Enabling Environments: Outdoors - Only natural

For Beautiful Beginnings Day Nursery, set in the 50 acres of parks and gardens of Scarisbrick Hall School in West Lancashire, the natural environment has always been an important feature of day-to-day life. Now, a new outdoor development has increased opportunities for play and learning - with a particular focus on supporting the children's understanding of, and respect for, the world around them.

Over the past seven months, the setting has been working on an outdoor exploration area, made up of dense woodland and a 'Jungle Forest' clearing. It caters to all ages, from birth upwards.

Perhaps surprisingly, the idea for the development was sparked by the discovery of a caterpillar in the grounds. Early years manager Liz Fortune-Price explains, 'A child found a caterpillar and we started developing a mind map around it - how we would look after it, what it was going to eat and where it was going to sleep.

'Suddenly, it dawned on us that a big part of our role is to teach these children the importance of stepping over a caterpillar rather than stepping on it. Understanding nature provides the children with empathy on all levels - not just with caterpillars but with birds, foxes, badgers, geese, other children, their friends, their teachers and their wider family.'

PLAYTIME

The 180-place nursery previously had extensive garden and woodland areas for both the under-threes and the over-threes, but the new development has been carefully planned to offer a wider range of experiences for all. To ensure its effectiveness, the children were encouraged to help shape the space.

'It's been lovely to take them out at every stage and ask them what they would like to see and do,' says Ms Fortune-Price. 'A lot of the ideas came from there. We listened to what they wanted and how they might use the environment and we offer experiences that supplement that.'

This has resulted in a varied and exciting outdoor area that feeds both imaginative and physical learning. Features include:

• Fairy glen Wind chimes, mossy areas on rocks and natural wooden fairies create a mythical atmosphere. The children are currently foraging in the outdoor environment to find materials to make fairy houses.
• Base camp A big square area is lined with logs, and four other logs inside this make a fire pit at the heart of a campfire set-up. Children have used it to make their own dough and barbecue marshmallows.
• Magical bridge Trolls live on the bridge and won't let the children pass unless they have a magic word. However, the narrative of this area could change at any time with the prompting of staff or children. Fake grass underneath offers a space for babies to crawl.
• Mud kitchen Pots and pans, a hob, an oven, a pestle and mortar and a sink with running water give the children everything they need for role playing with mud pies.

The setting also has a pirate ship - made from mounds of earth for the hull and a tree for the flagpole - plans for a treehouse, and is working towards introducing a stream.

LEARNING FROM THE LAND

The nursery is part of Scarisbrick Hall School, one of the leading independent schools in the region. 'The academic side is important to our pre-school children, so we make sure there are opportunities to develop numeracy and literacy skills,' says Ms Fortune-Price. 'We can teach the whole curriculum out there.'

However, the environment is flexible enough to be exactly what the children want it to be. The basic earth-and-tree structure of the pirate ship is an example of this. The staff will always begin with an objective, but if the children go off on a tangent then the adults will follow their lead and offer support where it is needed.

Children have been enjoying getting on their knees and foraging for items, and the mud pie kitchen has proved to be particularly popular. The younger children have been heading off on Gruffalo hunts and searching for Jack and the beanstalk in untouched woodland. A woodpecker and a gaggle of geese have both been visiting regularly, allowing the children to get an idea of their habits.

While there has inevitably been much excitement, the setting has also witnessed a more surprising outcome. The environment seems to guide some children who are normally quite restless to focus better on particular tasks - something that Ms Fortune-Price believes is due to the lack of distractions, such as bright colours and toys, that you might find in the interior of a nursery.

MAKING THE MOST OF IT

The value of taking time to absorb the sights and sounds of the natural world is something that has worked its way into the training of staff. The setting has been running weekend training sessions to look at the health and developmental benefits of the area, offer fun ideas for activities, and teach practitioners to consider the natural environment as a blank canvas for play and learning.

'Some people have said "we need this and that", but everything we need is out there,' says Ms Fortune-Price.

In addition, there are plans to send a member of staff away to get a Level 4 Forest School qualification, so that they can then teach the rest of the staff the Levels 1, 2 and 3 Forest School qualifications.

The nursery has also lined up an event for parents, to illustrate what is being provided. That way, if children go home with a nettle sting or a graze on their knee, parents can understand how this balances with the benefits to education and well-being.

It is early days, but the nursery is already confident that it has something special. From the way some children have developed an ability to focus to the wide array of animals on the doorstep, there are opportunities for growth here.

Nursery reports show that the children are already beginning to exhibit greater amounts of empathy. Like the setting, they are learning to take their cues from nature.

MORE INFORMATION

www.beautifulbeginningsdaynursery.co.uk

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