Farming skills and adventures in the forest were firmly on the curriculum last week at Bredon School as pupils headed outside to celebrate Outdoor Classroom Day (7 November).
Pupils from Bredon School near Tewkesbury embraced this global campaign and took part in a range of activities aimed to encourage pupils to get outdoors, be active and think creatively about traditional subjects. Amongst other initiatives, Maths lessons were conducted on the School’s tennis courts, musicians took inspiration from Bredon’s four acre Forest School to mimic the sounds of nature, and delicious treats were cooked on campfires and in the School’s outdoor pizza oven during Food Technology classes.
Nick Oldham, Headmaster at Bredon School said: “We celebrate outdoor education every day at Bredon School and know the positive difference learning outdoors makes to pupils. Both outdoor learning and play are integral to the curriculum here and we already have achieved the aims set out by this global initiative. Through working on our school farm and embracing the extensive outdoor education opportunities, our pupils develop important life skills and grow in confidence. By taking part, we are celebrating all that we do here and hope to inspire other schools globally to take part next year.”
Outdoor education and wellbeing sit at the heart of Bredon School, with pupils taking weekly Farm School and Forest School lessons as part of the curriculum and participating in activities such as kayaking, climbing, clay pigeon shooting and mountain biking within its 84 acre rural campus.
Outdoor Classroom Day has been running since 2012 and is a global campaign to celebrate and inspire outdoor learning and play. On the day, thousands of schools around the world will take lessons outdoors and prioritise playtime. The campaign has three aims: outdoor learning is part of every school day for every child; every child has great playtime at school every day for at least 60 minutes, with the longer term aim of 90 minutes; schools act as advocates for more time outdoors, so that outdoor play becomes part of every child’s everyday life.
