Outdoor Enrichment
Throughout the academic year we are going to ensure that each year group in school has the opportunity to go on outdoor enrichment experiences. Children living in Cumbria should have the opportunity to learn about the natural environment they live in. We believe that it is important that we take advantage of the stunningly beautiful and naturally diverse county of which Wreay is a part.
Stocks Wood Outdoor Centre
Every half term, our Reception and Key Stage 1 pupils enjoy a morning of curriculum enrichment at Stocks Wood Outdoor Centre. The fabulous teaching team there work collaboratively with our teachers to plan bespoke forest school sessions for our pupils. our children have the opportunity there to take part in a whole host of exciting activities there e.g. exploring the woodlands and the outdoor, interactive activities they have set up there; learning about mini beasts, woodland wildlife and their habitats; taking part in woodland arts and crafts workshops - all aimed at enhancing the learning they have done, at school, outside the classroom. Our pupils have lots of fun together during these sessions and enjoy taking part in a whole host of outdoor games, team and resilience building activities such as: den building, bush craft, toasting marshmallows and learning what fun the great outdoors can be together.
There's always a buzz of excitement in school when it's Stocks Wood day and children and staff always return to school with lots of great stories about the fun times they've enjoyed together and with everyone looking forward, with great anticipation, for their next visit.
Castlerigg Stone Circle
The Year 3 and 4 class went on their trip to Keswick Museum and Castlerigg Stone Circle near Keswick. They considered how the land around them may have been altered by humans, considered the importance of Herdwick sheep and did some fell spotting. This location was also chosen because the class had been studying the site as part of geographical map work, and in history as it linked well with their neolithic settlement topic.
Year 3 and 4 Overnight Camp
During their time in Year 3 and 4 our pupils enjoy an exciting evening together, camping out on our own school meadow. The Wilderness Company, come to our school meadow with their equipment and experts and set up tents and outdoor activities for our younger juniors to experience their first overnight adventure in the familiar setting of our own school grounds. Everyone enjoys an evening of fun, bush craft and team games, followed by a barbeque and sing song around the camp fire together before bedtime. The camping experience finishes with a lovely morning breakfast together as a class.
Year 5 and 6 Residential
During the two years our pupils are in Year 5 and 6 they get to experience both a three day outdoor, adventurous activity residential and a cultural enrichment three day city residential experience too. Last school year our pupils visited Lockerbie Manor Adventure for their exciting outdoor team and resilience building outdoor experience. This school year we are off to the city of York for three days of cultural, curriculum enrichment.
The Blencathra Field Centre
Our Year 5 and 6 also visit the Blencathra Fiend Centre, in Threlkeld, for an exciting day in the outdoors, exploring the local area using maps and compass skills. The children discover the impact of people on the habitat using a range of fieldwork techniques. The Blencathra Centre occupies a dramatic setting at 300m on a south facing slope of Blencathra in the Lake District National Park and offers an unparalleled panorama across the Keswick, Helvellyn and Skidaw areas. All sessions are led by experienced instructors with specialist knowledge and expertise.
This school field trip is aimed at:
- Providing our pupils with a geography curriculum, enrichment opportunity and igniting their
enthusiasm for the subject; - Increasing our pupils’ interaction with nature, building their confidence and resilience through
activities and challenges; - Encouraging skills in communication and co-operation, with fun teambuilding games;
- Introducing measured risk taking to encourage independent thinking;
- Supporting our pupils’ wellbeing through connection to nature.
OPAL Play
At Wreay Church of England Primary School we are committed to ensuring quality play opportunities are available to all our children. Play is an integral part of the school day and, on average, takes up 20% of a child’s time in school: around 1.4 years of their primary school life!
We are working with OPAL to provide amazing opportunities for play for all of our children. OPAL is mentor supported school improvement programme that addresses all 18 areas that a school must plan for, if they want to sustainably improve the quality of play.
"OPAL is one of the most impactful transformations on children's lives that we've seen in the UK in the last 10 years - not just in schools, not just in education but just as a way of making a positive difference in children's lives...I'm in awe actually." Tim Gill former Director of Play England
In our school, we recognise play as a way for children to explore and connect with the world around them. Therefore, we feel it is our duty to ensure our site, staff and skills optimise the most fulfilling and rich play opportunities possible during breaktimes and lunchtimes. In doing so, we aim to highlight the interconnection between play, learning, development, health and happiness.
Many of our best childhood memories are from playing outdoors and exploring the wide world around us. OPAL creates the opportunity for our children to develop those memories too. OPAL is all about using natural and man made resources to allow children to become inspired and creative at playtime.
There are many proven benefits for schools which carry out the OPAL Programme. These include: greater enjoyment of school; less teaching time lost to disputes between children; fewer accidents and greatly improved behaviour. Not only this, but research tells us that children who play outdoors move more, sleep more, eat better, are happier and even care about the planet more.
To find out more about OPAL click on the following link:
To watch videos of what an OPAL Playtime could look like click on the following link:
To find out more about a child's right to play, click here.
What does this mean for us?
- Happier children
- Children coming into class ready to learn
- A fully inclusive playtime offer
- It allows children an opportunity to be creative and make decisions
- Children develop independence and resilience skills
- Increased social skills
- …. and most importantly fun!
Future plans…….
All the staff look forward to planning outdoor enrichment experiences for our pupils each academic year. If anybody would like to speak to staff about the enrichment trips that we have already been on, our plans for future trips, or if you have any ideas about places we could visit then, we would be delighted to talk to you.
