Outdoor Learning – Leading the Curriculum Erasmus Project

Project Title

Outdoor Learning – Leading the Curriculum

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; Environment and climate change; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

The project will build on the success of the KA2 project, ‘Outdoor Learning – Happy children Make happy Learners’. This project enabled all participating schools to maximise the potential of non-formal teaching methods, ensured the inclusion of all children to access the curriculum and has successfully improved children’s wellbeing through outdoor education. Teaching outdoors has the potential to boost skills further, to enable education to be modernised and has a firm focus on young people which covers the objectives of Erasmus +.

Our motivation for this project is to use this expertise to develop clear guidance, with a curriculum led focus, which will help to break down the barriers between the indoor classroom and the outdoor learning environment. This will enable the project to increase its reach beyond project partners into the wider global community. The benefit of the outdoors is strengthening in its appeal to educators, therefore, harnessing its power will address the changing curriculums globally which are adapting to accommodate the pressures of the modern world. Developing skills and knowledge at the Primary stage within an environment that is proven to heighten pupils’ sense of wellbeing will ensure that children are ready for their future and will fulfil the central aims of the project based on the EU priorities. Therefore, as part of the continuation of our outdoor learning theme and philosophy’s, we have assessed the current needs of each school and collaboratively identified objectives we will work on:

Project aims and objectives for children:
• To further develop communication skills, providing meaningful experiences and in a multilingual context.
• To participate in stimulating, cross curricula activities in the outdoors.
• To engage with the key shared areas of the curriculum through working outdoors.
• To develop children’s confidence in transferring skills and knowledge to a different learning situation, yet in a safe and familiar outdoor environment.
• To ensure that all children maintain their level of well-being, self-esteem and confidence through regular activities in their local environment.
• To discuss environmental issues and climate change, raising awareness of global citizenship.
• To develop as an ethical, informed citizen.
• To develop digital competencies in communicating and presenting work to others.

Project aims and objectives for teachers:
• To enable all teachers and school staff to teach the different areas of the curriculum through the outdoors, without the need for outside agencies and specialist staff.
• To develop schools as learning organisations.
• To continue to work as a well-established professional network across Europe.
• To further develop foreign language skills.
• To ensure that all teachers maintain their level of well-being and confidence through regular activities in their local environment.
• To utilise the local environment to teach different areas of the curriculum.
• To develop digital competencies in communicating and presenting work to others.

Our project will focus on curriculum-based learning, teaching key shared areas of curriculum in an outdoor environment:
• Language, Literacy and Communication
• Mathematics & Numeracy
• Expressive Arts
• Science and Technology
• Health & Wellbeing
• Humanities

The cross curricular skills of Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Competence will be included in all 6 areas, together with the integral skills of Creativity and Innovation, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Personal Effectiveness and Planning & Organisation. All materials will be uploaded to the e Twinning platform and each school will design detailed curriculum-based activities for each project area. The regular exchange of ideas and expertise and teaching each area outdoors will develop both educators and pupils and enrich their outdoor experiences. The Global citizen aspect will be heightened and extended through exploring sustainability in each country and strengthen knowledge and awareness for the changes of the modern world. Innovative approaches will be further investigated and explored through a cross curricular approach, allowing for depth and breadth between each curriculum area and developing the wider skills.

Each term we will collaboratively focus on one of the 6 ‘key shared areas’, and how it can be taught in the outdoor environment. Each key shared area will be evaluated be all project partners and results disseminated. Results of the project will be disseminated at Primary, Local, National and EU level. We will use dissemination of results to continue to promote and support outdoor learning on a Local, National and European scale.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 100912 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gowerton Primary School & Country: UK

Project Partners

• SN na hEaglaise
• Stretereds förskola
• Kerkkoon koulu
• Crwys Primary School
• ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO GIOVANNI XXIII TERRASINI