Outdoor Learning at Chuckery Primary School

Intent

It is the intention that all children at Chuckery Primary School will take part in outdoor learning experiences throughout their education at Chuckery.  
“School trips or visits allow pupils to encounter experiences that are unavailable in the classroom. They can help pupils to develop initiative, resourcefulness and independence. It also helps develop emotional and physical well-being, develops environmental awareness and interpersonal skills.”
Haringey Council 2021
Outdoor Learning at Chuckery Primary school happens both through our Forest School provision and curriculum enhancement visits.
When taking part in a visit, pupils will take their learning out of the classroom. Experiencing the wider world can bring new perspectives to classroom taught lessons, enabling pupils to engage in their learning in whole new ways. The aim is for all outdoor learning to provide memorable and inspiring sessions which secure and build upon learning in the classroom.

Implementation

Foundation subjects at Chuckery are taught through ‘mini adventures’, these are linked to the National Curriculum. We aim for each year group at Chuckery from Reception to Year 6 to take part in one visit focussed on a ‘mini adventure’ per term. These usually take the place of an off-site visit to a location or place where pupils will develop and put into context their learning from the classroom. 
Forest School provides pupils with regular outdoor sessions where they are able to engage in a wide range of activities designed to develop both practical skills and a positive mindset.

Impact
Our curriculum enhancement visits, and Forest School provide a vital context for learning which has happened or is happening in the classroom. Many of the visits provide ‘first time experiences’ for our pupils. For example:
-going to a farm (many of the reception children had difficulty differentiating between a cow and a sheep and it was their first-time feeding sheep and goats),
Skills and knowledge learned outside the classroom both in Forest School and curriculum visits are bought back into the classroom to the benefit of the pupils and their learning and attitudes.
Children will be able to talk about their trips and have a greater understanding of their topic resulting from their learning outside of the classroom. Pupils may also have had the opportunity to develop skills in a practical way, for example map reading in the woods of Cannock Chase.
Pupils will also have a greater awareness of the world around them. Their outdoor experiences will develop pupils’ cultural capital and pupils will have a greater awareness of the world around them and their part in it.