Staff and pupils at Coupe Green Primary School in Hoghton, near Preston, are celebrating the grand opening of their new outdoor learning facility for the reception and year one pupils
Designed and constructed specifically to enable children to use their creativity and to learn and develop whilst being in an outdoor environment. Headteacher Miss Anna Smith said: “We set out to create an outdoor learning environment to take children into a world of open-ended possibilities.
“A place where they learn to imagine, set themselves challenges, discover new things and realise that there is more than one way of doing things.
“We wanted high-quality resources to stimulate children’s creativity and fire their imagination so that they learn through investigation and exploration.”
Thanks to funding via a grant through the National Lottery, pupils can now enjoy a sensory garden where they can pick herbs or concoct recipes in the mud kitchen, build dens using natural coppiced wood, clamber through underground tunnels, explore role play under the parachute canopy in the tree or enjoy quiet reading time in their summerhouse.
The resources have been designed to teach a range of subjects including reading, writing, numeracy and construction.
Stabilising grass mats have been installed to enable the area to be used throughout the year without turning to mud so the children can be outside regardless of the weather and to enjoy the different seasons.