The Bluecoat School
Emma Houlton, Headteacher at The Bluecoat School, talks about how they have been using their school grounds for learning.
The Bluecoat school is one of 14 primary schools within the Meridian Trust and is located in the Lincolnshire town of Stamford.
It is a single form entry school with a varied catchment area. The school runs their own nursery provision as well as wraparound care facility.
The school has made a real focused effort to develop their outdoor provision, making the most of what they have available to them and also harnessing the skills of parents and the local community.
Inside our extensive grounds we had a large unused wildlife area, a smaller gardening area and a sensory garden. All of these areas had become somewhat overrun and needed attention. None of the areas were being used and it was something that I was determined to develop when I was working at Bluecoat.
Outdoor learning is a vital part of a child’s educational development. Many of our pupils did not understand or have experience of how plants and vegetables grow or the conditions needed for them to successfully flourish. We needed to do something to offer our pupils this essential experience beyond the normal classroom walls.
A parent, Laura MItchell, approached the school to see if they could help develop the areas having previously worked on a local community project. It was decided to focus on the garden area first as the sensory area would be a much smaller project and the large wildlife area a more robust challenge. The idea of creating a Coronation Garden formed with the aim of having all of the children in the school involved in planting, nurturing and growing their own produce. The area needed some work first and so with the help of the local Secondary school cadet force, a gardening journalist and support from school staff and parents the area was prepared for the children to start working on ready for the Coronation celebrations.
Every child had the chance to prepare the land and plant a variety of crops throughout the school day creating a buzz of excitement and curiosity. Since then a weekly activity session is in place with the class teacher and Laura co-operating.
The children get immense pleasure from working outside on the Coronation garden. Not only are they learning about the growing process but seeing a range of supplementary things such as the differences around them depending on the season or the different wildlife that has started to appear in the garden, including to the delight of the children some frogs which appeared unexpectedly.
The children also showed a renewed sense of sociability and teamwork, improved mental health as well as additional focus.
What have been the impacts and what are the next steps?
The children have started to go home with some of the produce they have grown and their success has been communicated across the community in a variety of ways.
The children look forward to the sessions and are keen to find out what has changed since their last visit to the garden and what they are going to be growing or doing next.
The plans for the development of the outdoor area continue with the intention of adding a shelter to the Coronation Garden, as well as starting to develop the wildlife and sensory areas to become purposeful yet different outdoor learning areas for the children to experience and explore.
