Beyond The Classroom
At Lyonsdown, learning beyond the classroom refers to the wealth of opportunities we offer the children to enrich their learning. This includes extra-curricular activities, trips, sports, visiting speakers and Outdoor Learning including Forest School. We are determined to make the most of the space we have here within our grounds, take full advantage of the wide variety of facilities offered by The Mill Hill Education Group as well as utilising local amenities available to us in our community.
To enrich our curriculum our outdoor space includes:
• An Early Years Forest School site
• Loose Parts Play for all ages
• A large climbing area for all ages to develop their motor skills
• A natural Early Years Play Space
• A wildlife pond
Forest School
Forest School has been introduced as part of our curriculum to all ages. In Early Years the children have sessions on site every week led by a qualified Forest School Leader. In KS1 and KS2 the girls have termly sessions at Belmont, Mill Hill Preparatory School led by a qualified Forest School leader.
Activities include whittling, using palm drills, sawing, den building and all sorts of creativity using the natural resources around us. Occasionally we will also have a fire, this is an opportunity to teach the girls skills around building fires and fire safety.
Early Years Outdoor Learning Area
The Early Years Outdoor Learning Area is a creative, organic and enticing space where children can explore and develop skills independently. The space is zoned to include den building, loose parts, water channels, a mud kitchen and a creative area. The different materials on the ground mean that children have to balance, jump, and hop from one place to another, adding gross motor development whilst they play. Collaboration, creativity and resilience are all key skills children naturally develop when using this space under the guidance of our Early Years team.
Loose Parts Play
Loose Parts Play has primarily been introduced to enhance the Play at break and lunch times. With huge benefits for all girls as they work collaboratively across age groups to make imaginative structures and incorporate them in their play. It is also used to enhance parts of the curriculum as we look at uses for Science experiments, large-scale art projects and more.
Wildlife Pond
The Wildlife Pond is a calming space where children can come in whole or split classes for a variety of activities. These include, mindfulness, scientific observations and storytelling. The girls enjoy volunteering to come and look after the space giving them ownership and are often seen ‘frog spotting’ from the playground at lunch and playtime.
