Basket
Creating Naturalistic Outdoor Areas
Jo Gordon
Senior Early Years Consultant
07769749127
During October 2010 to March 2011 I gave support and advice to schools and settings to ensure effective use of allocated capital funds to develop high quality outdoor provision for children aged birth to 5.
|
Jo Gordon Senior Early Years Consultant 07769749127 |
During October 2010 to March 2011 I gave support and advice to schools and settings to ensure effective use of allocated capital funds to develop high quality outdoor provision for children aged birth to 5.
I provided training and development days on effective outdoor learning, looking at:
- creating motivational, naturalistic spaces
- open ended resources that offered challenge and risk within a safe environment;
- different ways of consulting with staff, parents and children
- the role of the adult
I provided advice and support to settings and schools in:
- evaluating present practice outdoors
- identifying what was required to promote, enhance and develop effective learning outdoors
- reviewing with staff (and landscape gardeners where relevant) plans put forward, adapting them where necessary and approving them
Below are 3 examples of areas that have been developed with very positive outcomes.
Project work with Lambeth Local Authority
St Anne’s Community Centre
| Before |  |
Work undertaken by Archer Landscapes Archerlandscapes@aol.com |
| After |  |
 |
Sarah Wall, Project Manager, St. Anne’s Community Centre
“All the comments have been of incredibly positive, lots of “wow”s and “it’s amazing” and one parent called it a “little oasis in Central London”. The staff all think it’s lovely... They love to leave a busy main road full of traffic and pollution, through the project and into such a wonderful green space. It seems like another world and a joy to work in. The children are always finding something new to do or explore every time they go outside. They love the slide and storytelling chair.”
Heathbrook Primary School
Work undertaken by Urbs Gardens urbsgardens@live.co.uk www.urbsgardens.co.uk.
Before
After
Marion Guertin – Deputy Headteacher
“The parents were absolutely gobsmacked to see such a creation. It really is like an oasis amongst the concrete. The children are exploring it and learning how to take care of it. The brook really makes it.”
Children’s Comments:
Asher: “We have so much fun in the garden!”
Megan: “My favourite thing (at school) is playing in the garden”
Richard: “The garden is fun, I like digging"
Sophie: “My favourite thing is playing in the sand and making pudding.”
Wyvil Primary School
| Before | .png) |
Work undertaken by Lizard landscapes lizardlandscapes@hotmail.com www.Lizard-landscapes.com
|
| After |  |
 |
Joy Matthews –Assistant Headteacher
“As a staff team we shared ideas and developed a vision of what we wanted to see to enhance children’s learning. We consulted with the children about what they wanted. We found a landscape gardener who valued the ideas of the children and staff and put our vison into practice. The results exceeded our expectations.”
Children’s Comments:
“I like the beach area because I like beaches. I haven’t gone there. I saw pictures.”
“I like the textured pathway as it makes people want to go on there and have fun.”
“I like the garden because of the flowers.”
“I like the secret garden because it has plants.”
Project work with Haringey Local Authority
Programme Support Officer for Early Years Quality and Accessibility Funding:
Developing High Quality Outdoor Learning Experiences for Children (birth to 5)
- From January 2010 to July 2010 I worked with schools and settings on a similar project to the one run in Lambeth LA.
- The project alongside other initiatives and programmes that have been undertaken in Haringey contributed to a significant improvement in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile scores in 2011
Get in touch if you would like to find out more about my work
& thanks for reading - Jo Gordon
