Winston's Wish Wear Wellies Day
Two weeks ago, pupils, parents and staff were invited to pull their wellies on in support of Winston's Wish, and with the wet weather we had been having, no one had to think twice!
Winston's Wish is a Cheltenham based charity that supports bereaved children across the UK. Unlike adults, who stay with their grief, children often jump in and out of their grief, described as ‘puddle jumping’. Conversations can allow children to express their emotions; be it sadness, anger, joy or fear. By opening up these important conversations about death, children who are grieving can ‘puddle jump’ while understanding their mixed emotions.
There has been a lot of press coverage recently about how schools support bereaved children. The charity recently conducted a study by researchers at Cambridge University and found a random approach among schools, with children receiving only little or no help at all following bereavement. The full article can be viewed by clicking here. There are families within the Oakridge community who have felt the full support of Winston's Wish and so it was a wonderful opportunity to share in this positive fundraising effort for them and all children affected by grief.
The activities for the day couldn't have been more appropriate: the whole school enjoyed a trip to the allotment. Years 3 and 4 spent the morning putting their maths skills to good use; working out the spacing between tomato plants. Measurement is a statutory topic within the year 3 and 4 programmes of study and it was brilliant to see it being implemented so effectively through outdoor learning.
The children also measured the perimeters of various objects, which again, is another statutory topic within the curriculum. Tractor tyre planters proved particularly challenging given their large girth!
The shed was another useful object that the children enjoyed working out the perimeter of…
…whereas the pond proved a little more tricky!
Once the children had finished their math’s work, they enjoyed digging up potatoes, which they took back to the classroom and made soup from.
Learning about healthy lifestyles and understanding the importance of nutrition are topics that fall within the science and DT curriculums. It really was quite staggering that so many subjects could be covered in just a single day. Big thanks to the local parish council for allowing the school to acquire a plot on the community allotment site, without which the children wouldn't have many of the cross curricular learning opportunities that they now enjoy.
The morning session culminated with break spent on the playing field, adjacent to the school allotment. Fresh air, beautiful views and the gorgeous Cotswold countryside abound; our children are extremely fortunate to be able to grow up in such idyllic surroundings.
After lunch, all year groups took part in a scarecrow building exercise, and what a wonderful couple of hours it was! The children broke down into small groups and began by rummaging through all the old clothes that had been generously donated, picking out suitable attire for their scarecrows.
Next, they grabbed handfuls of straw and furiously stuffed arms, legs, heads and torsos with as much as they could feasibly fit! The children had so much enthusiasm and energy, it was delightful to watch.
There was a great sense of satisfaction when the first scarecrow was finished!
Outdoor learning promotes positive thinking, encourages conversation and draws on real life problem solving. It allows the children to engage with each other in a free flowing environment, where laughs abound and the normal constraints of the classroom are overruled. Just look at all these smiles.
It’s no wonder doctors in Dursley, Stroud, are prescribing ‘gardening on prescription’ to alleviate physical and mental health problems, as well as helping with obesity, lack of exercise, healthy eating, stress, anxiety and social isolation. It’s a ground breaking project and the first of its kind in the UK. The venture was begun three years ago by Down to Earth, a local community organisation that supports people in growing and harvesting their own fruit and vegetables. They are an inspiring bunch of people, who have given much support to Oakridge School’s own allotment project.
There are clear benefits to being outdoors in the fresh air, but not all children are fortunate enough to have access to such important learning opportunties. With the right funding and guidance, there is hope that an allotment or school gardening scheme can be rolled out to schools across the area therefore creating rich, environmental awareness among children, helping to create healthy, positive minds. There is great determination to bring individual schools together, under one framework, to create a network of green fingered, enthusiastic learners who, using a template of measurable, provable and tangible learning methods and targets, are taught about the importance of looking after their planet and all living things on it.
What outdoor learning has proven time and time again is that there are endless opportunities for cross curriculum learning that the boundaries of a classroom just cannot match. In the picture below, and using just a single piece of straw, a TA gives an impromptu lesson in 2-D shapes to one of the children due to start reception in September. It was a small moment but one that may well stick in that little girl’s head for a long time.
Mental health and emotional well being are at the fore front of everything that Oakridge School strives for. It's quite remarkable that all this took place on a day when the school was fundraising for the very charity that demands this type of support for children. It was an incredibly uplifting, positive and rewarding experience for all those involved.
The finished scarecrows are true creations of the children’s imaginations: bright, daring, dazzling and slightly crazy! They may well scare off not just the birds, but the other allotment holders too!
From the ones with the slightly crooked heads…
…to the baby faced ones…
…they all encapsulate a quality so inherent to children: fun, and it is that sense of playfulness that Oakridge School nurtures. There’s not much joy to be found within the limitations of the current national curriculum, so the efforts that individual schools go to, to bring life to the children’s learning go a long way in creating positive experiences that they will remember for the rest of their lives.