Towards the end of 2019 the school took on the lease of 2 allotments which are 5 minutes walk from the school. The plan was to create a green space for the school for outdoor learning and forest school. An amazing group of parents organised themselves into a working party to clear the impenetrable bramble-choked plot.
A few months and a great deal of work later, the space was ready for the children to start regular Forest School sessions. Forest School is a child-centred inspirational learning process, that offers opportunities for holistic growth through regular sessions. It is a programme that supports play, exploration and supported risk taking. All the children at Milford Primary get an opportunity to take part in a number of forest school sessions, led by our forest school teacher, Kate Tuck.
The Green Space, as it soon became known, has continued to develop due to the hard work and dedication of some amazing parent helpers and members of the community. We now have a mud kitchen, raised beds, fruit trees, a compost toilet and a 'stumpy' circle for sitting together. Future plans include the building of a firepit big enough to sit a whole class; a nature area and chickens!
As well as Forest School sessions, the teachers often take their class to the Green Space for outdoor learning in other curriculum areas such as maths and English. We are fully committed to outdoor learning as we see how it engages the children and how they thrive and learn during our outdoor sessions.