Schools & settings
Making more of primary school grounds
Children at primary school can spend up to 25% of their day in the school grounds, and how the outdoors is designed and maintained will affect how they feel about their school, as well as what opportunities they have for play and learning.
Playtimes are a vital element of children's physical, social and emotional development, and every teacher knows the potentially harmful effects of playtime on the lessons which follow. Making playtime a positive experience for all pupils should therefore be a priority for every school.
The design of the grounds can have a big impact on children's play: dull grounds with nothing to do and little to stimulate children's imaginations can lead to aggressive and unsociable behaviour whilst grounds with a variety of features and spaces can support positive play.
Sometimes children will want to be active whilst at others times they will want to sit quietly and talk with their friends. Sometimes they will want to be taught new games or take part in structured activities whilst at other times they will want to use their own imaginations to come up with their own ideas. Having spaces with different features can allow for play that stimulates the imagination, extends creativity, encourages activity and develops social skills.
Children learn in different ways. Some learn best through seeing or hearing but many, particularly boys and some pupils with special needs, learn best through doing. The outdoors can have several advantages for practical learning – there's more space; noise and mess are often seen as less serious issues; and children can try out many real activities. Outdoor education is often assumed to mean some form of school trip – however, there's one context for outdoor learning that can be used at short notice, for any subject and for little or no cost – the school grounds.
Although any school grounds can offer space and opportunities not available indoors, many schools have developed their grounds to provide specific features. An outdoor classroom – with seating and, ideally, shade and shelter – provides an area to gather together a class, making lesson management outdoors easier. Environmental features can be developed to provide fieldwork opportunities for Science and Geography. The grounds can also be a showcase for pupil artwork – murals, mosaics and sculptures enhance the environment at the same time as stating the school's pride in its pupils' achievements.