A Sheltered Base for Forest School Activities
As a school who truly value the benefits forest school activities bring to their children, Storth CE Primary School, in Cumbria, wanted to create a covered space in their extensive grounds to provide a base for outdoor activities.
Tom Benson, our outdoor-enthusiast playground consultant, worked alongside this outdoor-driven school to design the most practical, multi-purpose environment possible!
The Practicable Outdoor Classroom
We installed a 6m Octagonal Gazebo complete with:
- A decked base to create a mud-free zone
- Clad and glazed sides to ensure the unpredictable elements won’t disrupt learning
- Plenty of comfortable seating in the form of internal benches
- A whiteboard to enhance outdoor lessons
- A green, water-tight roof to match the school’s colours
This practical space ensures children from nursery all the way up to Year 6 can learn amongst nature as they sit on the integrated benches, with each child being able to clearly see the information displayed on the whiteboard.
Presenting information to the children in a space where they can relax in before and after forest school is beneficial to their learning and wellbeing. The area also provides teachers with an area to gather their pupils as they quietly listen to their instructions.
Afterwards, the children can unwind once their session has finished to discuss all of the exciting activities they have enjoyed in the session.
There’s no heading back with muddy shoes into the classroom to fetch bags, coats and other belongings throughout the day as they are easily tucked under the benches out of the way, too!
The school have even set up little tables in the gazebo to collect all of the children’s intriguing findings as they take science lessons one step further!
On the day Tom went back to the school to hear all about the fabulous activities the classroom had facilitated, it was nurseries turn for forest school! They were fascinated by the pinecones and feathers they had found in the great outdoors, stimulating fantastic conversation!
If you would like to create a purposeful, practical Outdoor Classroom to create a practical base for your forest school lessons, please feel free to Contact Us. We’d love to transform your exciting ideas into a reality! You can also explore all of the fabulous playground developments we’ve completed in Cumbria on our dedicated Cumbria Page Here.
