Clayton-le-Moors All Saints’ CofE Primary School in the North West of England has placed outdoor education at the heart of its curriculum, dedicating weekly time to structured outdoor learning across all year groups. This commitment has helped maintain engagement scores well above national benchmarks despite significant contextual changes, including the number of FSM (Free School Meal) eligible children rising from 8% to nearly 20% over five years. TEP data shows the benefit of this approach: the school’s average Headline Engagement score for Spring 25 was 9.5/10, +1.7 above the national primary benchmark. 83% of children were advocates for the statement ‘I enjoy being in school’.

Headteacher Nicola Saporita-Clark, who has been at the school for 22 years, describes outdoor learning as fundamental to their approach:

"It's a non-negotiable in our timetables and it's a hill I'll die on. Every class every week gets outdoor learning time, which is an hour a week... But they also get half an hour every week of free forest time built into the timetable as well."

Transforming School Grounds into Learning Spaces

Over two decades, Nicola has led the transformation of overgrown land into active learning environments. Early Years pupils receive additional forest time—two and a half hours weekly—reflecting the natural alignment with their curriculum needs.

"We have a forest school, we have a trim trail, we have a prayer garden, we have a pond, we have growing beds... And that is one of the things that I think makes our school really special. Not only do we have that, but we use it."

Curriculum Integration and Staff Development

Outdoor learning time is carefully mapped to enhance Geography and Science curricula, moving beyond unstructured play to purposeful inquiry-based learning. The school hosts training days for other schools, using these events to reinforce their own commitment to outdoor education.

Staff meetings following such events include reflection time, helping embed the habit of planning outdoor lessons. Nicola notes how visiting professionals comment on children's engagement levels during outdoor learning experiences.

Risk-Taking and Character Development

The school actively promotes safe risk-taking, challenging parental anxiety about outdoor activities whilst maintaining strong safety records. Children learn to make decisions, experience consequences, and develop resilience through outdoor challenges.

"Parents are risk averse… But nothing terrible has ever happened... It's that learning to take safe risks, isn't it? And that collaboration and teamwork and having to make decisions, and actually learning that sometimes you make the wrong decision."

TEP scores for drivers such as Peer Relationships and School Confidence were strong in Spring 25, with ‘I trust other children at school’ scoring +2.1 above the primary benchmark of 6.7/10. This reflects the impact of intentional relationship building and a focus on allowing children to learn from mistakes.  

Structured Freedom and Consistent Routines

While outdoor time includes free exploration, it operates within consistent whole-school routines. Every lesson—whether indoor or outdoor—follows the same format beginning with retrieval practice, ensuring children understand expectations regardless of location.

"We have really strong routines and consistent routines across school... every single lesson follows the same format so the children know exactly what to expect."

This consistency helps children with additional needs feel secure whilst accessing challenging outdoor experiences. TEP data for children with SEN (Special Educational Needs) shows their Enjoyment and School Confidence scores are above benchmark at 8.4/10 (compared to the SEN primary benchmark at 6.3) and 8.8 (compared to 6.8) respectively. Dinner time activities are similarly structured, with playground leaders running different outdoor activities and 'guiding lights' managing the prayer garden.

Addressing Parental Concerns and Building Community

The school uses outdoor learning showcase events to educate parents about the benefits of risk-taking and outdoor education. These events demonstrate the learning outcomes whilst building community understanding of the school's approach.

Staff training days are deliberately planned as community events, with visitors writing positive feedback messages for teachers. This approach helps staff maintain confidence in their outdoor learning commitment whilst demonstrating impact to the wider community.

"Sometimes your staff can fall back into 'we're in a classroom and we're doing what we're doing.' Whereas because we have these regular days where we have visitors coming into school and we showcase the outdoor learning... that reminder of let's not fall back into the classroom-based curriculum."

Key Strategies:

• Protected weekly outdoor learning time as non-negotiable curriculum element

• Diverse outdoor environments designed for different learning experiences

• Curriculum mapping linking outdoor time to geography and science objectives

• Regular showcase events reinforcing staff commitment and community understanding

• Safe risk-taking philosophy balanced with strong safety culture

• Consistent lesson structures maintaining security within outdoor freedom