We are very proud to announce that we have been awarded the Learning Outside the Classroom Silver award in recognition of the school’s commitment to providing our children with an enhanced and enriched curriculum.

“Chalfont St Giles Infant school is a wonderful place for young children to feel safe and happy as they learn. Pupil wellbeing is the overriding concern, and this lends itself very well to healthy learning behaviours and good relationships between pupils as well as between pupils and teachers.” LOtC assessment summary

“Chalfont St Giles Junior School provides a supportive and nurturing environment to its pupils with a strong focus on children’s wellbeing. Pupils are encouraged and supported to take responsibility for their own learning and wellbeing and to support their peers which creates a wonderful positive environment.”  LOtC assessment summary

There are numerous benefits to Learning Outside the Classroom for all our children and work that takes place outside of the classroom can provide a very powerful means of developing learning in all curriculum areas, and thus can raise attainment. We are proud to be able to offer real life learning opportunities and to have such a dedicated team of staff who are committed to the development of the children.

Learning Outside the Classroom

Our LOtC mission statement:

At Chalfont St Giles Village School Learning Outside the Classroom contributes to the development of the whole child. It is our mission to encourage our children to:-

• Explore outside and make connections with all aspects of their learning
• Ask and answer questions of both the built and natural world and reach their own conclusions
• Show care and respect for all things
• Be inspired and motivated by the wonder of our world

Benefits

We believe that Learning Outside the Classroom can supplement and enrich the curriculum of our school by providing experiences which would otherwise be impossible.

All Learning Outside the Classroom experiences serve an educational purpose, enhancing and enriching our children’s learning. Real-world learning brings the benefits of formal and informal education together and reinforces meaningful learning through acquiring knowledge and skills through real-life, practical or hands-on activities.

There are numerous benefits to Learning Outside the Classroom for all our children, including those with Special Educational Needs, such as:

• Consolidating learning through real life, practical activities
• Aiding transition to new places and situations
• Increasing motivation and willingness to learn
• Developing confidence and self-awareness
• Developing social and communication skills
• Meeting different challenges and becoming more independent
• Demonstrating achievement – through awards, displays and presentations

Work that takes place outside of the classroom can provide a very powerful means of developing learning in all curriculum areas, and thus can raise attainment.

Curriculum links

All Learning Outside the Classroom activities take place during curriculum time. This includes our:

• Weekly Forest School sessions for EYFS and Year 1
• Working with music, art and sporting professionals, both on and off-site
• Maintaining and developing close working links within the local community e.g. our parish church, shops, community library
• Working in collaboration with local schools, as part of the LOtC network
• Providing the opportunities for termly trips to support and enhance in-school learning
• Annual residential trips

We believe that learning outside the classroom often provides the most memorable learning experiences, providing children with greater independence, physical competence and developing their language and understanding of the world in which we live. Whilst learning outside the classroom children develop their social and leadership skills and demonstrate more involvement in their learning, this in turn has a great impact on attainment and progress across the curriculum. If you would like to know more about our approach to learning outside the classroom please click on the following links.

Outdoor learning is embedded in our quality teaching approach, which includes using positive learning strategies to build resilient learners. To find out more about our approach to learning please click on the following links.

We feel that our school uses the outdoor opportunities available to us fully and successfully to provide a range of exciting learning experiences for all of our pupils. Learning outside the classroom is thoughtfully planned to ensure it is progressive and continuous, ensuring children have high quality learning opportunities and are motivated and challenged.

Thanks to the dedication and support of our school community, we have a wide range of outdoor areas available to us, including our Environmental Areas, allotments, ponds, wild flower areas and our Only One You garden at the Junior School.

All of our outdoor areas will be supported by the pupils in our school and the Eco Warriors who will be helping to plant and maintain our garden grounds and ensuring effective and thoughtful use of all our outdoor areas.

Our staff ensure that children have access to a curriculum that takes full advantage of our outdoor areas, planning for differentiated outdoor learning in a range of subjects and ensuring that the children’s learning is enhanced through outdoor experiences.

If you have a love of gardening or a particular ‘outdoor’ skill that you feel we might benefit from, please do contact us as we would love to hear from you!