Learning Outside the Classroom
Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) at Yeading Infants features a fantastic wealth of activities that support our ethos of lifelong learning. Learning does not need to be confined just to the classroom, and we have a rich variety of resources at Yeading to support children in learning and developing holistically wherever they are in the school. At Yeading we have always believed that learning happens everywhere, so it is important to ensure lots of opportunities for this learning to take place are supported and planned for. The benefits for children are phenomenal. Children gain knowledge and apply skills to make them more independent. This further supports our teaching of the 5Rs
- Reasoning
- Resilience
- Resourcefulness
- Responsibility
- Reflectivity
Forest School
Forest School offers children a hands-on approach to learning about the environment through music, stories, and practical activities. It emphasises safety while fostering confidence and self-esteem through play and outdoor education.
The children at Forest School learn through cross-curricular connections and set achievable goals for themselves. They develop respect for nature and each other, promoting holistic growth. Parents sometimes join in, adding to the enjoyment. Activities like creating mud faces, splashing in puddles, water experiments, and building dens are particularly enjoyed by the children.
At Forest School, children wear waterproof gear, rain or shine. They start by singing a song about the weather and learn safety rules. Then, they explore the garden, learning new things and making stuff. Finally, they talk about what they learnt and what they want to learn next. One fun activity is making photo frames from sticks and string, where they learn skills like whittling and knot tying.
YINS Café
Yin's Café at Yeading Infant School offers young children an outdoor play structure designed to introduce them to everyday activities and social situations they'll encounter as they grow. Open weekly, children use the school's currency, YINS money, earned for positive achievements, to purchase items. This outdoor facility has proven highly successful, providing a sheltered space for role-playing and teaching basic business, cooking, social, mathematical, and real-life skills.
Theme week
During our themed week at school, outdoor learning played a big role. For Number Day, children baked number biscuits to sell at the YINS Cafe, tying in with maths. In Writing Week, themed around aliens, students went on an adventure, discovering "alien invasions" with broken spaceships and stray aliens around the school. They unleashed their creativity by writing letters, poems, and warning posters. Poems were even shared aloud in the gazebo, adding to the fun and excitement. In PSHE, they focused on road safety, practising how to cross the road using cones and signs set up in the playground. These hands-on activities enriched their learning experience and reinforced important real-life skills.
Other outdoor opportunities
In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), we provide a range of writing tools for outdoor use, including blackboards, chalks, water buckets, paintbrushes, sand, paint, clipboards, pencils, whiteboards, and markers. Children draw inspiration from our 'Discovery Garden' for their writing, incorporating natural materials they find into their stories and creative endeavours. This hands-on approach encourages imagination and exploration while fostering literacy skills in an outdoor setting. Children at Yeading Infant also enjoy various trips to places like the church, library, and park.
Cob oven
At Yeading Infant, we have a cob oven where children design and then construct a cob oven right at school. This oven isn't just for show; it's intended for making delicious pizzas and other tasty treats. It's a hands-on learning experience that combines design skills with practical construction, culminating in a functional and enjoyable addition to our school environment.
