At Palfrey Infants we deliver Outdoor Learning sessions to Nursery and Reception children. We are very lucky to have a small forest area enabling our children to have real life experiences in the outdoors. We also have an outdoor classroom enabling us to take whole classes out at the same time, having a group working inside and a group working outdoors, offering the children experiences throughout the year. Every session is risk assessed before delivery and sessions are cancelled if the weather is excessively cold, windy or hot. The outdoor learning space and classroom is also used throughout the year by Year 1 and Year 2.

At Palfrey Infants we provide outdoor clothing and equipment for the children. This includes all-weather suits for both summer and winter, winter and summer hats, gloves and wellington boots.

The Purpose and Aims of Outdoor Learning

• To provide children with experiences that encourage an appreciation, awareness and knowledge of the natural environment.
• To learn to respect and care for our local environment.
• To abide by rules and set standards of behaviour, to work cooperatively in groups and to respect each other.
• To develop children’s self-esteem, self-confidence and communication skills through setting small achievable tasks.

We provide these opportunities through many different activities and tasks throughout the year. The children also have their snack time in the forest, having the opportunity to have milk, water and fruit. On colder days the children have warm milk and chocolate drinks.  

All lessons are linked to the curriculum, enabling children to build on or enhance their knowledge.