Had a fantastic time last week with the Year 6 pupils at Westwood Community Primary School, working on an amazing outdoor project! Outdoor learning is so important—not just for wellbeing and hands-on education, but also for future skills. This generation will likely be the first to see Artificial Intelligence take over some job roles by the time they enter employment. But I’m hopeful that many more opportunities will open up in environmental fields—renewable energy, ecology restoration, and sustainable industries. Understanding the outdoors will be key!
This project has been running since last year, and we’ve made great progress:
We created allotment beds for growing food
We planted honeysuckle to climb up the outdoor classroom, bringing a sweet scent for to attract pollinators to the allotment beds
I donated a fruit cage to protect strawberries—so the children can enjoy picking their own fruit
We planted a Magnolia tree, chosen by the children to represent their classrooms, which will hopefully bloom in the school colour
There’s so much more planned from a wildflower meadow to a sunflower wall, and it’s brilliant to see the children shaping their outdoor space with their own ideas. Their enthusiasm and hard work make me incredibly hopeful for the future!