Teaching the curriculum outdoors

From chasing Charlie’s Superhero Underpants to weaving Viking longships from willow, when children at Boston West Primary are learning, they’re learning outdoors, says Mike Schofield...

Why aren’t wellies part of the school uniform? Being outdoors and surrounded by real things, with their own ever-changing character – the sun, wind, rain, snow – is always an inspiring and liberating starting point for learning. And yet, instead, we shuffle the children into a box and shut the door.

A 2007 Unicef report ranked British children as the least happy of any among industrialised nations. The researchers dug a little deeper and found this had nothing to do with living standards, but was rooted in lifestyles – the increasingly limited opportunities that young people had for free-time outdoors. We live in homes that are boxes that do their best to shut out the natural world; anxiety about the outside world means that leisure time is based around more boxes, TV and digital gadgets.

At Boston West Academy we’ve embraced outdoor learning as a way of countering some of the limitations of modern living. We’ve thrown ourselves into it, filling every inch of the school grounds with opportunities for practical learning: a woodland area, pond, a place for camp fires, a tepee (to symbolise settlement, but also very handy for storing firewood), and a mud factory where children can make anything with mud, sticks, leaves, acorns – whatever is around at the time. As a result the school has changed: we get better results, the parents are more involved and children have a far richer, more enjoyable experience as the starting point for their time in education.

When I joined as head 13 years ago, the school was in a tough place. A real problem was the basic attitude of children to school work, a lack of interest and engagement, meaning a significant minority were able to be disruptive. One of the first things we did to change the whole school culture was to get the children directly involved and feeling valued. We started one of the early Primary School Councils, asking children what changes they would like. Initially, they focused on the playground, which presented an opportunity for ‘quick wins’ to improve the grey rectangle with faded netball court markings. We also had a lot of green space with some trees, but none of it developed. This input from children, combined with staff interest in environmental issues and my own belief in the power of first-hand experience and real-life learning opportunities, was the basis for action.

Learning to use knives

Today, every subject is delivered outside – maths, English, science, history, art etc. and there is a minimum weekly time expectation, beyond PE sessions, for children to be learning outdoors. We have an ‘essentials’ framework of skills and knowledge, but with a significant level of flexibility for staff to respond to the children’s needs, interests and what is happening in the world around them. With wellies at hand, staff seize every opportunity, whether planned or spontaneous, to promote learning beyond the classroom.

Unless the weather is really bad, we’ll be out there. For example, to teach adjectives in Y1, on a windy day, the teacher read Charlie’s Superhero Underpants. Then, in keeping with the story, developed the whole lesson in the grounds, with children searching for items of clothing that the wind had ‘blown’ off the washing line. What resulted was motivation, engagement, challenge through differentiated tasks and good learning outcomes for every child.

We teach the children bush-craft skills, such as lighting fires and cooking – they’ve tried marshmallows, popcorn, bread and soup so far

We teach the children bush-craft skills, such as lighting fires and cooking – they’ve tried marshmallows, popcorn, bread and soup so far. They learn to use knives in a controlled way, starting out with a potato peeler, progressing to a ‘real’ bush-craft knife to whittle wood and make useful things such as tent pegs, cooking sticks, plant labels and stick pens. We make shelters in the wood, for children’s ‘play people’ in the Early Years, which can be used as a stimulus for writing, whilst older children build shelters for themselves using ropes (and their knot tying skills), tarpaulins and natural materials. We also have a sustainable supply of willow for weaving, harvested each year from our willow maze. When Y4 were learning about Invaders and Settlers, they made a willow longship and re-created a Viking invasion through role-play, which really brought their learning alive.

The inclusive outdoors

Often when children find learning really difficult, we just keep on giving them more of the same. Outdoor learning and the skills that can be developed offers something different and another chance to shine. Being out of the classroom provides a new setting and some freedom. Someone might struggle with maths but be great at building shelters, and this is so important for self-esteem and status within their peer group. Getting confidence in this way means they are much more likely to keep trying in all lessons and not become disengaged from learning in general.

Developing the grounds has been a very successful means of engaging with parents and building a sense of partnership. Every term we have a weekend Grounds / Eco Day when everyone pitches in – parents, children, staff and the wider community – working as a team for something that everyone can see is important. It’s a great leveller, much more likely, as a starter, to engage any ‘hard to reach’ families than through more traditional curriculum sessions.

The next stage in our plans is a Garden of Inspiration, part wild flower meadow and performance area, part garden themed around the elements (a bubbling stream over a rock for water; an interactive chime tree for earth; a dragon in a cave surrounded by red and orange flowers for fire and an area of swaying grasses for air). Adjacent will be an allotment with polytunnel, plastic bottle greenhouse and a small fruit orchard with native Lincolnshire varieties. The whole area will be used to teach children about the life cycle of plants and biodiversity. The allotments will enable children to experience growing their own food to cook on the camp fire.

Schools today are under enormous pressure, facing ever- increasing social, political and educational challenges but just by opening the doors, thinking differently and getting outside, the potential and possibilities for all children are unleashed. No boxes needed, no gadgets required – just wellies!

About the author

Mike Schofield is headteacher at Boston West Academy – a CfBT Schools Trust school (cfbtschoolstrust.org, @BWHive).

New territory..

Everyone involved with Boston West can see clearly how outdoor learning has energised what we do as a school. What’s needed now, though, is the hard evidence. As a member of the CfBT Schools Trust community, we’ve been given backing by the Trust to carry out research into the link between outdoor learning and children’s performance. We will continue to share what we’ve learnt with our network and other schools who can see the potential. It’s not only the UK that is grappling with the importance of getting children to experience more of the natural world – we have also established links with schools in Scandinavia and Africa. A member of staff who was integral from the start of the outdoor work is now Outdoor Learning Leader; she provides in-house coaching, as well as supporting teachers’ planning. Using our on-site outdoor learning centre – The Hive – we now offer training courses to staff beyond the school who wish to develop their own practice.