At William Hulme’s Grammar School, we value the importance of outdoor learning with worthwhile opportunities to engage in nature, share experiences in the local environment and immerse all our primary phase children in a forest school, child led approach. We aim to establish long-lasting positive perceptions of the outdoor environment whilst developing confidence, good self-esteem, social and emotional resilience and effective communication skills. Through our Forest School experiences, we will aim to:
- promote a positive growth mindset by offering opportunities to explore the outdoors using curiosity and imagination
- provide meaningful, significant opportunities to problem solve, overcome challenges and handle risk
- inspire a love of nature, impact on well-being and develop a strong sense of belonging to a little corner of the world
- create an appreciation of the outdoor environment and its wealth of learning opportunities
All children in EYFS benefit from daily outdoor learning opportunities which are considered equally important as indoor learning. Outdoor learning encompasses all that children do, see, hear or feel in their outdoor space. This includes the experiences that the teachers create and plan for, the spontaneous activities that children initiate, and the naturally occurring cyclical opportunities linked to the seasons, weather and nature.
Children from Year 1-6 take part in a half-termly block of weekly Forest School sessions. These take place on our expansive school grounds and in a local Forest environment where children are given encouragement to direct their own learning whilst mastering key skills such as using real tools, den-building and lighting a camp fire.
Forest School experiences on the school field have been recently enhanced by our brand new hut, nicknamed by our Early Years children, as 'The lion's den'. This provides a welcome base for campfires or a shelter during wetter weather.
Wherever possible, children are given opportunities to take their learning outdoors, such as science investigations, art lessons or geography field work. In addition, the children take part in an internationally recognised, annual Outdoor Classroom Day where the whole school take to the outdoors to celebrate their love of learning.