On location

Developing the outdoor curriculum has long been a core component of Buckinghamshire's EYDC Service Training Guide. As local early years practitioners became more confident with the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage they started to examine the possibilities of extending their provision outdoors.

Courses led by education consultant Margaret Edgington encouraged those attending to take up the challenge of developing a car park or playground.

Meanwhile, a conference organised with Learning Through Landscapes, with keynote speeches by Ms Edgington and early years consultant and outdoors specialist Helen Bilton, invited practitioners to examine the quality of experiences on offer outdoors.

Our work supporting the wide range of early years settings throughout Buckinghamshire showed that while practitioners wanted to improve outdoor learning experiences, they often needed constructive advice and support. In response, we set out to create a training package outlining how to develop a quality outdoors environment that would fully support the early years curriculum.