Boost your pupil’s learning by celebrating Outdoor Classroom Day 2019 in the woods this spring – that is the message from the Royal Forestry Society’s Teaching Trees Cumbria Education Officer Sara Brown to local schools.
Sara offers free primary school Teaching Trees sessions in local woods and says she was inspired by her own childhood: “One of my earliest memories is sitting up in a big old willow tree that all the children on the street played on and under, it felt magical popping in and out of the curtain of leaves. I still feel the magic when I go into woodlands and I am over the moon to be able to pass on my knowledge and enthusiasm to children so that they too will appreciate woodlands and gain an understanding of their value.”
All Teaching Trees sessions are high on fun, can be adapted to fit in with specific school projects and are curriculum linked for Early Years to Key Stages One and Two.
Outdoor Classroom Day is being celebrated on 23 May 2019. To find out about Teaching Trees for local schools and book a free session with Sara visit www.rfs.org.uk/learning/teaching-trees/ and follow the Meet the Team links. Outdoor Classroom Day sessions available on a first come, first served basis!
According to the Muddy Hands Report 2018, the benefits to children from learning outdoors are many! Not only does it help connect us to the places we live and the environments we will want to protect but it results in better learning outcomes:
- 97% of teachers say that outdoor play is critical for children to reach their full potential.
- 88% of teachers say that children are happier after playing outdoors.
- 88% of teachers say that children are more engaged in learning when taking lessons outdoors.
- 86% of teachers say that playing outdoors gives children a better understanding of the environment.
The Royal Forestry Society’s Teaching Trees project has been awarded the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) quality mark recognising both the quality of the learning and the safety of the courses.
Since the Outdoor Classroom Day campaign started in the UK in 2011 over 40,000 schools in more than 100 countries have taken part.
