Outdoor Learning Assistant: Mr. Saull-Hunt
Outdoor Learning Assistant: Mrs. Sinden

At Sedlescombe Church of England Primary School we are very lucky to be surrounded by beautiful woodland and areas of outstanding natural beauty and making use of this to support children’s learning and emotional development is part of our curriculum and ethos. As a result, we give every child the opportunity to experience Natural World Learning Days at least once a term (six times a year) during their time at Sedlescombe Church of England Primary School.

Natural World Learning Days take place once a term from Year 1 onwards and are planned by the class teacher to link to the yearly overview so the experiences link directly to learning in the classroom. The class teacher is supported by our two outdoor learning assistants who bring their wealth of knowledge about the outdoors to the sessions. These sessions not only support the children to learn and become curious about the natural world but they also help to bring aspects of the curriculum to life in a more meaningful way e.g. if you are learning about Andy Goldsworthy and his natural art, it makes more sense for the children to create their own artwork inspired by nature outdoors surrounded by nature. 

We believe that taking the children’s learning outside supports many areas of the children’s learning and personal development. This includes:

• developing minds that are curious about our natural world
• ability to recognise and manage emotions
• developing children’s resilience and independence
• experiencing success and building children’s confidence and self-esteem
• learning to assess and manage risk; becoming more courageous learners
• developing a love and respect for the natural world so our children become future stewards of our natural world
• bringing learning to life and giving hooks and memories that help learning to stick

Through regular Natural World Learning sessions, we aim to bring the children’s learning to life whilst supporting their emotional well-being and developing, what we hope, will be a life-long appreciation and curiosity for our beautiful natural world.