The school grounds can provide a diverse and varied landscape to enrich the formal curriculum within a school. They are an excellent vehicle to enable pupils to develop a range of skills and experiences and to explore a variety and attitudes to the environment. They also provide a convenient resource to enable teachers to extend the lesson outside the classroom whenever appropriate.
Ponds
Ponds sustain a wide variety of wildlife. They are an attractive and fascinating visual aspect of school grounds and in educational terms are a super resource. We hope by watching the development, both annually and by the seasons our children will gain a better understanding of their environment.
Safety
Safety is an important factor where water is concerned. The environmental area is surrounded by high fencing and gated. The pool itself will be fenced within the environmental area and the gate kept locked for additional security. Children's access is strictly limited to organised lesson periods and the gate will be kept locked on all other occasions.
Mini Beasts
Mini beasts and their habitats can be studied in the entire environmental area, as well as the school grounds. The whole area allows for study of several different habitats.
Working with Embercombe
The staff from Chudleigh Primary School worked alongside the staff and volunteers from ‘Embercombe’ to build some raised beds and an outdoor classroom. They also built a large composting bin, benches to sit on and a sensory garden.
Each year group had the opportunity to select one of the raised beds to plant some vegetables, fruits or flowers. It was then their responsibility to ensure that it was kept watered and neat and tidy.
Now the new school year has begun the beds are being dug over ready to plant new seeds and watch lots of things grow!
The next project in the Environment area is focussing on the outdoor classroom. We hope to complete this by putting a roof on it to create some shelter from the weather!