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Imagine that you went out to the
playground and as well as all the usual things, you could choose between
playing a game of chess on the life-sized chess board, acting pirates on the
willow boat, making a play on the stage, or sitting quietly in the warm
greenhouse reading a book!
Imagine that when you did science your class went outside and did a minibeast hunt
around the vegetable garden, or went pond dipping in the school's reed bed
system. Imagine learning about food systems by growing your own fruit and
vegetables! |
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What's a sustainable playground?
When a sustainable playground is developed the environment is kept
in mind throughout the whole process as well as all the things you would love to
have.
It can be stimulating, exciting and restful.
It can have sheltered spots for reading, clear areas for playing
and wild parts for wildlife.
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It
could have exciting games built into it, and stages to play on. It could have growing sections for your school garden, you could
use them in science classes!
There could be a weather station for geography and science work or
an archaeological dig for history.
It
could have a recycling point for your rubbish and a grey water system to save
water. There might even be a greenhouse for sitting or learning in and old log
piles for minibeasts to live in.
Crazy
and colourful in some parts, calm and contained in others, a sustainable
playground can be the things you imagine you'd like in your playground. It is a
place that you can learn about, get excited about and care about. It is where
you can protect living things. |
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Lots of schools are starting to develop their school grounds and everybody
benefits, particularly if the whole school and community is involved in the
planning and the doing of the project.
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| The more people involved, the better. |
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You can do this as a school and you can get help from a landscape
designer, local artist and other professionals who will help you to develop
the ideas and solve the problems.
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It's also good to involve parents, governors and all the school
staff in the process. They might have good ideas, valuable skills and can often
offer practical help and aid with fundraising. |
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Schools often find that an interesting playground, developed by
everyone, can also help prevent bullying and deter vandals.
One
of the great things about developing your school grounds is being able to make
outdoor classrooms! People are becoming more and more aware that we learn in
different ways. Some people learn best when they see things - like posters, or
writing in their text books. Other people learn more easily from what they hear,
so setting information to music (remember the alphabet song?) may help them. |
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And then there are people who learn the best when they can move
about, perhaps demonstrating, acting or doodling.
Outdoor classrooms make it so much easier to introduce sounds,
smells and touch, and allow more room and opportunity to those people who like
to be active while they learn and interact with their surroundings.
So if you would like to:
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Dig in the ground in science class
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Examine a living leaf under a microscope |
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Survey the pond life in your school pond |
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Make a mosaic for your playground in art class |
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Make a map of the school grounds in geography |
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If you would like to make an interesting blind trail in PHSE, |
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Act out a play in English |
Together you may start the process to design your own...
The Alternative Technology Centre employs a landscape architect,
Susy Feltham, who is experienced in working with schools, helping them to
develop their grounds. Working with EVERYONE at the school she can design your
new grounds in such a way that, by easy stages, the playground can change and
grow into a collective and valuable resource for the school.
Learning Through Landscapes have some useful resources, covering a
range of subjects for KS1 and 2, Arts, English, Geography and Science, as well
as History, PHSE, PE and Maths, all in the school grounds. They also have
publications about developing school grounds, particularly in urban areas. The
SUSchool library has a copy of most of these and of course you can order copies
through the Green Shop at the Alternative Technology Centre at any time.
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If you want more information about
Then come on further into our web site
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