Using the local learning area to its full potential
Written by: Charlotte Willoughby, Deputy Headteacher at Gold LOtC Mark School Wood Street Infants.
At Wood Street Infants our school site is actually fairly small and made up of largely tarmacked areas. We are however lucky enough to be surrounded by woodland and common land managed by Surrey Wild Life Trust and our local Parish Council. The school is set within the heart of a small village on the outskirts of Guildford, allowing us to utilise both the village and the towns history.
As an LOtC Gold school we value and utilise learning beyond the classroom on a daily basis, meaning we are out in our local environment frequently throughout the week. We have a designated space that we have labelled ‘base camp’ which we visit at least weekly for woodland school sessions, here we plan lessons around our own progression of skills. These can be anything from fire lighting, to team games, to tree climbing. We also make these sessions cross-curricular, planning sessions linked to phonics, maths, science, just about anything really.
More recently we have taken to exploring further afield, using walking tracks within the woods to explore focussing on listening skills, map skills, conducting surveys but also what it means to explore. It has been thanks to this that we have made all sorts of discoveries.
We have a developing farm within walking distance with whom we are building a relationship with so that the children can learn more hands on with animals. We have a large pond close by which we have done pond dipping in. We have also developed an active relationship with the Parish Council to help reduce waste and fly tipping in our local area.
We are lucky enough to have a church within the village which we visit regularly as well as a village steeped in history. We utilise this and explore local history within the village and draw comparison with that of the town too. We use these walk and visits to explore geographical change, ask questions, create maps, document our findings and build relationships within our community. More recently we have begun working with the horticultural society to develop our garden and give back to the village.
What we’ve learnt from going outside the classroom
All of these learning experiences fall under our low-level offsite ventures permission and policy. We have a permission form which parents complete detailing the types of visits as well as a policy defining the remits of this. We have rolling risk assessments for these key activities which staff amend when necessary based on the cohort but also adopt a risk management approach which requires staff in conjunction with the children to continually observe and address risks throughout our ventures.
So much can be learnt by exploring what is on your doorstep. Personally, I think making a tour of this environment essential to any staff induction as well as having robust policies and procedures for going offsite locally. This allows staff the freedom and security to plan exciting adventures which optimise the local environment. With the frequency that we teach in our local environment, making risk management a skill taught alongside the children has been invaluable. Our children are equipped with the tools to spot a likely risk such as an unleashed dog or climbing and tree and know how to respond to it in a safe manner.
