Here at Meadlands we love to learn outdoors and believe it brings many added benefits to our learning in the classroom. There are many reasons why we love the outdoors:

1. We believe it is our social and moral responsibility to care for our environment and to pass on these skills of nurture and maintenance to our pupils.
2. We believe we have a local and global responsibility to educate our young people about the importance of the natural world to human existence e.g. medicine and food.
3. We believe it is essential to educate our pupils about the current threat to Earth’s natural resources e.g. deforestation.
4. We believe that it is essential for pupils to understand how the food they eat is produced in order that they can live a healthy, active life.
5. We believe that pupils learn best through play and first-hand experience and that fresh air has a positive impact on both learning and wellbeing.

Our Outdoor Curriculum and Forest School
Forest School is an exciting and innovative approach to outdoor learning. Pupils participate in a range of achievable activities, which allow them to explore and to learn to appreciate the outdoor environment. The activities encourage children to develop confidence, independence skills, self-esteem, as well as awareness and knowledge of the natural environment. Pupils are supported to take risks within boundaries and initiate learning themselves. They will learn to abide by the rules and sets of behaviour, work co-operatively in groups and respect each other. At Meadlands we incorporate Forest School into our weekly planning for our Nursery pupils, promoting independence, resilience and curiosity. Mrs Nicholas, our head of Forest School, also runs two after school Forest School clubs for Early Years and KS1. 

Grounds Day
For many years now ‘School Grounds Day’ has been a highlight of the school calendar at Meadlands. Now happening once a term, SGD is a special enrichment day where all pupils are off timetable to have lessons outside or with an environmental focus, and to care for and maintain our grounds. We link the days to different areas of the curriculum, including science, art and maths. We always start the day with a focused assembly explaining the importance of keeping our grounds maintained and the outcomes for the day. Following the assembly, the children go back to classes and enjoy a mixture of activities throughout the day such as making leaf piles for hedgehogs, observing different habitats or planting bulbs. We like every child in the school to plant something each SGD.

Outdoor opportunities.
However, here at Meadlands, we don’t rest on our laurels and we are passionate about weaving even more outdoor learning through our creative curriculum and topic work. From observational drawing in Art, plant classification in Science or even performance poetry in the Story-telling Circle, we have many different spaces to allow for creativity in our curriculum. 

Our Grounds and Habitats:

• Large sports field

• Multi Use Games Area (MUGA)

• Large, paved playground

• Library Garden

• Quiet Garden

• Outdoor Classroom with electrical access

• Willow dens

• Dell

• Hedgerow

• Story-telling throne and circle

• Orchard

• Meadow

• Bug Hotels Pond

• Wooded Wildlife area with stag beetles, badgers and foxes

• Market Garden with 8 raised beds

• Chicken coop with four feathered friends

• Tree house / bird hide

• Zipwire