At Petham, outdoor learning is an integral part of all areas of the curriculum, playing a key role in enabling teachers to plan a broad and balanced curriculum. We take great pride in our forest area, sensory garden and vegetable beds.

Outdoor education is vital in promoting children’s health and well-being and provides ways to develop their education beyond that offered in the classroom. As children increasingly spend more time in an electronic world, we want to help our pupils develop a love and excitement for being outdoors and learning about the world in which they live. Learning outdoors provides children with opportunities for risk and challenge, for hands-on exploration and for learning to care for their local environment and the creatures that inhabit it. Within traditional curriculum subjects it offers opportunities for problem solving in maths, stimulus for writing, speaking and listening in English, first hand investigation in science and geography, and a wealth of creative and expressive activities in art. The joy and inspiration of learning outdoors promotes inclusion for all; those children who may find the more formal areas of the curriculum difficult to access have opportunities to shine beyond the classroom.

At Petham, the children are lucky enough to learn within an amazing natural resource, allowing teachers to plan inspiring outdoor activities all year round.