There is an adventure playground where children can learn to ‘have a go’ and extend their skills of balance and control.
In one corner of the field there is the ‘Peaceful Place’. This was created with help from parents as an area for quiet activities and reflection. The school holds some Collective Worship services in the Peaceful Place and we also go down there for story-time and other quiet times.
The way in to the Peaceful Place is through a willow tunnel which is one of a number of willow structures made by the children with Sophie Courtiour. We have huts and wigwams which are used for all kinds of creative play by the children.
The School Field
Green Club
Literacy Outdoors
Peaceful Place
Eating lunch in the Rough Area
Chickens!
Blackrock class learning outside
Fun outdoors
Peaceful place
The school Green Club of Year 4 children work hard to look after the grounds, and in particular the vegetable garden. They plant seeds and nurture the seedlings, harvest the crops and sell the produce. They have a greenhouse and are experts in making leaf compost. The Green Club also look after the school’s chickens, Jolly and Chestnut.
Chestnut and Jolly live in the Rough Area within the grounds, where they wander free during the day. The Rough Area lives up to its name and provides a place where children can be challenged and explore. They go out in all weather and keep a pair of wellies and a set of old clothes at school. Children have built their own shelters; cooked Viking bread on an open fire; gone on a Bear Hunt and made their own musical instruments – and that’s just to name a few of the exciting activities which go on in the Rough Area.
Children also go outdoors to help them with curriculum subjects. Concentration is often better in the open air, and children can learn very effectively through more challenging and creative ways of approaching literacy, maths or science.