A LOCAL school has made the outdoors and nature a special focus of its curriculum this year.
St Colman’s Primary School in Kilkeel has done this through having some of its teachers do Forest School training, participating in a special wildlife programme and running eco-friendly groups for students to get involved in.
St Colman’s had two P2 teachers, Patricia Sayers and Bronagh McGrillan, take part in Forest School training this year with the Northern Ireland Forest School Association (NIFSA).
Forest Schools are a way of teaching children that incorporates nature and outdoor activities into the regular school day as a way to give children a chance to explore and discover more about the world around them.
“We began our Forest School journey at St Colman’s in the autumn term.
“Forest School is an ethos, a way of incorporating nature into lessons and providing children with learning challenges outside the walls of the classroom,” Patricia said.
Patricia said the P2s have been taking part in nature and outdoor-themed activities throughout the schoolyear that has recently ended.
She and Bronagh led a variety of lessons throughout the year with their “eager and enthusiastic” Primary 2 children.
“They planted seeds, made paint with green leaves, explored the wonder of dandelions and made dens to shelter from the rain, to name but a few,” Patricia said.
Although the Forest School focus at St Colman’s this year was in P2, the school has plans for children in other years to take part in more outdoor learning in the future.
“Our plan going forward is to bring all classes on board with this opportunity of learning in a fun, physical, creative and mindful way through Forest School,” Patricia said.
She said that she and Bronagh thought this type of outdoor learning would be a good fit with the P2 classes.
“We saw the potential that Forest Schools had to offer to enhance our teaching and learning and the overall wellbeing and development of our children,” she said.
“Forest Schools can offer an ideal setting for physical, cognitive, emotional and social growth while instilling a love for nature and environmental responsibility.”
She said that the P2 pupils really had fun getting to do more outdoor activities in nature this year.
“Our P2 children absolutely loved Forest Schools this year. For many, it was their favourite time of the week,” Patricia said.
“The activities are designed to be highly inclusive and provided opportunities for all children, regardless of their ability. The outdoor setting can be less intimidating and more welcoming for some children who find the traditional classroom environment challenging. Children just love being outdoors!”
She said that bringing the Forest School learning to St Colman’s was a positive thing.
“Forest School offers a refreshing alternative to the conventional classroom, promoting independence, resilience and adaptability,” she said.
St Colman’s PS has also taken part in the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) Generation Wild outdoor learning programme at Castle Espie in Comber for the past two years.
Generation Wild’s aim is ‘Creating lasting and meaningful connections with nature through storytelling and adventure,’ the WWT website, www.wwt.org.uk, said.
St Colman’s P5 teacher Delia Grant is the teacher leading the school’s participation in the programme.
“Evidence shows that connecting with nature makes children feel happier, increases their self-esteem and improves their behaviour as well as their physical and mental health,” she said, adding that the school wished to thank Castle Espie and WWT for their support in this programme.
The P5 classes got to enjoy a range of activities involving nature as part of this programme.
“The activities we completed included making and hanging a bird feeder, making and hanging a bug hotel, going on a mini beast hunt, dancing in the rain, making an animal with natural materials, we wrote our name with natural materials on the beach, dipped our feet in water, rolled on the grass, met and researched a bird, went bird watching, went cloud spotting, made binoculars, etc,” Delia said.
The outdoor activities were very popular with the P5 children last year and this year.
“They absolutely loved it! They are so conscious of the animals and plants in their environment now. They can easily name many common garden birds and know what they require to live and thrive. They understand the eco systems to which they belong,” Delia said.
“They understand the threats pollution poses to us all and how they can take steps to mitigate that damage. They learn so much more in the hands-on approach encouraged by the Generation Wild programme.”
This is not the only type of nature-themed activities that the P5 students work on at St Colman’s.
“My class also complete a World Around Us topic in Primary 5 called Birds and Flight.
“I realised that unless they got actual hands-on experience with the birds; discussed the environment in which they live and the threats to that environment, it wasn’t really ‘real’ to them.
“When we first took part in Generation Wild last year, we made a natural and relevant switch to outdoors learning – all our WWT World Around Us lessons are conducted outside. The environment can be best understood, appreciated, and learned about when the children are submersed in it,” Delia said.
Some other ways that children at St Colman’s Primary School can get involved with the natural world are with the school’s Eco Committee and Gardening Gang, as well as through other outdoor activities.
“All the children in St. Colman’s benefit from outdoor learning every day as we have made a concerted effort to improve and develop all of the outdoor space on campus. We made this a priority in our school development plan last year,” Delia said.
“Every child in school had the opportunity to learn how to plant and care for flowers and vegetables this term.”
The school has also received an Eco Green Flag, has been recognised as an Eco School and received a School Pollinator grant to help create more outdoor learning spaces for the students.
“It also helped us develop more green and pollinator areas within our school grounds through the purchase and planting of large quantities of pollinator plants and vegetables.
“Our school now has created a pollinator garden, wildflower garden and more outdoor learning spaces through this programme. Our school Garden Gang and Eco Council work together to maintain these areas,” Delia said.