Work Matters: Training - Developing the outdoors - Explore your space

A high-quality structured outdoor environment within which a child can learn, interact and be physically active, is crucial to their long-term development. Finding training that focuses on children's needs will help unlock the environment's potential.

National school grounds charity Learning Through Landscapes (LTL) provides a range of training courses. 'We tailor our courses to the needs of the practitioners,' explains Annie Davey, early years development advisor with LTL. 'The length of the course - a day or a twilight session right through to ongoing support for a set period of time - varies according to a setting's requirements.

'We offer basic level support for those who are only just starting to use their outdoor space and more in-depth development for the more experienced setting to extend their provision.'

LTL courses look at improving design and management of outdoor space, and how to make the most of a small space, as well as interaction between adults and children. Health and safety and risk management courses are also popular, as is training around how the outdoor environment can aid the transition process to Key Stage One or support children's literacy development.

An experienced setting focusing on adult-child interaction might be encouraged to build on their own observations of what is happening in their outdoor space. Ms Davey says, 'Think about the differences between how you do things now and how you would like to do things, and also, between what children are getting out of current provision and what outcomes you would like to see children achieving.'

For a less experienced setting, she advocates a more basic assessment of the reasons why children do not get outdoors as much as they need to. 'This could be down to attitudes of staff, lack of training or funding or an inappropriate environment. When it's early days for a setting, we look at what the initial barriers are and how they can be overcome.'

Managing Risk

A similar approach would be taken on a LTL course dealing with issues of health and safety.

Attitudes - which, according to Ms Davey, can be extremely varied, even within the staff of one setting - will be looked at and challenged with an 'outcomes for children' focus. 'People disagree about what is safe or risky and what is not,' she says. 'The aim of the course would be to dispel myths and get settings moving forward to a situation where children can use the outdoor environment unencumbered by the concerns of staff.'

Ms Davey is adamant that children need to learn to manage their own risk to some degree. So at the next level up, a setting would be encouraged to look at its health and safety policy and determine whether it enabled children and staff to do what they need to do in order to achieve desirable outcomes, while keeping them safe from any major hazards.

'The worst thing is if children are wrapped in cotton wool,' she says. 'If they have no experience of water, real fire, how to balance and judge heights and distances, then how will they learn to cope with everyday life? We don't want things to be so safe that children are unable to investigate the environment in which they are operating. How else will children get the benefits that a good outdoor environment can bring?'

The ability to interact and communicate with each other in different ways, often in a more relaxed, sociable and less formal manner than in the classroom; the flexibility that comes with operating in an area where there are more variables, changes of state and situation; a natural inclination to investigate, be active and develop a greater affinity with the natural and man-made world - all of these things, Ms Davey believes, can be learned directly from regular experience in a high-quality outdoor environment.

FURTHER INFORMATION: www.outdoorplayconference.com

CASE STUDY

When the large outdoor space at Woodlands Day Nursery in Kent became unavailable, using the new smaller space was less inspiring and beset with problems over children's sharing of resources and their safety.

LTL consultants worked with staff to isolate key issues - motivating staff, identifying needs and planning for change.

Using exemplary images, exploring various possibilities and holding group discussions to gain an understanding of the potential of the setting's outdoor space, staff were encouraged to share their own ideas about priorities for the new garden area.

LTL worked with the setting to provide an extensive wish-list of developments which fell into two distinct categories: improvements to the physical space and improvements to children's experiences.

With improvements now made, most of the originally identified physical barriers have been overcome and the outdoor space made more stimulating, with lots of natural features.

A Woodlands staff member says, 'The garden has had a very positive effect on the children. They are able to watch things grow, notice the changes and look at the wildlife not seen in the garden before. We even found a toad!'

Most LTL training is offered through local authorities, nursery chains, umbrella groups or cohorts of practitioners. 'The minimum number of practitioners we would train at a time would be 12 to 15, so it's better to come as a group,' Annie Davey says.

CONFERENCE

Learning Through Landscapes will offer advice on budget planning and resource allocation at this year's Nursery World Outdoor Learning and Play Conference on 18 November at the Ibis in Earls Court, London. It aims to help early years practitioners maximise the potential of their outdoor environment while supporting and stimulating children's learning, emotional and personal development outdoors.

Other areas covered include:

- How to make outdoor space an area in its own right and something which can encourage independent learning and free-flow play, rather than simply developing a mirror image of the inside.

- How to inform planning through observations and assessments to allow for flexible outdoor activities.

- Introducing under-threes to a safe and accessible area where they can explore through sensory and visual aids.

- Ideas on how to overcome restricted or no outdoor space, provided by two children's centres.

Outdoor experts Wendy Titmus and Marjorie Ouvry will be speaking.