Chesham Bois CE Combined School, Buckinghamshire

Working with a landscape architect, this school undertook a student-led experimental approach to school grounds design.

Photo by A&M Photography Ltd

Linking with a range of curriculum subjects the whole school become involved in redesigning their outside space. The aim was to create an inspiring play environment, as well as better provision for learning outside the classroom.

Pupils participated in a ‘Design for Real’ week, and were required to find solutions to how the school grounds could be improved and transformed, eventually presenting their findings to the whole school community. Pupils worked with large scale props on site (such as tyres, tubes and crates) to arrange and test out configurations for the school ground.

Some of the children’s ideas have been implemented as a result and others will be incorporated in future plans. Staff and parents have also been inspired by this project, as the headteacher reports, ‘Staff appreciate how much more scope there is for using the outdoors in the daily curriculum. This project has led to staff considering opportunities for child initiated and child led learning opportunities in curriculum time.’