Making the Most of your Outside Space

 

This section of the website shows some ways you, and your class, can make use of any outside space you may have.

 

Lots of the teachers we visited said that they have no green space, only concrete areas, so we’ve listed some websites which show some quick, easy and cheap ways to make the most of any space you have. Further examples can be found in the EIGS Guide booklet which can be downloaded from the EIGS Guide tab on the menu above. Examples of these include using old tyres to make planters, which can be planted with pollinator friendly plants to attract bees- follow this link for the RHS Perfect for Pollinators Plant List.

 

Some teachers also mentioned that they didn’t know how to identify the plants around their school grounds, so that’s why we’ve included the teachers ID guide, which can be found in the resources section.

 

To transform your school grounds to a biodiversity friendly area, you don’t have to spend vast amounts of money. Many day to day items can be recycled into objects which will help wildlife enter your school grounds.

 

 

For instance:

 

• Old plastic bottles can be turned into bird feeders- see here.
• Bird cakes, to attract birds to your grounds can be made here.
• Mini beast hotels are really easy to make and the internet has hundreds of examples of different ways to create them, here is a link to Buglife, who have lots of resources for creating bug friendly school grounds, as well as teaching resources.

 

For More Large Scale Projects:

 

• Learning through Landscapes is a Hampshire based project which has some amazing resources on its website about transforming outside spaces and also funding which schools can apply for to do so! Find out more here.
• Here’s a link from The Guardian about some basic things which could be considered- 5 easy ways urban schools can experiment with outdoor learning.
• This links to some other important benefit which can come from learning outside the classroom- Learning Outside the Classroom (LOTC).

 

Case Study: Bassett Green Primary School

 

 

Basset Green Primary School in Southampton have done a fantastic job of making the most of their school grounds. Here’s a few things they have got up to!

 

Here at Bassett Green we try and use our green areas by planting seasonal fruit/veg. We have recently planted trees that were kindly donated by Woodland Trust. As well as this we’ve got six wooden planters that contain a variety of shrubs, and we also plant bulbs in them.

 

We have a concrete pond with a variety of wildlife, Eco’s (The Eco-club they run for their pupils) built a bug hotel, and in the near future, we intend to plant wild flowers to encourage butterflies and bees. We’re also thinking about making hedgehog houses.

 

The school composts all of our fruit/veg scraps then transfer onto our plant beds. Year 5 have been working with the Country Trust and have created a wonderful green space, in which they have grown various vegetables, which are later sold at school.