Why every primary school child should have access to outdoor learning

As senior leaders of an inclusive mainstream primary school with a high number of children with SEND, including some with visual impairment, we see first-hand how powerful and transformative outdoor learning is.

Our forest school programme runs from Reception to Year 4 and is woven into our school culture. We built a dedicated forest school area in 2021 with the support of our Trust’s Covid Recovery Fund, transforming unused land into a thriving outdoor classroom.

We have also had a pond installed through the London Blue Chain and Froglife projects. These materialised following some fantastic workshops we sourced to enrich pupils’ learning on habitats. We have planted wildflowers, created an allotment and accessed a National Trust project which provided us with over 140 trees to plant. Nature is now a fundamental part of the way we teach, and has had a significant, positive impact on our pupils.