At Clayton-le-Woods, we believe that outdoor learning provides children with the opportunity to gain a deep and meaningful understanding of the world in which they live. Through outdoor learning, our children will participate in a range of memorable cross-curricular activities, developing their practical and creative skills, and building resilience. Whilst doing so, they will learn first-hand how to respect and care for our natural world.
We are so lucky to have such beautiful school grounds and we want to say a huge thank you to our wider school community for all of the support they provide in developing the woodland, prayer and garden areas. The progression document below provides you with an overview of the outdoor learning in each year group.
Scroll down to see our learning in action!
It would be beneficial for your child to permanently have wellies or old trainers in school as we love going into the woods at every opportunity! If your child outgrows their wellies/ waterproofs and you are happy to donate them to school as spares, we would be very grateful.
Year 4 created large scale art in the style of Roy Lichtenstein.
Years 3 and 4 have enjoyed exploring our school woodland area. We found different mini beasts and signs of new growth in the ground. Year 4 also used willow to create fish and practise whittling.
Pre-School had lots of fun making bug hotels to take home. I am sure you'll agree that the bugs will love them!
Year 6 have also been shelter building, predominantly using sticks and leaves. They have also been developing their photography skills.
Year 5 have been using loppers and planting willow structures.
Year 4 learnt how to tie a timber hitch knot, which we then used when making our dens. The children showed outstanding teamwork, perseverance and resilience and came away feeling a great sense of achievement, all whilst having lots of fun!
Year 4 had a fabulous afternoon making bird feeders.
Exciting news this week as the equipment arrived for our fire lighting and cooking activities. All these resources were purchased thanks to the film night held before Christmas which has enabled us to fully resource this element of our outdoor curriculum. Year 5 pounced on the chance to get outside and cook on an open fire. They thoroughly enjoyed boiling our new, enormous kettle on the crackling fire using the superb cooking tripod and then sat around drinking hot chocolate.
After that, they used our heavy-duty cooking pot to make popcorn, listening out for the kernels popping was exciting with some of them falling into the fire, it was like delicious fireworks going off! The children also had the opportunity to make fires of their own using the fire steels purchased, they loved watching the sparks and attempting to get a small fire going.
Year 3 went back in time to live as a stone age person would. They had to build shelters, hunt for prehistoric beasts, gather vegetables and build a fire to cook their food and keep warm. They also had a go at cave painting. We spent all day in the woods and had a wonderful day!
