Trimdon Grange Infant and Nursery School in County Durham has redeveloped its large outdoor area over time, and after 'some real slow thinking', says head teacher Catherine Worton. The changes made were informed by some key principles and processes. Staff at the school:
- had a clear understanding of their pedagogy and wanted the spaces to reflect and support this, and
- spent time observing how children were interacting with the spaces so that the changes made would accommodate the children's needs and offer opportunities to extend their current interests.
The outdoor area provides access to green spaces, a concrete playground and a small area that has just been developed.
- Elizabeth Jarman is an early years consultant (www.elizabethjarmanltd.co.uk)
'SMALL' OUTDOOR AREA
Nursery staff recently fenced off a small area of the outdoors and added a soft surface so that the children can use the space all year round.
The space aims to encourage multi-sensory exploration, features various points of interest and is presented with such care that the children feel drawn to explore it. Pictured are just some elements of provision within the area, and all are designed to spark children's curiosity, encourage observation and build on their learning.
The pots of herbs, designed to encourage observation, are well presented and positioned in a quiet area, away from the flow of movement, to aid children's focus.
The water feature provides a different experience of water play. Here, the children can pump water, pour it, observe the way it flows and experiment with how best to transport it.
It is a wonderfully open-ended space and positioned in a quiet corner to provide scope for long periods of uninterrupted play and experimentation.
SEATING
To prevent children from feeling overwhelmed by the outdoor space, staff broke up the huge grassy area with a variety of seating. Log chairs, mushroom seats and tractor tyres were placed near 'landmarks' which the children were drawn to.
The seating provides places in which the children can:
- gather and socialise in large and small groups or spend time alone
- observe what is happening - a vantage point is important for less confident children, yet is often overlooked in the design of outdoor areas - and
- feel safe, again essential for children who might feel intimidated by the scale of the outdoor space and the speed of play that such an area can encourage.
BUILDING ON INTERESTS
Effective early years provision depends on practitioners being responsive to children's interests and enhancing their provision in a way that will allow children to 'rerun' and build on their experiences.
These images show how Trimdon staff responded to the children's fascination with construction, an interest triggered by some builders coming to fix the school fence. The staff seized the opportunity to offer a range of related play on different scales, including in the large sand pit, gravel pit and small-world play area.
On offer too was a builder's site office, set up under an open structure in the small outdoor area and stocked with a basic collection of related resources - including laminated floorplans, tool boxes, clipboards, pens, and even a kettle for the tea break! In addition to providing shelter, the structure helps to enclose children's play and so aids concentration.
Together, then, the various areas were able to provide the children with:
- access to play on a scale and in a context that fitted with their current interests and learning needs, and
- opportunities for concentration, sustained shared thinking and a range of interaction.
The areas were developed over a month, and changed in response to staff observations and to accommodate the children's developing needs and interests. And when the children's curiosity inevitably drew them to a new interest, the plainness of the outdoor structure meant that it was able to easily accommodate a new role-play theme.
DISPLAY
The staff team truly values the outdoors, and its commitment to outdoor provision is reflected in the school's photographic displays. The annotated images presented at child height trigger children's memories and conversations about their experiences and learning that have taken place outside.
QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE
To assess the quality of your outdoor area and your practice, walk through your outside space and consider the following questions:
- Are you aware of the places where children gather naturally?
- Which spaces attract them?
- Do you enhance these spaces?
- Do you use seating or screening to manage the flow of play?
- Are there areas where children can play on a grand and small scale?
- Is there enough challenge for children whatever their age?
- Is there time for sustained play outdoors? How can interruptions be minimised?
- Is there space for children to play adventurously?
- Are spaces open-ended?
- Do you have points of interest in your outside environment?
- Can children change and transform the outdoor environment?
- Can children access the materials they need?
- Can children make connections between materials and between areas?
- Do you mind children moving resources around the area?
- Are relevant collections of resources presented attractively to encourage engagement?
- Do you enjoy being outside? Are you really engaged and involved in play outdoors?
- What messages are you sending to the children about how you value the outside as a learning context?
