"The best classroom and the richest cupboard is roofed only by the sky" - Margaret McMillan

Subject Leader: Adele Mahoney

Link Governor: Anna Edwards

Vision for Teaching and Learning: Memorable experiences, memorable impact

Learning outside is undeniably exciting. It allows teachers and pupils to engage with teaching and learning in new ways: some value the space, the ability to move around more freely; others a fresh perspective, ‘real-life’, first hand learning or simply the calmness bestowed by nature. 

Whatever their personal connection, our pupils see outdoor learning as an enhanced learning experience. At Christ Church, we are committed to enriching this outdoor learning experience and our hope is to inspire the learning of new knowledge and skills, in both curricular and character-based lessons.

It can be easy to overlook the value of learning outside, but today more than ever and following the challenges of extended lockdowns, we are energised in our commitment to ensure pupils can have the opportunities to learn new skills and knowledge in an engaging, fun outdoor setting.

Our wish is for pupils to leave Christ Church well equipped with life-long practical and social skills, with memorable insights into curricular concepts, and to develop personal interests and a sense of community.

Specifically, we teach two purposeful outdoor lessons every half-term, either character building and or as part of our curricular lessons. We offer:

• An exciting character and team-based learning program, called Arbojo. Pupils develop positive social and practical skills, such as collaboration, leadership, resilience and growth mindset. Skills are taught through practical, outdoor team challenges.
• Real-life, hands-on, memorable curricular learning experiences to enhance knowledge and skills. These lessons are part of our curriculum learning and are often cross-curricular. We look for opportunities to engage pupils in learning through purposeful outdoor experiences, which will enhance their understanding of a concept or provide the ability to practise a skill, such as exploring natural habitats or observing growth in plants over time.

In addition, we offer:

• The opportunity to develop practical skills and personal interests, through our Life Skills gardening lessons as well our gardening club, Little Green Fingers. 
• The chance of developing a sense of community, through collaborative enrichment projects such as developing our Wilderness gardens working alongside our wider school community.

Vision for our outdoor environment

To deliver high-quality outdoor learning, we are mindful of creating ‘destination’ outdoor environments, where teachers and pupils want to be. Our vision, over time, is to:

1. Create eco-classrooms within our infant and junior playgrounds
2. Create gardening zones within our infant and junior playgrounds
3. Create all-weather outdoor classrooms at each site
4. Enrich the use of and learning experience at our junior field