking the parachute to keep the ball off the ground, providing lots of physical
exercise.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
The next game they played was ‘smelly socks’. Candy picked three children to
go under the parachute, crying ‘Do we need to fill the washing machine?’ The
children chorused ‘yes!’. Then Candy said ‘We need to clean the washing’ and
the children and adults proceeded to walk clockwise. Candy asked the
‘washing’ under the parachute ‘are you getting clean washing?’ The children
responded: ‘Yes’. Candy then asked: ‘Are you sure?’ and the children shouted:
‘Yes!’ The circle holding the parachute then changed direction and walked the
other way. Candy asked again if the washing was clean and the children said
‘Yes’ in unison and the group began to run while spinning the clothes dry. The
majority of the children were really excited and worked very well together during
this activity. They were jumping up and down in anticipation of changing
direction and the climax of the ‘washing’ being clean and coming out again.
Although Candy directed this game, it was clearly a favourite and well known so
that the children were able to anticipate and feel involved with every part of the
well established sequence. The game was like a physical form of nursery
rhyme, part of its value lying in its familiarity. It also required team work to move
in the same direction.
In the next activity the children lifted the parachute up and waited for it to float
down. After three goes at making the parachute float up, all children got
underneath. Once all the children were sat down under the parachute, they
sang a song together. Once this was completed, the children returned inside.
This varied use of organised games demonstrated how they could be used to
enthuse and excite or calm the children prior to returning to the comparative
quiet of the indoor environment.
8.6 Horses for courses
One of the main messages from the story of the playgroup is the importance of
clarity of aims and matching these to activities or provided opportunities. The
appropriateness of activities for the aim needs to be considered. Furthermore,
children’s engagement is key to maximising any learning opportunities in all
activities, whether they are child-initiated or adult–led (Pascal & Bertram, 1997).
The old adage holds; ‘you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it
drink’. Sensitivity to how adults can best support that engagement by holding
back or intervening is crucial.
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
9. The story of the private nursery
9.1 The physical setting
Branscombe Nursery School is located in a unit of a small business park just
outside a small East Devon town on the coast. The other units are as yet
unpopulated but it is expected that there will be a potter and perhaps other craft
workshops taking residence nearby in the future. The indoor space of the
nursery is approximately 12m by 20 m and a back door opens onto another
similar space outdoors called the garden. A steep and winding path from this
garden gives access to deciduous woodland below. The space and child: adult
ratio are adequate for 14 children at one time and some children attend morning
or afternoon session while others attend all day.
Most early years settings will have favourable environmental features that may
be exploited and all will have limitations and obstacles that will need to be
considered and negotiated to develop ‘well-planned play, both indoors and
outdoors’ (QCA, 2000: 25). The adults at Branscombe Nursery School have
worked hard so that their curriculum ‘emphasises that the outdoors is as much a
part of a child’s learning environment as the indoor environment’ (Bilton, 2005,
xvii). With this in mind children go outdoors on a daily basis; the outdoor
environment has been developed and expanded slowly over time to provide
additional space, enjoyment and challenge.
[Outdoor learning] is absolutely essential… (Teacher-in-charge).
Indoors is spacious and light; the rooms are arranged with activities organised
in bays and around tables. During the summer the door to the play garden is
left open for the children to go there when they wish, whilst in the winter the
whole group usually goes outdoors both in the morning and in the afternoon.
Just beside the back door nursery fleeces and waterproofs are on hooks
accessible for the children and there are also plenty of wellies available. The
staff and parents raised the funds themselves to buy enough fleeces and
waterproofs so that all the children in the nursery can be prepared to go
outdoors in all weathers. Many parents have mentioned that they chose to
bring their child (often a boy) to Branscombe because of the plentiful
opportunities for outdoor activity.
[Outdoor play] is important for children who don’t get outdoor
experiences at home…(Nursery nurse).
The garden adjacent to the nursery building is enclosed by a fence and
overlooked by a line of conifers. A small patio and a circular path have been
constructed with concrete and paving slabs but the rest of the space is covered
with bark chippings. There are a number of fixed pieces of equipment including
a slide, a bridge, a sand/water tray, logs stumps and a double swing. A large
blackboard is fixed to the fence for drawing. A small willow dome has been
planted in one corner whilst in the opposite corner is a rabbit hutch and pen.
There is also a range of different bird feeders that birds and squirrels visit
regularly and that are also visible from indoor windows. Two planters are raised
to child height for easy digging and planting of vegetables and a number of
small tubs are available for flowers. A picnic table provides a space for
activities in a small group. Two storage bins make access to and storage of
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
flexible toys and equipment easy.
imaginative play, e.g. the café.
When empty they can also be used for
The woodland below the nursery can easily be reached by way of a newly built,
steep and winding path that was funded by a lottery award. The part of the
woodland used by the nursery is fairly open with rhododendron and deciduous
trees widely spaced. The ground is carpeted with moss and a good supply of
twigs and small logs. A camp has been established there with a fire pit
surrounded by logs and two tarpaulins for shelter and a wood store. There are
two rope swings for small children and just a minute down the slope brings you
to a small stream that has been dammed to create a large puddle bordered by a
black muddy bank on the opposite side.
.
In order to access a variety of environments the children and adults, helped by
parents, also take regular trips out of the nursery to the nearby Donkey
Sanctuary and the beach.
I was surprised at the scope for outdoor experiences! (Student)
The adults in this nursery are committed to providing ‘opportunities for teaching
and learning, both indoors and outdoors’ (QCA, 2000: 11). Although research
(Fjortoft, 2004) has found that landscape features influence the type of physical
play in which children become engaged, Malone and Tranter (2003) report that
‘the child’s desire to connect with nature in a meaningful way is more overtly
circumscribed by the school philosophy than the lack of resources’ (p. 299).
Of the outdoor features accessible for the children the teacher-in-charge prizes
the woodland, the log piles and the fire pit the most:
The woodland offers freedom to explore a native environment [and it]
develops affinity for the natural world. Fallen logs or log piles provide
endless opportunities for climbing, balancing, going over, under and
through and [hunting] bug ‘n’ beasties. The fire pit and the seating area
[is a] wonderful setting for whole group activities, collecting sticks,
building fires, sitting, thinking and toasting. (Questionnaire, 1098).
Not all nurseries will have access to woodland areas but they can look for
spaces and environments that will give children freedom to explore, to be
challenged physically, to work and be together and to learn about the natural
world. These are the values that underpin this teacher’s preferences and
priorities.
9.2 Policies and planning
There is no separate outdoor policy at Branscombe Nursery School but the
relevant principles and intended practice are integrated wholly into the health
and safety policy, risk assessments and planning. Planning is done through the
six foundation stage areas (QCA, 2000), and incorporates the outdoor activities
(both planned and unplanned) into the daily, weekly and half-termly plans, using
the goals and stepping stones for guidance. Assessment is integral to both the
indoor and outdoor planning.
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
What happens during the day is influenced by the prevailing philosophy
I believe that the learning, which takes place in the outdoors, particularly
in a natural environment, is extremely valuable. Many children react very
differently when outdoors. They need the freedom to explore, to run, just
to be. We use the Forest School principles of setting small achievable
tasks and find the behaviour is modified and esteem raised (Teacher-incharge)
It is assumed at Branscombe Nursery School that both the indoor spaces and
outdoor spaces together make up the learning environment and this is reflected
in the planning. That is, the key activities that have been planned include some
things that will take place inside whilst others will take place outside, either in
the garden, in the woods or on a trip. For example, with the theme of
‘transport’, the home corner (indoors) was turned into a ferry terminal complete
with money, till, phones, menus, walkie-talkies, brochures and maps to spark
the children’s imagination, support language and encourage collaborative play.
While outdoors it was planned that the children would be making waterways in
the garden and building boats from natural materials.
The initial half termly planning addresses the six areas of learning in relation to
the chosen broad theme of, for example, ‘transport’ and identifies activities that
will meet the learning needs of children 2-5 years old. The weekly plans are
organised under more specific themes such as trains, buses, boats, etc. and
are projected to cover both specific areas in the nursery and routine provision
such as stories, role play, movement, construction, creative activities, etc. In
these plans the activities most likely to take place indoors are typed in black
whilst those most likely to take place outdoors are typed in red, thus reminding
staff what they are doing where. The weekly key activities are displayed on the
notice board for the parents to see. More detailed daily plans focus on the
structured activities planned for the morning and afternoon, again using colour
coding to indicate indoors/outdoors and linking the activity to particular stepping
stone, early learning goals and Birth to Three Matters (DfES, 2003d). At this
stage ideas for extension and extra support are also included. In addition to the
thorough planning, staff also write a list of resources that are appropriate for the
outdoor classroom in relation to the current theme and the six areas of learning.
The plans written for the three weeks when I visited represented detailed and
in-depth thinking on learning possibilities, both indoors and outdoors, relating to
‘transport’ and provided a huge number and range of potential activities. It was
also clear that there is plenty of room for flexibility and spontaneity when
responding to children’s ideas and circumstances such as weather and
seasons, on the day.
The Health and Safety Policy at Branscombe Nursery School provides a
detailed overview of safety issues in relation to the environment, supervision,
adult safety, safety management and other special considerations for both
indoor and outdoor provision. Outdoor activities planned for the garden area,
the woodland and off site trips are all risk assessed for potential hazards. A
simple risk assessment form helps to determine and log the probability, severity
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and risk factor of hazards for each activity. Relevant controls and action to be
taken in relation to possible dangers occurring are also indicated.
9.3 The nature of the outdoor provision
The nature of a setting’s outdoor provision will be influenced by the design of
the site, resources and above all the attitudes and planning of the adults. Every
setting will have different starting points and different priorities for development
and improvement from responding to an Ofsted inspection to intentions to
increase involvement with parents or planning a party outdoors, for example
(Bilton et al, 2004). The grid below lists the range of activities as observed at
Branscombe Nursery School in the woodland during the morning and in the
garden in the afternoon of March 6th. In addition, it was noted whether the
activity was adult led or child led. As recommended in the Curriculum Guidance
for the Foundation Stage (CGFS) (QCA, 2000) a balance of both child initiated
and adult initiated activities were provided. The children were free to respond in
their own way often with the adult initiated activities and many times they took
the activity and developed it for their own purposes.
Outdoor activities AM- Woodland
Stick whittling with potato peelers
Putting up a tarpaulin shelter
Climbing trees
Twig gathering for fire next week
Inside/outside tarpaulin door game
5 Little Speckled Frogs song
Gathering moss for a fairy bed
Swinging on rope swings
Paddling in the stream
Washing boots/muddying boots
Practicing sitting on logs at the fire pit
Waving at shadows
Listening to birds
Exploring a fairy house in the hollow
of a tree
Balancing on a log
Observing catkins
Finding and planting a tiny bulb
Breaking ice
06-03-06
Adult led
Adult initiated
Child led
Adult initiated
Adult initiated
Adult led
Child led
Child led
Adult initiated
Child led
Adult initiated
Adult initiated
Adult initiated
Child led
Child led
Adult initiated
Adult led
Child led
Outdoor activities PM- Garden
06-03-06
Painting the blackboards, etc with Child led
water
Balancing on log stumps
Child led
Digging and planting in planters
Child led/Adult led
Looking for mini beasts
Adult initiated
Filling bird feeders
Adult led
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9.4 Involvement
In addition to the actual activities, the nature of the outdoor provision, in
particular, outdoor learning, is influenced by the level of involvement that the
children achieve. Research (Pascal and Bertram, 1997) has shown that deep
learning is taking place when children are fully involved in what they are doing.
Children cannot be totally focused all the time but it is worth noting the activities
and the contexts, which enable children to become absorbed and involved. The
vignettes below capture some of the things children were doing outdoors on the
days I visited and the varied levels of involvement of the children.
‘Flow’* – total involvement in the task
Nick is playing at the water tray where there are several pieces of guttering and
buckets available. He collects water in a bucket and pours it down one of the pieces of
guttering. Again and again he repeats these actions. Nick then rearranges the two
pieces of guttering into a V shape with one piece overlapping the other. He then pours
the water down and it goes up the other side of the second piece of guttering. Will,
with a watering can, pours from the opposite direction. Nick watches Will and says
‘We need more water’. However, no one listens and Will leaves. Nick rearranges the
guttering and continues to pour from the bucket into the guttering trough.
Nick was absorbed in his water play before I began observing him and he continued
after I left the area. He persisted in pursuing his interest while other children came
and went playing around him. He seemed to enjoying using his bucket to scrape water
from the bottom of the water tray and pouring it down a length of guttering back into
the water tray. A look of concentration remained on Nick’s face throughout his play.
Occasionally, he stopped to rearrange several lengths of guttering in a V shape and
then poured the water down one side; it had the momentum to go up the other side
part way. I reflected to him what I had observed, i.e. that the water goes down and
them up the other side. He repeated his actions and this time the water went higher;
again I commented on what had happened. As there was so little water in the bottom
of the tray I helped him by scraping the bottom with another bucket to fill Nick’s
bucket. When it was almost full he tipped it down the guttering and this time it went
up the other side half way. Nick continued on his own using this method until he got
the water to travel all the way up the second length of guttering and over the end onto
the ground. He did this several times before he rearranged the guttering and began a
different experiment. I observed him for 15 minutes but he was involved at the water
tray for over 30 minutes.
* (Czikszenthmihalvi, 1990)
It was clear that Nick was deeply involved in his play with the guttering and that
he benefited from the time afforded for the outdoor session in order to pursue
his experiments uninterrupted. Being outdoors he was able to splash and pour
water without limitations. In contrast, Amy (below) is less focused on one
particular activity. Clues from her play such as setting herself tasks, responding
to others in a creative way and her independence may help the adults to
understand her interests and engage with her in a sensitive way.
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Mix and match – maintaining interest
‘I’m going to do some painting [on the blackboards].’ Amy fills up a bucket from the
water tray and pours the water on the pavement. She tips the water tray up to fill
the bucket again. ‘I want to do faster painting [on the blackboard]’. She then paints
the posts on a bridge and also paints the slide with water. ‘That’s a slide for a boat’,
‘There’s a boat behind you.’ Amy slides a boat down a piece of guttering that is in
the water tray. ‘Pretend there’s 3 slides. One is a big girl.’ (there are 3 children
standing round watching at the water tray). Amy balances carefully as she walks
along the 6 log stumps. The teacher gives her a pair of binoculars and asks ‘Do you
want to look at the robins?’ After looking another child takes them.
In the span of 5 minutes Anna is involved in a number of different activities; some
child led and other adult initiated. Although she does not persist with one particular
activity, seems very happy to try out different things as they occur or are presented
to her. She is one of the taller four year olds; she appears independent and able to
articulate what she wants to do or is doing.
Children when starting nursery will often watch for some time whether indoors
or outdoors before they join in. Being outside gives children opportunities to do
things in a bigger and often messier ways than is possible indoors. Jake
(below) uses his whole body and reaches high when he is making marks with
the chalk. Meanwhile he has a clear view of the entire garden to watch what
the others are doing as he becomes familiar with the activities available and the
kinds of behaviour that the children exhibit outdoors.
Making his mark
The children are playing in the play garden and with the topic of ‘transport’ the
teacher has provided a bag of chalks along with the suggestion that they might like
to draw a train track on the concrete. A two-year-old boy called Jake is a chatty
youngest child at home with a brother and sister but when he is at nursery he
becomes very quiet and spends a lot of time watching others. Today in the
playground Jake finds a piece of chalk in the bag on the ground and then makes many
vertical marks on the blackboard that is attached to the fence. In between making
his marks he watches Alan as he fills his car with petrol. It is impossible to tell
from Jake’s face what he is thinking or feeling, but he uses his whole fist to hold the
chalk and to make strong, thick, big marks on the board. He looks around at the
same time as he is chalking to watch the others. The teacher notices what Jake is
doing and she joins in by drawing three faces on the board, which she says is Jake,
his Mum and his Dad. She asks him who else is in his family but when he does not
reply she prompts him to think about his brother and sister and she draws their
faces too. After the teacher has left, Jake tries marking first with a green piece
of chalk and then a yellow piece. All his strokes are vertical and he continues to
watch other children at the same time. In all, Jake’s self-chosen activity lasts for
20 minutes.
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9.5 Child perspectives on outdoors through conversations and interviews
Children’s understanding and experience of the world is different from that of
adults but that does not mean that their viewpoints are not valid or valuable
(O’Kane, 2000). On the contrary, we can learn something of what children like
and dislike, what is important and interesting to them and how they represent
their understandings, for example (Clarke and Moss, 2001). Photos, drawings
and observations were used to try to find out something about what outdoor
experiences and contexts meant to the children at Branscombe Nursery School.
A number of photos were taken of the different outdoor areas (without children)
available to the children at Branscombe Nursery School, e.g. several overviews
of the garden playground, the rabbit pen, the willow hut, one of the planters, the
fire pit, the stream, the rope swings, the Rhododendron/bear cave, the tarpaulin
shelter. Children, mostly four year olds, in small groups were asked if they
recognised the areas and what they liked to do there. They all recognised the
photographed areas, but what was interesting was that as we looked at the
photos memories of what happened in those areas began to surface. Most of
the memories were of recent nursery events but some were from more distant
times and other experiences altogether.
All the children, when seeing the photo of the fire pit, remembered building a fire
and toasting marshmallows the previous week.
Nick recalled that his
marshmallow dropped in the fire while Aaron and Amy remembered the rules
about stepping over the logs and sitting down. The picture of the rope swings
produced declarations that the rope swing is too high to swing on! The children
also remembered climbing and swinging on branches in the ‘bear cave’ (photo
of the Rhododendron), but ‘There are not bears in real life’, said Amy. They
remembered getting their boots dirty on the muddy bank and then washing
them in the stream. Anne remembered singing ‘Five Little Speckled Frogs’
when they sat on the log under the tarpaulin. Our discussions also prompted
Anne to recall her trip to Australia last year where she encountered many
poisonous animals, e.g. spiders and ants. A red ant bit her finger. Anne also
remembered that she had been poorly last Monday and her forehead was hot.
The memories of what the children did last week and further back were still
vivid. The photos seemed to help the children to focus on what they
remembered of the outdoor activities and to reflect also on what was real and
what was not. In our conversation they recalled problems, fun, feelings of
companionship, collaborative endeavours, rules, knowledge of nature and
things that they had learned or were in the process of learning. It is obvious
that the children are actively involved cognitively, emotionally and physically
when they are outdoors.
9.6 Drawings
The children were asked to draw a picture of what they liked to do outside and
the teacher annotated anything that they said in response. The pictures I
received were interesting, not in their artistic accomplishment, but in what they
said about how children represent what they have experienced, what they
remember and what they are able to draw. The children are two, three and four
years old and their pictures ranged from what adults would describe as
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scribbling to lines and circles to clearly definable shapes. A lot of green was
used and stereotypical flowers and rainbows also featured. Children drew
things they had seen and done most recently outdoors, for example, trees and
the stream from the woodland and trains from the song and pretend simulation
done in the play garden. Some pictures included friends and one child
mentioned the fire. One four year old recalled and represented a story that had
been enacted in the woodland some time ago, i.e. The Bear Hunt
This is the woods, with the trees and the bear cave. The bear is out of
his bear cave! At the bottom are the broken down logs. We use these
on the fire. One log is black from the fire. (Ben, age 4)
9.7 Observations
It can be difficult to say with confidence what individual children are thinking or
feeling when you are observing them. However, when getting ready to go to the
woodland all were fairly self-sufficient in finding and putting on their wellies and
also a fleece or a waterproof jacket. Some did need a bit of help but that’s not
surprising of children who are 2 and 3 or even 4 years old. The overall
atmosphere was purposeful and focused with children more often asking
questions about whether they had their boots on the right way around or if you
could start their zip rather complaints that they couldn’t do it! It would seem
from what I experienced that the children knew there were challenges involved
with going outdoors and they felt adequate and even liked rising to meet them.
There can be times however when challenges can feel like too much or children
are not feeling 100%. A parent’s response is often to pick up their child and
carry him or her if it seems that the child is struggling. One child was whinging
during the morning I was there about going down to the woods. Claire, the
nursery nurse, stood by her and encouraged her but did not pick her up.
Instead she went at the child’s pace and praised her as she negotiated the five
steps down into the woodland. It is clear that the adults’ attitudes influence the
children’s perceptions. I observed the adults being positive and enthusiastic
about being outdoors, pointing out things of interest, prompting children to
remember things they have done/seen before, posing questions, playing
games, explaining things in different ways in different contexts, asking
questions, observing the children’s responses, projecting what they will do in
the future and enjoying themselves. The child mentioned above responded well
to these strategies as she walked to the camp independently.
Once at the camp the children’s actions indicated that they found the woodland
an interesting and stimulating place to be. They went off in ones and twos to
explore and interact with each other and their surroundings. Some children
climbed trees and rocks, others investigated a hole in the base of a tree, one
collected moss to make a fairy bed, some watched the adults putting up a
tarpaulin, others played a game with the rope swing called ‘come back to me’,
some got down close to the ground to see what they could see. Everyone
occupied himself or herself and there was no fighting or signs of frustration. A
quick detour to the stream resulted in the children responding to the elements
spontaneously. They delighted in getting their boots wet and then splashing. A
black mud bank provided a great place to get their boots muddy and the
dammed puddle the ideal place to wash them off. There were a couple of near
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
misses when children nearly slipped over…but they didn’t! I doubt that they
worried about risk. My bet is that they experienced their time in the woodland
as exciting and fun.
9.8 Sensory experiences
An important way young children learn is through their senses. All the
children’s senses were engaged in their experiences outdoors when I made
observations at Branscombe Nursery. The grid below organises some of the
things that the children saw, heard, tasted, touched and smelled outdoors.
However, the stimuli found in the natural environment is constantly changing,
attracting children’s attention in new and different ways and keeping them alert.
It is the ‘extraordinary sensory diversity and variability of the natural world’
(Kellert, 2002, p139) that provides a rich context for learning.
Sight
Sound
Taste
Touch
Smell
trees, ferns, moss, logs, leaves,
stream, stones, twigs, fire, sticks,
flowers,
mini
beasts,
catkins,
shadows, birds, squirrels, rabbits
birds, wind, fire, stream
marshmallows
bark/logs, warm/cold, wet/dry, moss,
compost, sand, chalk on concrete
smoke, compost
9.9 Adult perspectives on outdoors
Branscombe Nursery School is owned and managed by a qualified early years
teacher. She is assisted full time by a trained Nursery Nurse and part time by
students. All the adults are united in their positive attitude towards providing
opportunities for children to go outdoors. However, their individual perspectives
and concerns are given voice here.
Teacher-in-charge For the teacher outdoor learning and experience is
essential for children. She highly values the diversity and flexibility offered by
the outdoor environment both on its own and in conjunction with the indoors.
She feels there is huge potential in bringing the outdoors inside and learning
from that, for example bringing in sticks, moss and catkins to study and talk
about. It can also work in reverse when children make things indoors and take
them outdoors like windmills and kites.
Because the outdoor natural
environment engages all aspects of learning it has possibilities for cross
curricular activities and generally makes the curriculum more interesting.
Essentially, going outdoors gives children freedom; they are not restricted by
the physical boundaries of walls, doors and locks so dominant in settings and
schools. She has however noticed that the children have their own boundaries
because they never wander very far from the adults. She senses that children
may be pushing and expanding their personal boundaries when in the woods.
For these reasons and others the outdoors is exciting and stimulating. The
children’s need to do is met through kinaesthetic activities, but all learning styles
are supported and on a bigger scale. Taking children outdoors is also important
for the staff as they often see different and better behaviour in children. They
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are then able to establish a more positive relationship with particular children.
In fact, parents often say that they have chosen Branscombe Nursery School
because of the outdoor provision, particularly for their boys: ‘We’ve heard what
you do, that’s what he needs!’ The teacher’s conviction initially comes from her
instinctual feelings about the outdoors and how children learn. However, she
feels that her disposition has been confirmed with the outdoor experiences she
has had with her own children and that she tried out when she was a teacher in
mainstream schools. She sees herself as a maverick in comparison to
mainstream thinking and practice of a decade ago and welcomes the recent
interest and focus on outdoor learning. In particular the Forest School training
(level 1) has enabled her and her staff to gain confidence in safety issues and to
add to their repertoire of outdoor ideas.
Nursery Nurse She feels that outdoor provision is very important, as many
children today don’t experience the outdoor environment except maybe in the
back garden at home. The children benefit from having the opportunity at
nursery to explore outdoors in a safe environment. The attitudes and practices
engendered at the nursery may also inspire parents to take children outdoors
more often. She feels that at Branscombe Nursery the children have the benefit
of both a quiet area just outside the door and also a wider space in the
woodland to explore. In these places there are good opportunities for physical
movement and exercise. The children also gain much by seeing how things
change through the seasons; they can take part in planting flowers/vegetables,
watch them grow and finally taste them. She feels that the attitudes of the
children have changed as a result of their outdoor experiences at nursery; they
are more confident and independent. Other benefits come about through
parents getting involved with, for example, trips and events in the woodland.
Additionally, the children have become more aware of their community and the
outside world through regular trips to the Donkey Sanctuary and the beach. Her
aims for improving practice include making sure there is enough warm clothing,
e.g. gloves and helping parents to gain an awareness about appropriate dress
for outdoors.
Student The student is a young woman who has been working in the nursery
every week to supplement her course in Early Childhood Studies at the
University of Plymouth. As a result she has been with the children when they
are outdoors and she has been aware of the planning and preparations for
outdoor activities. What she now feels is most important is that children have
opportunities to go outside regularly in all weathers because their outdoor
experience helps them develop confidence and self-esteem. Also children
benefit from being in the fresh air and are less likely to feel ‘stuck inside’. She
has observed that children behave better when outside and also that she is able
to be more positive with some children when they are outdoors. The scope for
outdoor experience has surprised her along with children’s capabilities and
resilience. Experiences outdoors have inspired her and helped her to
understand children’s learning in more depth. As a result she is now more
encouraging and more positive with the children as she realises that they can
do a lot more that she anticipated. Upon reflection she feels that she was
‘wrapped in cotton wool’ and consequently more cautious outdoors when she
was a child than the children she works with now. Her work in the nursery has
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
required her to step out of her ‘comfort zone’. She has realised that you don’t
have to be an expert on the natural world to take children outdoors. However,
her outdoor experiences with the nursery has inspired her to learn more about
nature and consequently, she has been motivated to do the Forest School
qualification.
9.10 Belief and behaviour
The opportunities afforded outside for the children appear to stem from the
strongly held beliefs of staff, in particular the teacher-in-charge about the value
of the outdoors for supporting many forms of learning. It also seemed that the
impact of the outdoor experiences on the children’s behaviour was seen as a
significant positive force for developing good relationships and independence.
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
10. The story of a foundation stage outdoor learning environment
Over the past four years outdoor provision at Ashleigh C of E Primary School in
Barnstaple has been extended through improvements to the school grounds
funded by the National Lottery and local businesses. The whole school has
benefited; teaching and play, roles and responsibilities have flourished in
response to three outdoor projects. Although the school provides the wider
context, this case study focuses mainly on the development of the Outdoor
Learning Environment (OLE) and its use by approximately 100 nursery and
reception children. The foundation stage co-ordinator took a leading role in
designing the OLE and in finding the necessary funding. This is her story.
10.1 The inspiration
Knowledge and space for thinking can provide insight and inspiration to make
changes and improve practice. This is what happened with the foundation
stage co-ordinator at Ashleigh Primary School. In the process of taking
postgraduate modules where she was able to read the latest research on child
development in relation to health, fitness and well being as well as reflect upon
the current guidance for the foundation stage (QCA, 2000), she was inspired to
create an outdoor learning environment for the foundation stage children in her
school.
We must value ‘outdoor play’ and to do this we feel we need to provide
adequately for the children in the early years of their education. Our
children need to be totally engaged in activities, they need to be enriched
and they need to be intellectually challenged. We would like our outdoor
learning environment to be a natural area with a variety of components
that children can manipulate and explore (Byrne, 2002).
A decline in opportunities for children to play outside and an increase in
problems such as obesity and diabetes and related stress has made outdoor
education and experience topical issues in the news.
Research suggests that ‘in becoming aware of the local environment, a
child encounters a sense of place, a complex evaluation of the social,
man-made and natural features of the neighbourhood’. There should be
a sense of freedom, which is good for physical health and gives the
children a sense of well-being, which could lead to a reduction in stress
(Byrne, 2002).
In a positive sense the outdoor environment has much to offer that can be
directly translated into the curriculum.
Sustainability and spirituality are both part of the school curriculum. We
can begin to develop the children’s understanding at an early age by
teaching them to love their planet, experience things deeply, relate to the
outside world and have real experiences. We can create a sense of awe
and wonder by developing their understanding of the outside world,
through interest and excitement in their environment.
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In order to inform others and raise support for the project, the foundation stage
co-ordinator teacher circulated an information sheet on which she highlighted
the rationale for developing an outdoor learning environment.
If we are successful in developing this area, all children in the school
could benefit from it… We hope that the development of our outdoor area
will be complementary to our indoor environment for children [especially]
in the early years of their education. We see this project as a vital need
in the quality of education for the children at our school (Byrne, 2002).
10.2 The school, the children and their needs
Ashleigh Primary School is in one of the 7.7% most deprived wards in England
and Wales. The catchment area is mixed but the immediate neighbourhood is
troubled with drug abuse, violence and cramped housing. Unemployment is
high in the area where casual and seasonal work predominates and there are
many single mothers. Just over a quarter of nearly 300 children receive free
school meals and a third have been identified with special education needs. A
recent Ofsted inspection report (Lewin, electronic source) notes that although
children come from home backgrounds where there is a significant level of
social deprivation and the attainment of children on entry to school is well below
the expected level, there is strong provision in the foundation stage, which helps
the children to make good progress. The staff feel that the outdoor provision
strongly contributes to this progress.
Most parents are really grateful that they’ve got the opportunity to [play
outdoors at school] because quite a few of our children have not got
access to a garden at home. Apart from taking the child to the park
which is quite a long trek for some families, they wouldn’t get much
outdoor play during the school week (Reception teacher).
I think that the important thing is that [playing outdoors] makes [learning]
really real for many of the children…there’s lots of links with what they do
inside that then become real for them outdoors (Head teacher).
In research into child development there is the understanding that
[children] must have upper body strength before they can hold pens or sit
down to do more formal work (Foundation Stage co-ordinator).
In my field notes I record that the three reception children who showed me the
school grounds were chosen by their teacher because ‘they have a lot to say’.
My experience was that with the run of the school grounds they preferred being
active over talking to an adult. I wonder what it would be like for these children
if there were less space and fewer opportunities to play outdoors? The
foundation stage teachers who know the families and the neighbourhood are
aware just how important it is that their children have plentiful experiences to be
outdoors.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
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Raw energy and motivation
I spent half an hour being shown the favourite outdoor play places of two girls and one
boy from one of the reception classes. They took me to the OLE, the field and trim
trail, the wild area, the games area and the top playground. The interesting thing for
me is that they didn’t stop running, climbing, racing or moving except after I had asked
them several times. These five year olds were active the entire time either practicing
or trying to master the activity they were involved in. It felt as though it was
important for them to show me in a physical way what they liked doing. Thus, I
interpreted the number of repetitions and the intensity as the degree to which they
liked an activity. I had to constantly ask them to slow down or stop so I could explain
what else I wanted to see and to find out what they thought of the facilities. They
said that they ‘liked everything’ and were able to list many aspects of outdoor play
such as balancing, imaginative play, making music, role-play and playing in the sand.
They knew how to play all the games marked out on the middle playground such as
hopscotch, corners and sharks; and on the unmarked playground they could recall
playing Follow the Leader, Duck, Duck Goose, Farmers in the Den, Hide and Seek
amongst other organised games. They also showed me a piece of stone in the
perimeter wall resembling a dinosaur’s tooth that ‘makes you run fast!’ Their
enthusiasm and energy seemed boundless and they never were out of breath.
10.3 One teacher’s vision and motivation
When the Foundation Stage curriculum was introduced in 2000, it clearly
stated that children should have constant access to the outdoors. For
children to have rich and stimulating experiences, the learning
environment, indoors and outdoors, should be well planned and well
organised with the space they need for their activities. Ideally this
indoor/outdoor educational area would be linked but, due to the layout of
our school, this is not possible. However, we hope to create a
stimulating outdoor area in which we can teach and the children have
ample opportunities to learn. When the Foundation Stage Policy was
presented to the school governors in 2001, it was felt that we needed to
enhance the children’s education by attempting to improve the use of the
school field (Byrne, 2002).
Sue Byrne, the foundation stage co-ordinator, after doing much reading,
discussing and thinking was strongly motivated to create an outdoor learning
environment where foundation stage children could learn through movement
and the use of their whole body. She was convinced that her children would not
only benefit from being outdoors but that their overall development required it.
In fact she identified many skills that the children needed but weren’t getting
from home or their classroom experiences alone.
Children need movement and must be encouraged to be active because
movement is clearly linked to emotional development. If children are
asked to do things they are not ready for, due to lack of previous
experiences that would have enhanced their physical development, then
this could lead to frustration and behavioural difficulties later in life.
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Children must be given the opportunities to practice movements, make
decisions and make mistakes that will then aid their problem-solving
capabilities when they are older. (Byrne, 2002)
Sue’s ideal outdoor learning environment would be located just outside the
classroom door with wellies and coats available for the children to come and go
as they please. Such an arrangement would mean that individual children or
small groups could be supervised indirectly or by students and that children
could stay out as long as they wished. However, the fact that this was not
possible did not deter Sue from designing and finding funding for an outdoor
learning environment (OLE) that would be located down one side of the school
field a few minutes walk from the classroom.
It’s easy to feel that the experts know it all and it may be necessary to show that
you have sought advice when spending a large amount of money, but the head
teacher recognised that:
What Sue had done was create something that was a cut above what was
available so the people coming in weren’t really great advisors…She really
knew what she wanted. She had a vision there. Sue wanted ideas, but she
linked all that together. There’s a definite pathway through the OLE from
one end to the other. The areas are linked together with the willow tunnels
and she’s also adapted it as it’s gone on, seen which bits get used and
which bits don’t. It’s really well thought out. (Head teacher)
Below is a list of the elements that the foundation stage teachers wanted to
include in the Outdoor Learning Environment:














Fencing off an area (picket fencing approx. 1.3 metres high) for children
up to the age of 7
Gates at either end of the fenced area
Storage facility for equipment to be used outside
Climbing apparatus that encourages physical development, e.g.
.swinging, balancing, climbing
Equipment to jump on and go through at different levels
Safety surfacing under climbing apparatus (NOT bark)-rubber tiles or wet
pour
Paved areas or paths, stepping stones to walk along
Planting area
Seating with shade
Role-play, e.g. boat, log train
Sand pit with cover
Track for wheeled vehicles with safety surfacing
Play house
Mound to climb up and over
A good deal of consultation, initiated by Sue, raised the interest and support of
the staff, parents and children. ‘All the staff think it’s a great asset to the school’
(Reception teacher). A working party of parents contributed ideas and year 6
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
children, given a map of the area, were asked to design an environment with
what they thought nursery and reception children would like. ‘So there was lots
of involvement from everyone initially and all very positive’ (Foundation Stage
Co-ordinator).
Local businesses were approached and asked to make contributions as an
investment to the development of the youngsters who tomorrow will be taking
part in building the local economy. ‘It’s good for their PR to be involved and
they [chipped in] a substantial amount of money’ (Head teacher). Additionally,
after numerous hours devoted to getting it right, Sue’s application to Learning
through Landscapes was awarded £10,000!
10.4 The journey
What follows below is a brief outline of the sequence of events relating to the
development of the Outdoor Learning Environment (OLE) at Ashleigh Primary
School.
Jan 2002:
 Realised the need to develop the opportunities for outdoor leaning as specified in the
CGFS
 Listed reasons for developing the area
 Presented to Governors and request to go ahead
 Action Plan drawn up
April 2002:
 Met with DCC Grounds Manager to request changing the use of the field
 Draft plans drawn up showing area
 Working party set up including Governors, staff, parents and pupils
June 2002:
 Letters sent out requesting donations
 Grant applications sent off
 Quotes in for work to be carried out
October 2002:
 News that grant was awarded from Leaning Through Landscapes for £10,000
 Much research followed including reading, conferences, Visit to Bridgewater college,
site visits, costings etc
November 2002:
 Area allocated for OLE was fenced off
March 2003:
 Final plans drawn up
 Budget in excess of £14,000 available
 Work started on the first phase of “building”
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
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Summer Term 2003:
 Children very involved in decision making as the work was progressing
 Children able to use the area
November 2003:
 Official opening of the area by Phil Norrey (then Director of Education, Arts and
Libraries)
 Publicity on TV and in local press
January 2004:
 North Devon College students invited to design fence panels with me
February 2004:
 Willow structures planted by children with an expert
May 2004:
 In excess of £16,500 raised to date
 Sponsored Pedal Push by all children in Foundation Stage (money shared between
OLE and ChildLine charity)
Much work has continued:
 OLE area resourced as for indoor education
 Wheeled vehicles purchased for use on field
 Planning document drawn up and annotated regularly
 Planted area e.g. scented plants
 Science equipment purchased
 Regular maintenance of the area
 More willow structures
 Log seating
and much more!!!!!!!!
(Byrne, 2006)
10.5 Outdoor provision at Ashleigh
Children’s outdoor play and learning is recognised to be important not just
within the foundation stage but throughout the school and this urban site has a
good range of play areas for the nearly 300 children who attend. Even the
youngest children are familiar with all the outdoor facilities and regularly see
older children modelling skills and taking on roles and responsibilities in outdoor
activities.
1) The top playground is a large tarmac area bordered on two sides by a
stone wall. Along the length of one side a traversing wall has been
installed with developmental challenges built into it.
2) The middle playground is a tarmac area around and between four
classroom huts. It features a small stage and many marked/painted
games such as hopscotch.
3) The wild area and pond area is fenced in and is used frequently for
science activities and the gardening club.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
4) The field is a large grassed area where team games and races take
place. A trim trail was built along two sides of the field. The training
course consists of eight pieces of equipment that help children develop
strength, balance and agility. There is also a willow arbour in one corner
for children meet up in a more private space.
5) The outdoor learning environment (OLE) takes up approximately one
third of the field and is fenced off down one side. It features willow
tunnels and an arbour, a play house, sand pit/stage, tables under a
canopy, a musical area, several large adventure playground pieces of
equipment constructed mainly from wood and tyres.
It may be that the recent focus and work that went into getting the OLE
established honed an awareness and appreciation for outdoor spaces
throughout the school or perhaps involvement breeds more involvement. In any
case, there were definite spin offs from the initial bid that helped to extend
outdoor provision at Ashleigh. Learning through Landscapes, impressed with
how their money was spent, offered Ashleigh the chance to obtain a further
£15,000 when another school’s grant fell through. Through the head teacher’s
quick reactions a consultation with staff, children and outdoor equipment firms
was organised in one day in order to put together a bid. The school was
awarded the money for a eight piece ‘trim trail’ course and a ’traversing wall’
with three levels of difficulty. This equipment is used for teaching but it is also
available during the 25% of the time when children are not in class. Learning
through Landscapes claims that such improvements to school grounds will
foster an enthusiasm for physical activity and active play (Cranbrook Films Ltd).
10.6 Community
A community ethos is engendered amongst the children at Ashleigh as roles
and responsibilities have been created in outdoor activities. Older children have
joined a working party and taken on roles as helpers or mentors in the OLE at
lunchtime. They teach the younger ones handclapping games, encourage them
to master skills on the outdoor equipment and they are there to help out if there
are any disputes. Other children get involved on the field setting up and
clearing away Huff and Puff activities. Most of the children can choose from
activities such as short tennis or quick cricket or they take turns going round the
trim trail. Some children prefer congregating in the willow dome to socialise or
tell stories.
There are far more opportunities for play and exploration. I think it gives
a nice feel at lunchtime in particular. Children accept that it’s an activitybased place. If you have an open field you’ll find clusters of little children
wandering around sitting chatting because there’s nothing to focus on
and children don’t automatically find a big open space and get organised
and play. It will usually be dominated by whoever wants the biggest
space and it tends to be, in school, boys playing football. They take over
the space and nobody can get really near it. What happens now is
because the OLE has got younger children in it and [the older children]
can see that there’s play and activity going on and it kind of lends itself to
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
the rest [of the children following their lead]. Nobody says anything but
you go down there and there’s no child stopped still, they’re all involved
and being busy (Head teacher).
The head teacher speaks with conviction about the connections between
outdoor activity and learning for all the children at Ashleigh.
You’ve got to see the children’s involvement. If they’re involved and
happy then they’re learning and that’s the overall sales pitch. Get them
out there and get them learning! (Cranbrook Films Ltd).
He also sees the experiences outdoors as laying the foundations for later life.
We’ve got to teach our youngsters to be creative in the future, to find
their own little niche. [Outdoors they are] creating their own fun. They
are involved and happy and in the future they will be able to continue to
be involved and happy. It gives them the creativity to go forward
(Cranbrook Films Ltd).
10.7 Risk
The way risk is perceived and the feelings associated with it are powerful
influences on what children are encouraged to do and what they are prevented
from trying to do. Increased work demands, decreasing public spaces for play
and a growing culture of fear have contributed to children not getting outdoor
experiences that will support their confidence, decision making and
independence. A child psychologist reminds us that ‘Things like increased
traffic, high media coverage of child abduction, decreased public spaces for
play and fear of litigation have contributed to a ‘culture of fear’ where children
are not getting the outdoor experiences that support their confidence, decision
making and independence’. She suggests that ‘the goal of childhood is to
emerge as a confident and competent adult’ and our role as adults is to ‘help
children recognise risk levels and deal actively with dangers’ (Lindon, 2005).
An awareness of risk and positive attitudes from the staff at Ashleigh are
reflected in the following quotes:
Safety is paramount outside but not to the exclusion of risk and
independence (Byrne, et al, 2003, p 1).
We’ve made the area safe but not too safe. Children have to learn that
they can take risks and they can fail at things (Cranbrook Films Ltd).
To date we haven’t had any accidents; the children have been OK.
There’s plenty of potential for falling off and hurting themselves, but there
is in everything and you have to learn through your mistakes. It’s all
within health and safety regulations. There are adults around, the
children don’t use it unsupervised (Head teacher).
10.8 The use of the outdoor learning environment (OLE)
I see the teachers go down there and they stand on the periphery of it.
When they see the children engaged, enjoying themselves and fully
absorbed in what they are doing, the teacher plays a secondary part in
their learning. They lend themselves to role-play and extend what [the
children] are doing and put a few ideas in their heads and they can
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
encourage them to explore further. So it’s really a guide on the side,
somebody who’s there to try and help them take the next stage. But
sometimes [the children] are engrossed in what they’re doing, they’re
getting so much out of it, it would be a shame to get involved. What [the
teachers] have come up with is a document that lists all the different
opportunities that could be pursued and ways that the OLE could be
used. Rather than taking the children down there and saying we’re
definitely doing this, they need to be fairly flexible with what they’re
learning in class and how that can feed into the outdoors. So the idea is
that there is a whole list and a whole range of activities they can do. And
you can select from it so it’s a nice flexible document. What they do
each year is update it and say which bits they’ve used, what things
perhaps they hadn’t thought of and how if they went back again how they
could do it a different way (Head teacher).
The purpose of the document ‘Opportunities for Effective Teaching and
Learning in the Foundation Stage when using the Outdoor Learning
Environment’ (Byrne et al. 2003, p1) is to help identify the more specific and
effective teaching and learning that takes place in the outdoor learning
environment. Referring to the document for planning ‘ensures indoor and
outdoor curriculum are very closely linked’. The chart below gives a taste of the
organisation and content of this document.
CGFS areas of learning
Extracts from CGFS
Personal,
social
and planning experiences that
emotional understanding
help
children
develop
autonomy
and
the
disposition to learn
Communication, language giving opportunities to
and literacy
share and enjoy a wide
range of rhymes, music,
songs, poetry, stories and
non-fiction books
Mathematical
activities which will draw
development
out mathematical learning
Opportunities outdoors
solving
problems
and
responding to self chosen
challenges outdoors
use imagination in OLE
and re-create roles and
experiences,
act
out
stories
use of positional language
when climbing apparatus,
equipment, etc.
Knowledge
and an environment with a aspects
of
weather
understanding of the world wide range of activities conditions and changes
indoors and outdoors that
stimulate
children’s
interest and curiosity
Physical development
planning activities that using
apparatus,
offer appropriate physical equipment and space to
challenge
persist,
practice
and
improve performance
Creative development
a wide range of activities appreciation of the beauty
that children can respond of living things- planting,
to by using many senses
watching and observing
growth, colour, size, smell,
texture, etc.
(Columns 1 & 2, QCA, 2000 and Column 3, Byrne, et al. 2003)
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
10.9 Social opportunities
As girls frequently choose to be in the playhouse it can be fascinating to
observe how they negotiate entry into each other’s play.
[The OLE] helps them a lot with their social skills. They find they have to
wait for turns on things and they have to share (Reception teacher).
They have to find a way of getting engaged with the others, politely if
they can, because otherwise it causes ructions between them. And
they’re pretty good at that. They’ll ask what they’re doing and they’ll find
a role and they’ll join in (Head teacher).
The majority of the time [in the OLE] is child-initiated play but we use that
time to assess how children are doing with their confidence in attempting
something they haven’t tried before or particularly any child that is
lacking social skills. We can monitor how they are progressing with their
attitudes towards other children (Reception teacher).
10.10 Accessing the curriculum
The children can take most things done indoors outdoors. Communication,
language and literacy activities such as reading stories and then acting them
out can come to life outdoors. Becoming a Billy Goat Gruff and crossing the
bridge on the adventure playground while a troll waits below can leave a lasting
impression. ‘Outdoor [role play] is very solid and real and those things can
transfer from inside to outside’ (Head teacher). Ironically, many of the wellknown stories that children hear are set in the outdoors and yet children are
usually asked to write their stories indoors. Instead of bringing stimuli from
outside into the classroom as story starters, Ashleigh’s teachers are
experimenting with taking children out under the trees or in the willow arbour for
inspiration.
10.11 Gross motor skills
Santrock, in his text on child development, states that ‘three- to five-year-olds
often experience considerable large-muscle development, particularly in the
arms and legs, and thus daily exercise is recommended to increase gross motor
skills. Sedentary periods should be brief and few’ (1988: 259).
The OLE plays a big part in offering the foundation stage children opportunities
to develop their gross motor skills and gain the upper body strength that is so
important when it comes to refining fine motor skills, especially writing. It
provides space and an excellent range of equipment to engage the whole body.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
Gaining strength, determination and skill
It’s playtime and children are choosing what they want to do in the OLE. Two bars
approximately 3” and 3½” off the ground are popular, particularly with the girls.
Sometimes children queue in order to have a turn. It appears that the goal is to be
able to jump up and lean on the bar with you tummy and then put your head down and
swing your body over and around the bar ending up with your feet on the other side.
However, this morning one child rests on the higher bar suspended in the air for some
time just watching other children and swinging her legs back and forth. Another
smaller girl takes a running start and jumps onto the lower bar but she’s not tall
enough and doesn’t have the strength in her arms to mount it. The first girl has seen
this and without talking comes to the bar to model how it is done. She mounts the bar
from the opposite side, expertly rotates round it and steps back for the smaller girl to
have another go. This time girl #2 is able to balance herself on the bar for a couple of
seconds but she still as yet lacks the strength and co-ordination to be able to achieve
this skill (video observation, 23-03-06).
Especially for boys, very lively boys. Let them go down there to run off
steam. The do really need that outlet for all their pent up energy. It
saves them causing too much chaos in the classroom trying to run when
there really isn’t room. They do wholly benefit from being able to let rip
down there. It’s great! (Reception teacher)
10.12 Associated outcomes and benefits for the foundation stage
The benefits are endless! (Foundation Stage Co-ordinator).
It helps children in all ways of their development (Reception teacher).
The creation of the OLE means that the foundation stage now has access to a
large green space that offers both freedom and structure. The children are able
to make choices and solve problems, develop confidence and independence
outdoors. Through movement and active play, which is so natural to children,
they have the scope to develop strength, control and co-ordination of their
bodies. The diversity and changeable nature of in natural environment, the
weather and seasons all educate and keep their senses alert. Thus, learning
about the world in an active way and employing the senses lays the foundation
for abstract thought that comes later in children’s development. Activities begun
indoors can be extended or reinterpreted in a new environment. Outdoors is a
good place to explore social situations and practice social skills; to
communicate and to express themselves in bigger, noisier and less formal
ways. Teachers have found that behaviour management is less of an issue
when children are involved and occupied outdoors. The staff and parents have
found many benefits from the children using the OLE.
10.13 Wider school benefits
The OLE project has also had an impact the whole school from raising
awareness to leading the way in accessing funding. There are now more
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
options and opportunities for children outdoors during breaks and lunchtimes
and these have had a knock-on effect with the children’s behaviour.
We have difficulty sometimes with managing the behaviour of children at
lunchtimes. [During] these unstructured times some of them will wander
around and the only way they can entertain themselves is to stir up a bit
of trouble between other children. If you can start getting rid of negativity
you can start working on children’s self esteem and if they feel good
about lunchtimes things are going to happen well in class too cause they
do take an awful lot of what happen at lunchtime into the afternoon
session (Head teacher).
10.14 In transition/involvement of children
Next year plans for building a new school hall mean that parts of the school,
including outdoor play spaces, will have to be moved. The Head teacher is
determined to include the children in the planning and decision making as he
knows from the recent experience of improving the school grounds that when
children have some ownership in projects they are more likely to care for the
end product.
It is evident that Sue’s vision and hard work were instrumental in creating the
OLE but the support that she received from the head teacher and the rest of the
staff as well as the governors, parents and teachers motivated her and made
her work easier and more rewarding. She remains enthusiastic about the
potential of outdoor learning and would encourage others to think about how
they might use their grounds more effectively.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
11. The story of the primary school
Once upon a time, there was a primary school. It was in a town and the town
was surrounded by countryside, farms, moorland and sea. The school itself
was set in grounds that included plants, trees, grass and tarmac. People in the
school had different understandings of the term outdoor learning:
it’s using the environment (Art coordinator)
anything that a child would learn or gain knowledge or gain skills from in
an outdoor environment (Head teacher)
the first thing that comes into my head is the natural world when I think
about outdoor learning because it is something that is missing in a way.
(Lead on outdoor learning)
I think it is the most natural way of learning. … Children should be out
exploring, making dens, learning things for themselves. You get the
highest level of learning when a child is doing what they want to do
because that is where their brain is at at the time and that is where they
are making connections. (Nursery nurse)
We do about plants, PE.
Yeah, PE and Geography and sometimes Science.
Yeah, experiments.
And Science club - we used to do lots of things outside.
And different clubs. (Year 4 focus group)
Sometimes we go outside and we draw things. (Year 6 focus group)
Clearly, outdoor learning is a broad concept and at primary school level
encompasses on and off-site, within the curriculum and extra curricular, daily
and residential experiences, as the time I spent listening and watching in this
school showed. It is interesting to note that while the staff’s definitions were
generic, the children described their outdoor learning in terms of subjects,
perhaps reflecting the current performance-related emphasis on standards in
schools (Gorard et al., 2001). Nundy (2001), however, suggests that linking of
affective and cognitive experiences contributes to learning.
The head teacher was anxious to emphasise that he did not think the school
was at the forefront of good practice regarding outdoor learning but:
We are committed to expanding this area (learning outdoors) through
Forest Schools and educational residential/day visits and developing the
outdoor school environment. (Head teacher)
The children, as they began to describe their experiences outdoors, attested to
their value and the opportunities they were given. They also had good ideas
about how to improve their outdoor provision.
11.1 Indications of a whole school approach
One of the features which seemed to support the development of outdoor
learning was the way it ran through different aspects of the school: the grounds,
the curriculum, the adults’ and childrens’ attitudes, the extended school, the
wider community. The entrance to the school was a visible sign of their regard
for the environment. Trees and plants ran through a grassy area, softening the
effect of the car park. The number of scooters and bikes parked in the bike
racks evidenced how healthy living was encouraged by the school. However,
the children pointed out sometimes there may be a tension between areas
looking nice and being used.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
You are not allowed on it; if you were allowed on it, you could actually
notice how things are growing and things. (Year 4 child)
This was also the area where I joined a year 2 class investigating tadpoles in
the tiny pond. Both focus groups of children spoke of this experience, some
three or five years after the event.
The following vignette perhaps illustrates why the experience was a lasting one,
characterised as it is by engagement, interest, exploration and speculation.
‘I wonder why’ - Year 2 at the pond
At first the lesson seems quite directive, referring to the book they had looked at inside and
using fairly closed questioning but then they all relax into the outside and the children start
discovering, talking to each other and speculating.
The teacher worries about her lack of subject knowledge but in fact the children are getting lots
out of their own questioning and noticing details. She supports this by having 3 groups, so two go
off to look at other things that are growing and one with her looking in the pond at the frogspawn.
They notice lots of other things in the pond and are really engaged, clamouring round the edge,
squatting down, pointing. The other groups roam the area, looking closely at things. Some wander
to the boundaries but are soon brought back to the area near the pond, “ so I know you are safe”.
After they have all had a chance to look at the frogspawn they gather round the teacher, share
some of their discoveries and she gives out sketchbooks and pencils. They then spend ten minutes
making sketches of what they have noticed. They really look carefully when doing the drawing,
looking frequently between the object and their paper and noticing fine details.
She selects some children to take the class round to show things they have noticed. This includes:
grape hyacinths - “ I can see why they are called that”.
daffodils – the children don’t know the name at first but say “like the Dutch flowers”. “Tulips” she
reminds them – another child knows they are daffodils.
Crocus - “Crocuses, or croci” They talk about how you can see where the purple flowers might
come, by looking for the distinctive leaves “like grass but with this white line in the middle”.
Buds on tree – “they’re feathery… pink…brown…opening…blossoms.” The teacher picks up on their
language and asks them to check their hypothesis about what they will become in coming weeks.
Buttercup leaves – “Lettuce…jagged edges…a bit furry… lettuces are bigger than that”. Nobody
knows what it is but it is still fascinating to them.
Lichen – “it’s the tree’s leaves from last year gone white and grey… there are tiny black speckles…
I don’t think it is part of the tree… There is some on my granddad’s bench… is it just on wood? …
oh look there’s more higher up the tree, I wonder why…you can get it in all sorts of colours,
yellow….”
What strikes me is how interested the children are in their surroundings, they are focused on
looking for new things and use talk, looking, listening, recording and reflecting to make it a really
rich learning opportunity. The naming of things does not seem important to them, but how things
are and why they are stimulates lots of thinking.
I have to leave but later the teacher brings me pastel drawings the children have done of their
observations – beautifully observed and accurate in colours and detail and capturing their wonder
at the things they walk past every day on their way to school.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
11.2 Inside/outside
Artificial barriers between the inside and outside appeared to be blurred. There
were lots of examples of interest and experience beyond the classroom in the
corridors and conversation. The school had been re-built about 20 years ago
for about 250 pupils and now housed around 400. There was clearly pressure
on space indoors and outdoors. A picture of the former school on the site
depicting a spreading blossom tree hung in the corridor also suggesting a
tradition of value being placed on the outdoors. One teacher spoke of this:
When the school was opened twenty years ago, we actually set up a
lovely area around the outside, especially down at the bottom end where
the trees are but the site wasn’t very secure and it was a case of the
whole school grounds being used for nefarious purposes at weekends.
(Lead on outdoor provision)
In response to the lack of space a central courtyard had been glassed over and
this brought a sense of the outdoors to the heart of the school as sun streamed
in or the rain drummed on the roof. The children who showed me around
pointed out the theme of the four elements: earth, wind, fire and air in this room.
The children had done artwork to portray these. The area was now used for
assemblies, music and art. In this way, the problem of insufficient space had
become a stimulus to find creative solutions.
Outside the reception and Year 1 classes, there was a narrow tarmaced area
which was easily accessed from external doors to the classrooms. Toys were
brought out here and the reception teacher spoke of how the children watched
wildlife in the bordering trees both inside and outside the classroom. This
serendipitous use of the outdoors was noted by all the teachers and expressed
wonderfully by one member of staff as ‘squirrel moments’. While I was visiting
one playtime, a hue and cry went up and the children surged towards one of the
boundaries, where a tame rabbit could be seen dashing to escape its pursuers.
The excitement this generated was evident and may have been used to
stimulate writing as a teacher describes:
A month or so ago the kids were all stood in a long line with me watching
this hedgehog. I have never seen anything like it! Moving from the
playground area across to the wild area and scurrying and I’ve never
seen a hedgehog move so fast and they were just enthralled and so of
course immediately that happened we went straight into the classroom
and we talked about wildlife, hedgehogs, you name it, I got the
Hodgeheg book, about the hedgehog that gets a bang on the head and
then does everything – all its words go back to front – like me at the
moment! (Laughs) But it is a catalytic boost to the children’s idea about
how to look after the planet.
(Art coordinator)
The unpredictability of the natural world was being harnessed to rekindle
excitement.
11.3 Children’s involvement
Excitement and engagement in learning to raise standards are main messages
in ‘Excellence and Enjoyment’ (DfES, 2003a). Breaking down a perceived
distinction between play and learning may be one way this can be achieved as
the conversations with children showed. The playground was seen as an
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opportunity to learn by staff and children. The tarmac was covered with painted
markings: a compass, hopscotch, alphabet lines, a counting snake, football and
netball pitches and squares with different colour shapes within them. The
children explained how these were used to invent games themselves as well as
during lessons.
And it makes you use your imagination quite a bit, because sometimes
when you think about it what are you going to do about that – it looks like
squiggly lines and circles, you have to make it up as you go along.
I chose the linings. We do this line game where you can only stand on
the lines, we made it up. (Year 6 focus group)
They had been involved in choosing what would go on the playground through
their family groups. The school not only had a children’s council but also a
system of family groups whereby mixed ages met weekly with a member of staff
to discuss issues. This gave two possible routes for the children into decision
making in the school, through the family staff member at staff meetings and
through the family group to the children’s council. They clearly felt that their
views had been taken into account. As they were used to this process, the
children were full of ideas in the focus groups and one child asked if their
opinions would be passed back to the head teacher. There was an ongoing
involvement with evaluation and improvement of the school, perhaps indicating
the children had a sense of ownership of their learning environment.
The playleader commented that they did not want to make activities compulsory
as it was the children’s playtime. This freedom from adult influence is believed
to be important for play (Armitage, 2001) and may also be related to questions
of ownership. However, the children’s response to the outdoor play area also
calls into question a distinction between play and learning in their many
comments about how it might be used for learning. Another example of how
children were involved in enhancing the quality of outdoor play was that some
children were issued with different coloured sweatshirts and supported the meal
time assistants at playtime.
What we do is we go in and say to the children does anyone want to be
blue tops. .... I type out a letter for them to take home to say when their
interview is, they then come for the interview and I tell them exactly what
we expect them to do. We decide on a points system of whether they
have done it before or whether it will be good for them. It is never just
the best ones it is always a mixture of different levels, after all it is not
necessarily for the MTAs, it is for the children themselves. Then they
have a letter to say if they got the job or no and then they meet up with
us and we have a little meeting with them all to check if everything is all
right, the day is all right and so on and then they come and get their
jumpers and there we go. (Playleader)
The children also mentioned this role on the tour of the school. It evidently
made them feel a collective responsibility for the safety and pleasure in the
playtimes. During the visits, I did not observe any arguments between children,
but the Year 4 focus group explained some strategies they had to sort problems
out and suggested the use of a buddy bench to help children who needed a
friend.
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The value of learning outdoors was also endorsed by staff. The head teacher,
for example, explained how a review of the curriculum schemes of work would
integrate outdoor learning to the curriculum rather than leave it as an optional
bolt-on.
We have an exercise going on this term … looking at our existing
schemes of work … by each of our subject leaders. …We are just seeing
if we can cut some fat out and look at opportunities like where the Year
1s went to Exeter, whether we can look to have some of our Geography
going outside the school, with our History, going to the museum …,
where we can actually plan those within the curriculum rather than leave
it to what normally happens, which is it is planned if it’s OK, if it is good
weather or it happens to fall in the right place …make it explicit in our
documents rather than have it as a whim.
11.4 A process of evolution
However, such changes cannot happen overnight. The school development
plan had outdoor learning as one of four priorities. They were in the middle of
the second two year plan focused on outdoor provision, a tangible
demonstration of the school’s commitment to outdoor learning. The plan had
been prepared by a team of six staff who were particularly interested in outdoor
learning, building on discussions in family groups and the children’s council and
was endorsed by the governing body. It included the following aims with
associated purposes.
Table 1. The School Development Plan: Outdoor learning priority
Aim
Purpose
1 To enhance the front grassed area with Artwork,
spring planting
Understanding of plant life
cycle
Beautiful grounds
2 To create a climbing wall on lower wall of hall Extend
physical
opportunities
Lessen playtime tensions
3 To develop an environmental area with Use environmental area for
paths, bird and bat boxes, wild flowers, log lessons
piles etc.
Make artwork such as
climbing poles in amongst
trees
4 To access the nature area by a boardwalk Make environmental area
with hand rail
more accessible in all
weathers
5 To develop a sensory garden in field near Engage all the senses in
nature area
children
using
and
interacting with garden
Support learning
6 To develop a quiet garden outside Y5 Enhance site with area for
classrooms
children to interact with
garden
7 To provide a teaching area adjacent to Allow lessons to take place
nature area
outside
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8 To create a path around reception play area
Guide parental traffic more
safely
and
securely
through site
9 To provide shade and seating outside Y3 Quieter, cooler and more
mobile classroom
attractive area for children
to talk together
Other purposes for outdoor learning were identified by the children, including
physical exercise and freedom, enhanced learning through first-hand
experience, enjoyment, persistence, a wider range of possible activities and
increased confidence through facing of fears:
You can like run around and have like free spaces and do anything
really.
You learn more things as well outside.
You can do sports as well that you can’t do inside like tag rugby and
things like that.
I find it builds up your confidence a bit because sometimes I just try to do
wheelies and jump off things so my confidence grows.
(Year 6 focus group)
I think outside is sort of more fun
And you get more fresh air when you’re not stuck in the classroom.
You learn more.
I think you are more determined to do it because you enjoy it.
And inside you’re just looking in books but outside you get to do it.
And it’s sometimes you can actually look at the thing not like draw it from
a picture.
Seeing it in real life makes it more… interesting.
You actually know that it is real.
(Year 4 focus group)
I really don’t like going down steep things and there’s a hill called Death
Hill…
I hate getting wet and I got quite wet.
I used to be scared of turkeys.
(Year 5, Nethercott farm focus group)
Clarity about what benefits different sorts of outdoor opportunities will bring is
necessary so that funds are best spent and so that the inclusion of outdoor
learning is not merely tokenistic but relates to children’s specific needs.
11.5 Infrastructure
Some of the funding concerned the infrastructure of the site; securing of the
premises so outdoor learning facilities were not vandalised, draining the field so
it could be accessed for more of the year, clearing brambles and nettles so that
a wilder area was penetrable but retained its natural quality. Similarly
investment had been made and further funds were earmarked for play
equipment such as skipping ropes, balls and stilts. I saw these used
extensively by the children at playtimes. The children spoke of the field as
‘brilliant’ – it clearly represented an expansion in playing opportunities and the
planned improvements appeared to address some of the children’s wishes.
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There is a little bit of a wooded area and I think you could make a little
tree house.
Yeah.
Yeah, that could be where you have the reading bit.
Yeah, or you could have it like a nature park.
We did about it in family groups and we thought you could have it like a
squirrel watching place and you could go down there and read or watch
nature, like on TV. (Year 6 focus group)
However, to date the opportunities had been limited because it was boggy land
and only used in the summer. The reception teacher suggested wellies could
be part of the school kit which would free the children to use it more often.
Capital funds had been used to improve drainage but where such levels of
funding were not available, advising parents of the need for Wellington boots
and changes of clothing could increase access.
The adventure playground was widely praised by the children and had been
one of the changes discussed in the family groups, although the children
commented that the equipment could have been more widely spaced and
included some that were easier for younger children to play on. However, the
following vignette of the Reception class using the area shows how children
often invent unplanned opportunities for play. Not all learning occurs within the
confines of a lesson plan (Re’em, 2001).
‘An awfully big adventure’ – Reception at the adventure playground
Every day the children go for at least 15minutes on the adventure playground. The teacher
thinks extended periods would be better – “after half an hour, they really begin to play”.
They get their own coats on and line up then skip and hopscotch their way round the outside of
the school from their outside classroom door. The teacher taps them on the head to space
out their assault on the apparatus.
At first they are all over it, swarming, then the soft surface provides a place to roll down the
hill. The idea catches on and lots of children are doing it. The teacher suggests one child
turns around so he doesn’t hit his head on the kerb. He turns so he points downhill and
discovers he can’t move so has to solve the problem of how to reorient himself and still be able
to roll.
Other children use the space under the climbing frame as a den. The teacher comments that
they could do with more dens and secret areas but says it’s difficult to cater for all ages. She
often gives them sheets and chairs to construct their own outside their classroom – “it’s more
flexible, it can be anything they want it to be not just a plastic house”.
Several children ask if they can play on the big playground, which they often do but now it is
not permitted for some reason. They would clearly relish an opportunity to do so.
Today they have 4 Year 4 children with them as the supply teacher was unwell. The Year 4
children are very gentle and sensitive to the younger children’s needs. A boy usually lacking in
self esteem has a gaggle of children around him – he plays with them and you can see that the
mixed age grouping offers mutual benefits. This family grouping in the school is evident again
when the nursery group come out to join the reception class and suddenly the ‘little ones’ are
no longer the littlest, prompting caring behaviour as modelled by the year 4 children.
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Another factor which may need to be considered is whether improvements are
for appearance or for learning. There were mixed opinions from the children
about the planting around the site; some felt it was a waste of space which
could be better used as a quiet area for sitting and chatting, while others rated
the use of plants to add interest and shade.
I just think it looks a bit bare. I think there should be more plants…
And in the summer, people go and sit on the bench to try and get shade
from the tree but if there were more trees there, there would be more
shade. (Year 6 focus group)
Shelter and seating were also common developments in McKendrick’s survey
(2005). In summer, the children went on the field where a big tree afforded
some shade. The plans to develop the wooded area at the bottom of the field
were beginning but this would only be available at teaching times.
It will be a much more of a teacher led activity because obviously it is not
really a safe area for children to just play in and also they could do
damage that we don’t want done if they were just playing there where we
have got a bank of wild flowers we have nurtured and cared for. So
much more a learning environment than a play environment. (Lead on
outdoor provision)
Other plans and ideas for the on site facilities included a fitness trail around the
edge of the field, painted climbing poles amongst the trees inspired by
Broomhill sculpture garden, willow hides, squirrel watching dens, more seating
for quiet reading and chatting areas, orienteering courses, Forest School. The
children also thought the younger children should have more stimulating
markings on their part of the playground to help them with counting and the
alphabet and that access to areas was important to allow learning, despite
concerns about possible damage. In considering photographs of features not
available on their site, although a swimming pool caused excitement, the
majority thought an animal area (Year 4 focus group) to learn about caring for
things,
It would be good to learn about nature and how animals live, how they
move. (Year 4 focus group)
or a vegetable garden (Year 6 focus group) to improve health would be the
most valuable additions to facilities.
Because when we get the new health thing in, I think it would help with a
vegetable garden. When they are fully grown we could actually have
pure vegetables that are grown and I think that would be better than food
that is processed for us. (Year 6 focus group)
The dinner misses can grow them instead of, because the carrots that
they get…they probably put salt and sugar on them before they came
and gave them to the dinner misses. (Year 4 focus group)
11.6 Overcoming constraints
Some impetus to change may arise from perceived problems, but it also
depends on adult attitudes. The staff differed in their views of how much
outdoor learning currently happened and whether the outdoor space was
adequate. Both the headteacher and lead on outdoor provision, a Year 6
teacher, felt that the standard assessment tests and performance pressures
currently suppressed a will to make use of the outdoors.
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
Unfortunately having been a Year 6 teacher for the last several years, it
is just revision of all those things, we don’t actually get time to go out and
do that, not until after SATs. (Lead on outdoor provision)
There is a discrepancy between …some of the sound bites in ‘Excellence
and Enjoyment’ and the inspection processes in this country. But I think
that it may also be up to the school to manage the inspection process to
point out where it has moved its outdoor learning towards, and so there
is an onus on the school as well to show that that has contributed to the
children’s development. (Head teacher)
While some teachers thought that the site constrained opportunities, others saw
many possibilities for further use within the current site. The children were
enthusiastic about doing things outside. There were some concerns about the
size of the playground for the numbers of children. The children explained how
the younger children were expected to play in the side area to avoid being
knocked over, but they felt the younger children would benefit from some time
set aside for them to use the markings in the big playground. Key Stage 1 and
2 had separate playtimes to increase the amount of space available to them.
As Armitage (2001) suggests, the rectangular spaces currently available on site
tend to be used to run around and there was as yet no area which lent itself
readily to quieter pursuits. This was a need identified by the children in their
photographing and discussion of their favourite parts of the outdoors and it is
included in the school development plan. Several children remarked that they
would have liked somewhere to hang out with friends; at the moment this
happened either on the steps or in the pirate boat in the adventure playground.
You could have like a reading area. Where people who don’t want to
play could go there and read.
Like benches there or something.
And like a shelter.
Because there’s only that bench and two round the corner and most of
the older ones don’t like going round the corner on the wall of the school,
we like staying closer to the adventure and everything but then you’ve
only got the steps to sit on. And the pavement kerb.
And when we sit on them our bum gets cold.
(Year 6 focus group)
Another idea from staff was a trial zoning of the playground into different
activities, as one of the playleaders explained:
[There will be] five separate zones, so in each zone we are going to have
a structured activity for the children. There is going to be an MTA and
two of my blue tops, which is to encourage children to actually play rather
than just sitting down, you know get them more active. (Playleader)
11.7 Funding was not seen as a major issue by the staff since the intention to
prioritise outdoor learning was underpinned by the school development plan
and school budget funding flowed from this. Formula capital funding had been
used for some of the site facility infrastructure, some of the school budget share
had been directed to buying resources and there had been substantial
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
contributions of Parent Teacher Association funding. The head teacher
commented that although Devon Funding News was an easy way to find pots of
money for possible funding applications, these were often for very small sums
compared to the amount of teacher’s time it took to complete the necessary
forms. It may be that parents, administrative or support staff could be identified
to develop some expertise in preparing these bids. The children themselves
were conscious that equipment was expensive and seemed to tailor their wish
lists to reflect that. They remembered previous incarnations of play equipment
but were clearly aware that equipment would deteriorate so that safety then
constrained its use. This might be an argument for flexible and more naturally
occurring resources which would require less ongoing maintenance.
11.8 The issue of risk
Risk can be interpreted in several ways: risk in terms of health and safety of the
children and the risk of damage to expensively created resources. There is
clearly a need to balance risks of both kinds with the potential benefits.
Dangers to the fabric of the outdoors and to individuals ran through the
children’s talk. I had the impression that these factors had been regularly
rehearsed with adults.
That bank, in the spring, when flowers come up, little toddlers and people
in reception and year 1 they pick them and run over them and that
doesn’t make people very happy so perhaps they could have a tiny little
fence so they can’t get over them. …
Also when it’s slippery, muddy. They run up and then slip.
Mr C has warned people about that because it happened once that a
little boy went up there and he slipped and fell in front of a buggy as a
mum was coming out. (Year 6 focus group)
This may reflect an increasing intolerance of risk in our society (Lindon, 2005;
Stephenson, 2003); it may also be an indication of the children’s real
involvement in aspects of their school environment. One child put some of the
concern down to different parental attitudes:
different parents believe different things and if they do something like
graze their knee then there are some of their parents who might get
really concerned. (Year 4 focus group)
The head teacher believed there was some support from government to
encourage management of risk so opportunities for children to participate in
outdoor activities were not removed.
My own view about safety is that you take the necessary precautions,
you do a visit, you do the learning from it and that takes the children
forward and worrying about whether something is going to happen may
well happen in the classroom as it may outside. And as long as you have
been sensible and approached it in the right way, then I try to encourage
staff not to be hung up about that … and I think that it’s a sensible
approach to take but that we often hear the headlines and therefore we
then withdraw quite valuable opportunities for children. (Head teacher)
He also concurred with the children’s point of view that some parents may
discourage children from taking acceptable risks through their own fear.
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Sue Waite, Bernie Davis and Kylie Brown, University of Plymouth
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There is a sense of trepidation when a child leaves home or a child goes
on an activity and not allowing a child to feel that they are being
supported in it because of apprehension.
It is sometimes
understandable but sometimes that can prevent children from learning
and some of our children that desperately need that learning opportunity
don’t get it … on occasions there have been people who we feel have
probably withdrawn their child and kept it as an absence rather than
allowing the child to take part in the activity, which is quite sad really.
(Head teacher)
Management of risks seemed fundamental to his understanding of value in
residential experiences.
I think that is the strength of outdoor learning, it is the strength of
residential education that those children can make decisions in a safe
environment that they are given and it brings huge rewards to the
children definitely. (Head teacher)
The homesickness experienced by some children on the first of these trips did
not prevent them wanting to go again and increased their feelings of self
reliance and confidence without the need for constant adult supervision.
So would you do it again?
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah, it’s sad [it’s over].
Yeah but I’m not really sad though because I was very, very, very
homesick. It was very fun but I got very homesick and I wanted to go
home and every night I was sick and I was crying.
What literally sick? But you would do it again?
Yeah!
(Year 5 focus group)
This and the fears they said they had overcome, which are described in the
children’s purposes of outdoor learning, suggest that experiences that challenge
children are valued even when they are uncomfortable at the time.
11.9 Valuing outdoors
The value attached to outdoor experiences was evident in the enthusiasm with
which staff and children spoke of them. Staff members had a variety of
emphases in their views on the importance of the outdoors; for the art
coordinator, it was a rich source of inspiration in many curriculum areas; for the
lead on outdoor learning, it was a catalyst for conservation; for the nursery
nurse and reception teacher, it was the way children learn; for the playleader, it
offered healthy exercise and self expression and for the head teacher, it
encompassed benefits spanning through the healthy child initiative, personal
and social education, curriculum enrichment and enjoyment and a broader
approach to learning styles. The children and staff gave lots of examples of
trips and lessons outdoors. The following table shows broadly the ages at which
children were currently experiencing types of outdoor learning.
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Table 2. Types of outdoor learning throughout the school
Reception
Adventure playground (daily for all years)
Painting nail varnish on a snail’s shell to see how far they
travel
Playing with toys outside
Squirrel moments’ (Lead on outdoor provision) - seizing the
moment for all years offering refreshment from the planned
curriculum through the stimulus of the unexpected outside.
Key Stage 1 Tadpoles
Planting bulbs
Following a route around school using a map
Bug hunts in wooded area
Wooded area to do rubbings of bark and see colours of leaves
History
Trips to museums and Exeter cathedral – using all the
senses (Year 4 focus group)
Key Stage 2 Swimming (weekly)
PE (weekly) – make up games (Year 4 focus group)
History - Barnstaple to draw houses etc
Geography – chalking Rangoli patterns in the playground
Art
- Sculpture garden at Broomhill
- Drawing (Most trips are for art because you mostly draw
things on trips. They say it’s for Geography but normally
it’s Art, really. Year 4 focus group)
Science
- Measuring with wheel
- Camouflage, coloured pipe cleaners in grass bank
- Sundials with sticks and circles
Church – brass rubbing and eating ‘broken cookie things’ (Year
6 focus group)
Beam House residential - adventurous outdoor activities
North Devon (Nethercott) farm residential to see animals, face
fears and increase self-confidence
Paignton zoo – stimulating research
Italy residential – increasing confidence, languages, (Year 6
focus group) cultural awareness, independence and healthy
living
Wembworthy residential– increasing self confidence, (Year 6
focus group) pleasure in the outdoors and environmental
awareness
Oceanfest – enjoyment and appreciation of local features, the
sea
The value placed on these experiences was also evident from lively displays of
the Year 5 farm residential trip and a Year 1 trip to the museum in the school
corridors. In contrast, children found lessons in classrooms were sometimes
‘boring’ and they were less inclined to ‘believe’ them.
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
11.10 The end?
And the moral of this story from the primary school? From the interviews and
observations, it seemed to me that the staff and children believed outdoor
learning had the potential to complete an otherwise unbalanced education.
If we are committed to giving the children a whole, a complete education
or as complete as we possibly can then yes [we need to provide outdoor
learning experiences], because if we ignore it then it is almost half of the
experiences that we could be giving them that are missing. (Lead on
outdoor provision)
But the debate about outdoor learning and its value continues. Some of the
tensions may be summarised as finding an appropriate balance between:
- Learning and play
- Adult and child–directed learning
- Free and structured play
- Independence and managed risk
- Open access to learning opportunities and potential damage to
resources
- Broader enriched forms of learning and narrower teaching for standards
- Children’s involvement and adult attitudes
- On-site and off-site activities
- Daily and residential experiences
- Natural and built environments.
It may help schools identify areas for development to reflect on these
tensions and the purposes of different forms of outdoor provision in
considering the balance required for their particular context.
Far from this story representing an endpoint in the school’s development of
outdoor learning, the head teacher’s vision was to continue to prioritise it, to
incorporate outdoor experiences integral to all areas of the curriculum and to
provide chances to expand children’s horizons in the local environment and
in other cultures. I hope that it may also mark a beginning for other schools
in the process of development of their own provision for outdoor learning.
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12. Conclusion and Recommendations
The richness of these different tales cannot be adequately captured by
summarising across them, but it is clear that some common principles do exist
across settings and that their recurring presence may indicate that these may
offer some guidance for the transfer of good practice.
The foremost common principle is the enthusiasm of individuals in these
settings which transforms less than ideal situations into ones loaded with
potential. This enthusiasm is underpinned by a firm conviction in the value of
outdoor learning. It appears to these staff to offer something distinct but which
may also fundamentally enrich the curriculum or activities undertaken indoors.
The children’s demeanour bore witness to their enthusiasm in and for the
outdoors. The staff’s belief in its value is further demonstrated by their
persistence and willingness to overcome obstacles, such that any barriers are
addressed to ensure access for children to the outdoors.
Recommendation 1: Training should be designed to awaken this enthusiasm.
This may mean practical outdoor sessions which may help to overcome either
reluctance or lack of experience of outdoors. It is also be important that head
teachers and managers also experience such training to ensure adequate
support and leadership for development.
Another very important aspect of our findings is the levels of involvement of
children in planning and use of outdoors. This seemed to ensure a greater
sense of ownership, more engagement and higher levels of usage. Moore and
Wong (1997) found evidence for lasting academic and behavioural effects on
those children involved in the development of diverse school grounds.
Cosmetic improvements are not lasting and flexibility appeared to be key so that
resources could develop with the children.
Recommendation 2: Settings should ensure that children are involved at early
stages of planning. Observation of the ways resources and areas are used can
support this where children are too young to voice their opinions.
Flexibility is also important in terms of how staff support learning in the outside.
Achieving a delicate balance of intervention is perhaps even more crucial in a
freer outside environment requiring staff to show considerable sensitivity to the
appropriateness of free and structured activity at different points in children’s
play and learning. Play training is one way this might be achieved (McKendrick,
2005). Training in how to embed learning experiences in the outdoors with
adequate preparation and follow up may also be valuable (Martin, Falk &
Balling, 1981; Tunnicliffe, 2001; McKendrick, 2005; OFSTED, 2004). Increased
understanding of the intersection of outdoor opportunities and mainstream aims
may be achieved with thorough preparation between outdoor education leaders
and teachers and then followed up after visits and used within settings.
Recommendation 3: Training should also emphasise the need to respond
contingently to children’s interest and learning needs and allow sufficient time
for discovery forms of learning, which children value for their authenticity.
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Risk is a big issue in today’s society but practitioners have stressed the need for
and importance of challenge and exploratory learning in order to develop a risk aware and competent child.
Children themselves appear to seek out
opportunities to challenge themselves. Some children experienced personal
transformations during residential trips through facing fears and challenges.
Indoor environments are often controlled by adults who establish the code for
behaviour and levels of noise. The relative freedom afforded in an outdoor
context seems to contribute to behavioural, personal and social development.
A mixture of security and familiarity with challenge is appropriate (Openshaw
and Whittle, 1993) and it is likely that confident and experienced teachers will
provide more challenging activities (OFSTED, 2004).
Recommendation 4: Settings should ensure that their planning incorporates
risk-assessed but challenging activities for children in order to develop more
independent and socially responsible learners.
Last but not least, enjoyment and engagement of the whole child was common
across all the settings we visited. Staff and children saw benefits which
encompassed physical, personal, social and curricular aspects. Observations
often noted the complete absorption of children in outdoor activities.
Recommendation 5: Settings should be encouraged to develop outdoor
learning for the wide ranging benefits identified. This needs to be carefully
supported and include identification of different aims and purposes and
matching of activities and opportunities to these aims to ensure that the broad
spectrum of possible benefits is addressed.
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
13. Dissemination and consultation
Consultative drafts of sections of this report were sent initially to the settings
who kindly received us to undertake the case studies. The report as a whole
was also sent to the following individuals on 30th June 2006 inviting further
dissemination and comment by September 2006.
Alan Bruford (Education officer, Escot)
Sue Byrne (teacher, Ashleigh CE Primary School)
Liz Carroll (Inclusion Play coordinator, Devon zero14plus)
Andy Cotton (head teacher, Newport Community School)
Jenny Doyle (Worcester Forest School, Bishopswood)
Denise Dyer (head teacher, Branscombe Nursery)
Early Childhood Studies Team (University of Plymouth)
Jane Elliott (Playleader, Buckfastleigh Playcentre)
Mike Flynn (Forest School co-ordinator, Forestry Commission Scotland)
Louise Kennedy (Forest School Training, Bicton College)
Tracey MacIver (former Early Childhood Studies student)
Sam Massey (Worcester Forest School)
Trisha Maynard (Senior Lecturer, University of Wales, Swansea)
Richard Murray (New Economics Foundation)
Liz O’Brien (Forest Research)
Margarette Parlett (West Exe Children’s Centre)
Susannah Podmore (Forest Education Initiative)
Frances Rogers (childminder, Ivybridge)
Simon & Marijke Shakespeare (Forest leaders, Forest Inspirations)
Jane Siegfredsen- Williams (Insideout, Denmark)
Ana Simons (Play Strategy Manager, Devon EYDCP (zero14plus))
Kris Tutton (Oxford Forest School, Oxfordshire County Council)
Tim Waller (Early Childhood Studies, Swansea University)
Tom Wigston (Outdoor Education Manager, Devon Discovery)
Julie Winsor (former Early Childhood Studies student)
Jim White (Devon Cluster Group, FEI)
Gordon Woodall (Somerset Forest School)
Sheena Wright (Foundation Stage advisory teacher)
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
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Case studies of outdoor learning in five settings for 2-11year olds in Devon (Consultation report, June 2006)
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Lots of useful links to environmental play sites
http://playwork.co.uk/wildaboutplay/links.htm
Help with fundraising
http://www.playlink.org.uk/methods/fundraising_support.php.
Farm visits
http://www.farmsforschools.org.uk
Links to food issues
http://www.localfoodworks.org/Web/SA/SAWeb.nsf/b663df7c7f96694580256bd
8003b9129/4ab8fece53b1c15d80256d4a003d084a!OpenDocument
Forest activities
www.forestry.gov.uk/activewoods
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http://www.forestry.gov.uk/newsrele.nsf/AllByUNID/7AD217D1E55697DC80257
103003F36BC
http://www.haldonforestpark.org.uk/
Outdoor learning source book
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in South west
http://www.outdoor-learning.org/osb/2005/activity_training_e_sw.htm
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