The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom has recently published an interesting study into outdoor learning for 9-11 year-olds. It is clear about the benefits:
Pupils and teachers noticed improvements in pupils’ engagement with learning, concentration and behaviour, as well as positive impacts on health and wellbeing and teachers’ job satisfaction.
but also acknowledges the barriers to its wider implementation.
One of the grants made earlier this year was to Morecambe Bay Partnership for a project teaching local primary school children about the fishing history and ecology of the bay. Visits to Sunderland Point have already taken place, with further visits planned in September. Schools involved are West End Primary Morecambe, Ridge Primary Lancaster, Ryelands Lancaster and St Mary’s Catholic Primary Morecambe.
After the visit to Sunderland Bay, the pupils work with About Time Dance Company to create a dance based on what they have learned about fish and the sea.
The trustees met recently to consider the latest applications, and they agreed on the following grants:
A group of 8-10-year-olds from Lancaster Boys & Girls Club visited Beacon Fell over the half-term and, despite the rain, managed to have a good time.
The Areti Trust has made last-minute grants to help pupils from St Patrick’s Primary in Heysham and St Joseph’s Primary in Lancaster visit Leighton Moss nature reserve for the day.
The Areti Trust made a grant last week to enable children from Skerton St Luke’s CE Primary School to visit Leighton Moss nature reserve in May.
One of the activities funded by the Areti Charitable Trust was a day of caving for Lancaster Boys & Girls Club. Over the February half-term they visited Ormside Mill in the Yorkshire Dales and – kitted out in the appropriate gear – went to Thistle and Runscar Caves near the Ribblehead Viaduct and then to the Great Douk Cave.
