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Outdoor Classrooms
Inspirational teaching spaces to encourage learning
Creativity beyond the traditional classroom
Outdoor learning spaces can be hugely liberating for both children and teachers.
A lot of funding is available for schools to help support children and encourage good mental health.
A garden pod can feel less inhibiting than a traditional classroom and can offer a sanctuary that encourages children to open up.
Recent government changes mean that more free childcare is available to working parents.
If you’re running a nursery, you may be under pressure to increase capacity for childcare places. Outdoor classrooms offer an easy way to boost available space.
School projects we’ve worked on
We’re proud to have worked with a number of schools on a variety of inspiring projects already. We’re always keen to hear from new schools and work with them to bring their ideas to life.
See some of our previous creations below.
- Library with an outside canopy for music lessons and putting on plays. We also created a sports equipment storage pod for this school.
- Individual classroom for 1:1 support and a crisis room
- Outside classroom with covered canopy and plantable troughs at the back of the build for sensory learning.
- Staff room with kitchen and toilet plus flexible classroom
- Tuck shop
Bespoke build
We always bring our ethos of a bespoke build to every project and this is very important when designing spaces for children and learning.
We use premium materials to create a build quality you can rely on.
Once you’ve approved the build, our project management team swing into action and will let you know all the touchpoints for the work, from the date the plasterers are coming to the fitting of the electrics.
Outdoor Classroom Benefits
An outdoor classroom has the following benefits:
Nature is a great stimulator, and being outdoors can increase creativity and critical thinking. The connection with nature can foster a sense of appreciation and respect for the environment, and in turn this provides a different perspective on learning, leading to the development of critical thinking skills and a deeper understanding of the world around them.
Fresh air can improve well-being, reduce stress and anxiety, and increase focus and concentration. In fact, a meta-analysis from 2022, titled “A Systematic Review Protocol to Identify the Key Benefits and Efficacy of Nature-Based Learning in Outdoor Educational Settings,” recommended that every child’s school experience should include outdoor learning of some kind.
An outdoor classroom can offer a sheltered spot in wet or windy weather, and a shaded space in hot and sunny weather. This means that outdoor learning can take place whatever the weather.
A dedicated outdoor space can provide more opportunities for hands-on lessons such as art projects, science experiments or music lessons; activities that may not be offered in a more traditional indoor environment, or that you may not have the space for.
When taking part in outdoor adventure education, exploring school gardens, going on field trips, and with classes taught in natural environments, it may be time consuming to keep meeting up indoors to share findings. This is where a SmartSpaces outdoor classroom can really help.
SmartSpaces outdoor classrooms are of permanent construction; they provide a solid space for outdoor lessons without having to leave the school grounds. This in turn gives long term structure to lessons; allowing teachers to plan their outdoor time more easily.
Outdoor classrooms can be used for multiple reasons such as libraries, music lessions, drama classes, a quiet space for child in crisis or counselling session. These are also frequently used for after school activities, wrap around care and school clubs.
It’s not just the students who benefit from outdoor learning, a recent study by an outdoor learning project found that outdoor learning positively impacted teachers’ job satisfaction, teaching quality, health, wellbeing, and happiness.
There are various funding options available for educational facilities for adding an outdoor classroom and SmartSpaces are happy to discuss this further.
Outdoor Classroom Design Features
SmartSpaces have off the shelf builds that you can choose from, or we can build a completely bespoke solution.
Contact us about Outdoor Classrooms
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